What do David Bowie, Alanis Morissette, Sia, and Xavier White have in common? They all rock their online presence using Squarespace, and you can too! This post will help you create a website as awesome as the unique sounds you share with your fans.
You’ll learn about Squarespace features that you can use to share your music, info about your next gig and even manage new merch without having to juggle the inventory yourself.
Your Online Stage Presence: Essential Pages for Your Musician Website
Your Squarespace website can help you connect with fans, showcase your music, and tell the world what you're all about. Here are the essential pages to get you started and rocking online:
Home Page: Your Spotlight Moment
The Home Page is your website's first impression, so make it count! Here's what to include:
A killer hero image: This could be a high-quality photo of you performing, your album cover, or anything that captures your vibe. You can also feature a background video, adding some eye-catching motion to your home page.
A captivating bio: In a few short sentences, tell the world who you are, what kind of music you make, and why they should be listening. Keep it interesting but easy to understand, like you're having a conversation with a friend.
Links to your music: Make it easy for fans to find your music. Embed your music player directly on the homepage, or link to your profiles on streaming platforms like Spotify or Apple Music.
Pro Tip: Don't forget a clear "Call to Action" (CTA) on your homepage. This tells fans what you want them to do next, like subscribing to your mailing list to be notified of your next event, buying your latest album with a product block, or checking out your tour dates with a link to your event page.
About Page: Sharing Your Story
The About Page is your chance to connect with fans on a deeper level. Here, you can:
Tell your story: How did you get started with music? What inspires you? Tell the story behind your sound, your album art, or even your creative artist name.
Introduce your band members (or you, if you’re a solo artist!): Let fans get to know the people behind the music. Include fun facts and anecdotes to help people connect with you on a personal level.
Share photos and videos: Show fans behind-the-scenes glimpses, performance photos, or anything that gives them a taste of your personality.
Pro Tip: Encourage your community to contribute! Feature Instagram posts where fans have tagged you and link to your social profiles so they can follow you there, too.
Music Page: Where Your Music Shines
This is the heart of your website, where fans come to experience your music. Here's how to make it awesome:
Showcase your music: You have a few different options here:
You can upload your audio files directly to Squarespace. This is great if you're selling your music directly through your website. You can upload a sample of the audio file and then add a link to the physical or digital product.
Embed music from streaming platforms like SoundCloud. This is a good option if you already have a presence on those platforms.
Make it easy for fans to listen, purchase, or pre-order your music: Link to your music stores (iTunes, Bandcamp, etc.) or offer downloads directly on your website (through Squarespace's built-in e-commerce features).
Tour Dates Page: Promote Your Next Event
This page is essential to let fans know where they can see you live! You’ll find a few creative ways to do this using Squarespace. You can Use an event page type to page to display info about upcoming events, and past events, too. For each event, make sure you include the cities, and venues, with a link to ticket sales for each individual show.
You can also link directly to Bandsintown. Squarespace lets you integrate Bandsintown blocks that seamlessly blend with your website's design. These blocks display your tour dates, festivals, or even live-stream shows directly from your Bandsintown profile.
Here's the coolest part: Visitors can RSVP to concerts, buy tickets, join live-stream shows, and get notified about future gigs, all through links embedded right in the block. It's a one-stop shop for your fans to stay connected and rock out with you live, and it can be embedded directly into the Squarespace website you’ve created.
A quick side note about using Bandsintown with Squarespace: You'll need to set the dates, text, and buttons you want to appear by heading over to your Bandsintown account. Learn more about the Bandsintown blocks.
Contact Page: Stay Connected with Your Fans
Consider creating a page to help your fans stay connected to you:
Add a newsletter block to collect email addresses from your fans! You'll be able to use Squarespace Campaigns to send them updates about new music, tour dates, and exclusive content.
Add your social media links. Make sure fans can find you on all the major platforms like Instagram, YouTube, and any other place you regularly post your creative content.
Additional Features to Supercharge Your Musician Website
Rocking the essential pages is a great start, but there's always room to crank your website up to eleven! Here are some bonus features to consider, transforming your website from a stage to a full-fledged fan zone:
Let Your Inner Poet Speak with A Blog
Ever wanted to share your thoughts, stories, and creative process with the world? A blog is your platform! You can:
Write about your musical journey: Share your experiences, songwriting inspirations, or even gear reviews.
Post behind-the-scenes content: Give fans exclusive access to recording sessions, music video shoots, or tour shenanigans. (Just keep it PG-rated, alright?)
Connect with fans on a deeper level: Show your personality, humor, and what makes you tick.
Gear Up Your Fans with Merch
Let your fans wear their fandom loud and proud with a killer merch store! Selling your own merchandise is a fantastic way to generate some extra income to support your music career. Squarespace allows you to sell both physical and digital merch.
You can offer downloadable content like exclusive song demos, ringtones, or high-resolution wallpapers. Squarespace has built-in e-commerce features that will deliver these digital products to you.
