Bandzoogle

Last updated
Bandzoogle
Industry Online services
Founded2003
FounderChris Vinson
Key people
Stacey Bedford (CEO)
Products Social networking
Online service provider
Online media
Website bandzoogle.com

Bandzoogle is an online platform which provides tools for musicians to build a professional website, promote their music, and sell direct-to-fan for a flat monthly fee. [1] [2] It includes a built-in store, mailing list tools, reporting and integration with social networks and services, including Twitter, Facebook, Bandcamp, SoundCloud, Twitch and Crowdcast. [3] Members can create sustainable income streams through their websites, including selling physical merch, singles, or albums. [4]

Contents

Members can also build an online press kit for their music. [5] Users can choose from over 100 mobile-ready themes to build a website. [6] The platform allows artists to keep a record of their sales, and requires no knowledge of HTML coding. [7] [8] Bandzoogle also features built-in marketing tools for musicians, including Smart Links, Landing pages, and advanced page-level fan data. [9]

History

Bandzoogle was founded in 2003 by musician Chris Vinson [10] who had built a website for his alt-rock band, Rubberman. Grassroots promotion, plus the online community that the website created helped the band get a record deal. Vinson subsequently launched Bandzoogle.

In 2013, Bandzoogle acquired competing musician website service Onesheet. [11]

In 2018, Stacey Bedford was named CEO on Bandzoogle's 15th anniversary. [12] Bedford was named to Billboard’s annual Digital Power Players in 2019. [13] [14] She was recognized as an International Power Player by Billboard in 2021, [15] 2022, [16] 2023 [17] and 2024. [18] Bedford was also named one of the Top 40 under 40 business leaders by the Ottawa Business Journal in 2022. [19]

As of 2021, Bandzoogle powers over 55,000 websites for musicians who have sold over $75,000,000 in music, merch, and tickets commission-free. [20] In 2021 alone artists earned over $9.9 million in commission-free revenue using the platform’s direct-to-fan sales tools. [21]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Bandzoogle pivoted to provide options to support musicians, including commission-free live streaming ticket sales, event ticket refunds, a tip jar feature, transaction history exports and filtering, and a comprehensive guide to musician resources during a pandemic. [22]

Bandzoogle was listed as one of Canada’s Top Small & Medium Employers in 2022, 2023, and 2024 by the Globe and Mail, [23] citing their ability to adapt to change and provide a supportive work-from-home environment. [24]

Bandzoogle’s customer support team was recognized for exceptional service, winning Stevie awards for Front-Line Customer Service Team of the Year in 2021 and 2022. [25]

In 2023, Bandzoogle announced that sales generated by artists via websites powered by the company surpassed more than $100 million. Over half ($52.7m) of that sales figure was generated in the last five years alone. [26]

In September 2023, it was announced that Bandzoogle had been acquired by the independent digital music distribution service, DistroKid. [27]

Services

Bandzoogle offers a range of direct-to-fan tools created specifically for artists. In June 2019, Bandzoogle created a crowdfunding preset that allows similar services to PledgeMusic with payments going directly from fans to the artist. [28] [29] In August 2019, Bandzoogle launched a commission-free fan subscription feature in their music website and marketing platform. Artists can offer online fan clubs within their websites, create stronger fan communities, add income streams and keep 100% of the revenue. Artists can also offer pay-what-you-want fan subscriptions. [30]

In 2020, Bandzoogle added a Tip Jar feature that allows fans to donate directly on Bandzoogle artist websites, an initiative that has netted over $200,000 for artists across the platform. [31]

In 2021 the company added an integration with Printful’s print-on-demand drop shipping services, allowing artists to sell band merchandise commission-free through their websites. [32] To celebrate this feature, Bandzoogle sold limited edition merch designed by Canadian illustrator Jacqui Oakley. All proceeds from these sales went directly to music industry charity Unison Benevolent Fund’s Emergency Mental Health for the Music Community campaign. [33]

In 2022, Bandzoogle added marketing and promotional tools for musicians, including custom Landing pages and Smart Links, allowing artists to drive marketing campaign traffic to their own websites. [34]

In 2023 Bandzoogle added a new subscription plan focused on electronic press kits (EPKs) for artists. [35] This enables artists to create and launch EPKs with their bios, music players, embedded videos, show dates, images, press quotes, a contact form and social links among other features. [36]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Press kit</span> Set of promotional materials given to the media

A press kit, often referred to as a media kit in business environments, is a pre-packaged set of promotional materials that provide information about a person, company, organization or cause and which is distributed to members of the media for promotional use. Press kits are often distributed to announce a release or for a news conference.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rate Your Music</span> Online collaborative metadata database of music and film

Rate Your Music is an online encyclopedia of music releases and films. Users can catalog items from their personal collection, review them, and assign ratings in a five-star rating system. The site also features community-based charts that track highest-rated releases.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CD Baby</span> Digital music distributor

CD Baby, Inc. is a Portland, Oregon based online distributor of independent music. The company was described as an "anti-label" by its parent company's Chief Operating Officer Tracy Maddux. It was established in 1998 and offered distribution for artists in physical and online format, however it discontinued the physical media service and went digital only in June 2023.

