A musician website has one job: when someone who just heard you looks you up, it should turn that moment of interest into something you keep. A follow, an email address, a ticket sale, a booking inquiry.
Most artist websites fail that job not because they look bad but because they were built like brochures. Pretty, static, and silent. This guide covers what actually belongs on yours, in the order that matters, and how to get it live today rather than someday.
What every musician website needs#
Before the steps, the checklist. A working artist site has six things.
- Your music, playable in one click. Not a screenshot of your album art. Embedded players or hosted audio a visitor can hit play on immediately.
- A bio that sounds like you. Two or three paragraphs a stranger, a promoter, and a journalist can each pull what they need from.
- Photos worth stealing. High resolution, recent, and downloadable, because the people who need them are usually on a deadline.
- Show dates. Upcoming ones front and center. Past ones are fine to keep, they prove you actually play.
- A way to contact you. A form or a real email address. Booking inquiries die when the only route is a social DM.
- An email signup. This is the whole reason the site exists. Everything else is decoration around this box.
A press kit page joins the list the day you start pitching venues or press. More on that in our EPK guide.
Step 1: pick a platform built for musicians#
You can build an artist site on a generic website builder, and plenty of people do. You will spend the first hour deleting restaurant menus and testimonial carousels, and every music feature will be a workaround. Generic builders do not know what a discography is, what a press kit is, or why tour dates need their own structure.
A music-specific platform starts from the right defaults. Artistplus goes one step further and builds the first draft for you: paste your Spotify or SoundCloud link and it imports your releases, artwork, bio, and photos into a real multi-page site you then edit. Starting from your actual catalog beats starting from a blank template in every way that matters.
Whatever you choose, check three things before committing. It should let you use your own domain. It should not put its logo all over your pages. And it should have a free tier or trial so you can see your own site before paying.
Step 2: get the domain right#
Your domain is your artist name plus a sensible ending, and simpler wins. If the dot com of your name is taken, a music-friendly ending beats mangling your name with extra words.
Two rules. Never let the domain live in someone else's account, not your old manager's, not a bandmate's, yours. And set it up so the bare domain works, because that is what people type.
If you are not ready to buy one, a clean subdomain on your platform is fine for now. You can attach a real domain later without rebuilding anything.
Step 3: write the bio in your own voice#
The bio is where most artists freeze. Here is a structure that works and takes twenty minutes.
First paragraph: who you are, where you are from, and what your music actually sounds like in plain words. Name real reference points if it helps. Second paragraph: what you have done that a stranger can verify. Releases, notable shows, press, playlist placements, radio. Third paragraph: what is happening now and next.
Write it in third person so press can lift sentences directly. Read it out loud once. If a sentence sounds like a press release from a label you would mock, cut it.
Step 4: add music the smart way#
Lead with your best two or three tracks, not your complete works. A first-time visitor gives you one song's worth of attention, so choose what they hear.
Embedded players from streaming platforms are the low-maintenance option and they carry your play counts with them. Hosted audio gives you more control over presentation. Either way, the top of your music page should be the song you would open a set with.
Step 5: put your shows where people can find them#
List every upcoming date with city, venue, and a ticket link. Keep the layout boring and scannable. When a show sells out, say so, scarcity is the most honest marketing you have.
Keep past dates on the page. A promoter deciding whether to book you reads the past dates as proof of what you can carry.
Step 6: make contact stupidly easy#
A short form or a plain email address, visible on every page, ideally in the footer. Separate booking from everything else if you get real volume. That is it. The bar is low and most artist sites still trip over it.
Step 7: publish before it is perfect#
The site does not need to be finished, it needs to be live. A four-page site that exists beats the ten-page site you are still planning. Publish, put the link in every bio, and improve it monthly.
A little SEO, because you are already 90 percent there#
Search engines want exactly what your visitors want, so you mostly get this for free. A few habits seal it.
Use your artist name in page titles, written the way fans actually search it. Give every image a short honest description, that text is how search engines read pictures. Keep one page per purpose, a music page, a tour page, an about page, rather than one endless homepage. And search your own artist name once a month to see what strangers see.
Mistakes that quietly kill artist websites#
The autoplay track that greets every visitor at full volume. The photo gallery with forty images where six would land harder. The news page that has not been touched since last year, which reads as a dead project. The contact form that goes to an inbox nobody checks. And the biggest one, no email signup, which means the site collects nothing while you pay to keep it up.
Common questions#
How much does it cost to make a musician website?#
You can get a real multi-page site live for free on a platform with a free tier. A custom domain adds a small yearly cost. Paid plans mostly buy storage, more media, and extras like analytics, and you can upgrade when you actually need them.
Do I need to know how to code?#
No. Modern music platforms are visual editors. If you can post to Instagram you can maintain a website. The skill that matters is editing, deciding what to leave out.
How often should I update it?#
Touch it when something changes: a release, a new batch of dates, new photos. A monthly fifteen-minute pass keeps it honest. Set a recurring reminder and treat it like tuning before a show.
Should the website replace my social profiles?#
No, they do different jobs. Socials are where people discover you. The website is where interest becomes something you own, an email address, a ticket sale, a booking. Link them both ways and let each do its job.