You can also use Squarespace to sell physical merch. T-shirts, hoodies, hats, posters – the sky's the limit! Design your own merch or partner with a printing company, like Printful. Printful makes it easier than ever because they integrate directly with Squarespace! You can upload your own images, like your band's logo or your latest album artwork, and Printful handles the rest.
Yup, they print, they ship, and there is no minimum order amount and no more inventory to keep track of; Printful does it all for you. Learn more about Custom Merch.
Building Your Fan Base with Mailing Lists
Your website visitors are awesome, but a mailing list lets you build a dedicated fan base. With a mailing list, you can:
Stay connected with fans: Send out updates about new music, tour dates, or exclusive content.
Offer special promotions: Give your email subscribers exclusive discounts on merch or early access to new releases.
Build anticipation: Tease upcoming projects or share behind-the-scenes sneak peeks to keep fans engaged.
Pro tip: add a newsletter block to the footer of your website so it’s visible on every page. When people sign up, you can send them an auto email, welcoming them to your email list, and notify them of events, offers, and more using Squarespace campaigns.
Get To Know Your Audience with Analytics
Understanding your audience can help you create new content that truly connects with them. Squarespace has built-in analytics that give you valuable insights into your website traffic. You can see:
How many people are visiting your website: Track your website's growth and see how effective your promotional efforts are.
Where your visitors come from: This helps you understand your audience demographics and tailor your content accordingly.
What pages are most popular: See which content resonates most with your fans and focus on creating more of what they love.
Recap: How To Rock the Web with Your Own Musician Website
There you have it, music makers! With a website built on Squarespace, you'll have everything you need to create a killer online presence that showcases your talent, connects with fans, and takes
Here is a quick list-style recap to help you get started:
Decide how to share your music. Upload an audio track or embed content from another program like Spotify.
Build an email list. Use Squarespace newsletter blocks on specific pages, and in your website footer, so you can send people an email with important updates, like new merch and upcoming shows.
Create a homepage with an image or video that captures your vibe. Use this page to introduce your music, and yourself! Start with an eye catching banner suing a high quality image. Consider introducing motion to your site with a video background or a GIF in an image block. Add a simple bio that links to your about page and promote your email list, latest live show, or new music & merch.
Make this about you. Your fans are here to connect with you, so dedicate an entire page to be about your musical journey.
Promote your upcoming events. Use an events page or the bandsintown integration to tell your fans where you will be playing next. Remember to provide a link so they can buy tickets online!
Make money with merch. Upload your logo & creative art to Printify so your fans can support your music, and you don’t have to add “manage inventory” to your to do list.
Learn about what your fans love. Use analytics to find out the most popular pages on your site, like products, tour dates, and tracks.
Looking for a template to start with? Check out these:
🚍 Going on tour? Start with Cruz: cruz-fluid-demo.squarespace.com
💿 Releasing a new album? Try Kitui: kitui-fluid-demo.squarespace.com
🛍️ Marketing new merch? Give Vandam a go: vandam-fluid-demo.squarespace.com
🎧 Ready to share your most popular tracks? Try Tryp: golivehq.co/tryp-squarespace-template
Did you find this article helpful? Comment below and follow me here on the Squarespace Forum because i’ve got even more to share! Next up: restaurants, photographers, authors, and individual service providers.
We're teaming up with Circle member Becca Harpain ( @inside_the_square) to bring you a new series on the Squarespace Forum dedicated to empowering you with the knowledge and insights needed to build industry-specific websites on Squarespace. Whether you’re a seasoned Squarespace user, a budding entrepreneur exploring website creation, or someone keen on maximizing the potential of this versatile platform, this series is for you.
What to expect
In an era where every business, big or small, needs a compelling online presence, understanding the nuances of different industries can make all the difference. Each sector comes with its own set of challenges, opportunities, and unique characteristics that should be reflected in its online representation.
Becca will be providing her insights on how to make the most of your Squarespace website for specific industries over the next few months.
Who is Becca Harpain?
A Squarespace designer turned educator, Becca Harpain is the creator of the world's largest collection of Squarespace CSS tutorials - InsideTheSquare.co. Every week, you can tune into her YouTube channel to discover new ways to make your Squarespace website unique. When she's not creating content for the Squarespace community, you can find her running, hiking, and backpacking her way across the trails in the Pacific Northwest.
How to participate
Please reply to this topic with any industry suggestions! If you see any suggestions in the comments you want to see addressed, simply like the comment. We’ll be selecting 5 suggestions to address in this series.
My clients need a Wishlist & Checkout option. This is normal for a good online shopping experience, especially for 'considered' purchases - clients want this as their customers expect it. PLEASE Squarespace add this to your ecommerce offering - its getting embarrassing at best or deal breaker at worst. Or can one of you amazing coders out there create an add on if it's possible? We'd buy it!