Nimbit, Inc. was a Massachusetts-based company offering sales & marketing services for independent musicians, independent record labels and other organisations, using one of the first web-based, direct-to-fan system. This includes a virtual storefront, which allows users to sell music and merchandise on Facebook and other websites, and tools for users to perform fundraising campaigns. Nimbit was closed on December 9, 2020.

Fan-funded music is crowdfunding for music. Often, fan-funded music occurs in conjunction with direct-to-fan marketing. Fans of music have the option to donate and collectively raise money with the goal of jump-starting the career of a given musical artist. The fan-funding of music occurs primarily through web-based services using a business model for crowdfunding. Fans are typically given rewards based on their monetary contributions.

Direct-to-fan is a business model used by independent musicians, independent music labels, music marketing professionals, promoters, and others in the music industry. Direct-to-fan is also becoming a model used by the broad definition of artists, including comedians, visual artists, and other entertainers looking to build and leverage a fan community throughout their career.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SoundCloud</span> German audio streaming service

SoundCloud is a Swedish-founded German headquartered audio streaming service owned and operated by SoundCloud Global Limited & Co. KG. The service enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is one of the largest music streaming services in the world and is available in 190 countries and territories. The service has more than 76 million active monthly users and over 200 million audio tracks as of November 2021. SoundCloud offers both free and paid memberships on the platform, available for mobile, desktop and Xbox devices. SoundCloud has evolved from a traditional online streaming platform to an entertainment company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BandPage</span> Music startup based in San Francisco, California

BandPage was a music startup based in San Francisco, California that produced the application BandPage, which powered over 500,000 artists' Facebook Pages. Artists could upload and share tracks, videos, photos, and their touring schedule within Facebook. In August 2010, Billboard named BandPage one of the "Top 10 Best Digital Media Startups".

PledgeMusic was an online direct-to-fan music platform, launched in August 2009. It was started to facilitate musicians looking to pre-sell, market, and distribute projects; such as recordings and concerts. It bore similarities to other artist payment platforms as ArtistShare, Kickstarter, Indiegogo, Patreon, RocketHub and Sellaband.

Bandcamp is an American online audio distribution platform founded in 2007 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with headquarters in Oakland, California. Acquired by Epic Games in March 2022, the company was sold to Songtradr in 2023.

Topspin Media was a technology company that provides direct-to-consumer retail and marketing software for musicians, filmmakers, artists, authors, and other content creators.

Bandsintown is a music website that allows users to receive notifications about tours and bands playing in the user's area. It also has tools for artists to manage tour dates.

Feature.fm is a marketing and advertising platform for music industry professionals like labels, artists, and other music marketers. They offer a self-serve, music-focused ad platform and a marketing suite to help artists marketing to fans in a smarter way. The Marketing Suite includes tools like Pre-Saves, Gated Unlocks & Contests, Music Smart Link Landing Pages, Audience Email Collection, Music Analytics, and other landing pages that fans engage with or are directed to the artist's content. The ad platform includes a native song advertising network through which artists can promote their songs inside music streaming services and on music websites. Artists' sponsored songs are played to people who are currently listening to streaming radio of the artist's style of music as an alternative to traditional audio ads. Feature.fm partners with streaming services to help them reduce audio ads and improve user experience by using native content as a source of advertising.

Audiokite is an online market research company based in New York, offering consumer research and opinion polling to musicians and labels. Using the Amazon Mechanical Turk service and an internal reviewer filtering process, the service streams music over the internet to U.S.-based music consumers and administers a survey. The results are organized into a report, which determines eligibility for a variety of discounts and opportunities through partnerships with music services including Bandzoogle, New Artist Model, Feature.fm and others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DistroKid</span> American independent digital music service

DistroKid, formerly titled Fandalism, is an American independent digital music distribution service, founded in 2012 by American entrepreneur Philip J. Kaplan. DistroKid principally offers musicians and other rights-holders the opportunity to distribute and sell or stream their music through online retailers such as Spotify, Pandora, iTunes/Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, Tidal, Deezer, iHeartRadio, and more.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vampr</span> Social discovery platform

Vampr is a location-based social and professional networking platform which facilitates music discovery, collaboration, and communication between musicians, creatives, industry professionals and fans. Founded in 2015 by Australian musicians Josh Simons and Barry Palmer, the platform was acquired by Vinyl Group in June 2023.

Tracy Maddux is an American business executive. He was CEO of Portland, Oregon-based CD Baby from 2012 through 2020 during which time the company grew significantly during the transition from physical to digital and streaming music formats. During Maddux’s tenure at CD Baby, the company evolved into one of the largest platforms for creator direct music distribution.

The Libera Awards are an annual awards ceremony organized by the American Association of Independent Music (A2IM). First hosted in 2012, the awards celebrate the independent music community. The capstone of A2IM's Indie Week, an annual music business conference, the ceremony has been able to be viewed by the public since 2020.

The Libera Award for Video of the Year is an award presented by the American Association of Independent Music at the annual Libera Award which recognizes "most impactful or visually compelling short-form music video" since 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BandLab Technologies</span> Singaporean multi-brand music company

BandLab Technologies is a Singaporean company founded in 2015 that operates a social music platform, called BandLab, and also owns a variety of music-related brands, including Harmony and Heritage Guitars; Guitar.com, NME, Uncut and MusicTech.com media platforms; and Swee Lee musical instrument retailer and distributor.

References

  1. ↑ Sahpreem A. King (6 May 2012). Surviving The Game: How To Succeed In The Music Business. A Wealth of Thought Publishing Company. pp. 104–. ISBN   978-0-9837577-2-6.
  2. ↑ Jeff Strong (14 October 2011). Home Recording For Musicians For Dummies. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 344–. ISBN   978-1-118-17756-3.
  3. ↑ "Bandzoogle Now Reporting to SoundScan". Billboard . Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  4. ↑ "Bandzoogle Steps Into the Crowdfunding Game". Berklee College of Music. 9 September 2019.
  5. ↑ "4 Ways Musicians Can Use An EPK". Hypebot. 29 May 2019.
  6. ↑ David, Nield. "Best website builder for musicians in 2021". TechRadar.
  7. ↑ "Bandzoogle And PledgeMusic Partner For D2F". Hypebot.com.
  8. ↑ "Super fantasy". The Economist. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  9. ↑ "Bandzoogle adds Smart Links and Landing Pages for musicians". Hypebot. 22 April 2022.
  10. ↑ Daylle Deanna Schwartz (20 October 2010). Start and Run Your Own Record Label, Third Edition. Potter/TenSpeed/Harmony. pp. 205–. ISBN   978-0-307-77490-3.
  11. ↑ "Bandzoogle Acquires Onesheet, "The About.me For Bands," To Become The Go-To Website Builder For Artists". Techcrunch. 9 July 2013.
  12. ↑ "Press and Media". Bandzoogle.
  13. ↑ "Billboard's 2019 Digital Power Players Revealed". Billboard. 18 November 2019.
  14. ↑ How Bandzoogle is making it more affordable for musicians to market themselves Financial Post
  15. ↑ "Revealed: Billboard's 2021 International Power Players". Billboard.
  16. ↑ "Revealed: Billboard's 2022 International Power Players". Billboard. 25 April 2022.
  17. ↑ Duffy, Thom (25 April 2023). "Billboard's 2023 International Power Players Revealed". Billboard.
  18. ↑ Duffy, Thom (29 April 2024). "Billboard's 2024 International Power Players Revealed". Billboard.
  19. ↑ "Introducing Ottawa's 2022 Forty Under 40 recipients". Ottawa Business Journal.
  20. ↑ "Musicians earned $12.7M via Bandzoogle in 2020 as websites continue to be hub of direct-to-fan engagement". Hypebot. 16 March 2021.
  21. ↑ "Are Websites for Musicians Profitable? – $9.9M Earned with Bandzoogle". Digital Music News. 15 March 2022.
  22. ↑ "Bandzoogle: website builder for musicians". Enom. 1 June 2020.
  23. ↑ "Top Employer: Bandzoogle". Canada's Top 100 Employers.
  24. ↑ Jermyn, Diane (5 April 2022). "Canada's Top Small & Medium Employers 2022 show remarkable agility in adapting to change". The Globe and Mail.
  25. ↑ "2022 Winners in the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service". Stevieawards.com.
  26. ↑ "Musicians Surpass $100M in Sales Through Bandzoogle". Music Connection Magazine. 17 January 2023.
  27. ↑ Forristal, Lauren (14 September 2023). "DistroKid acquires website builder Bandzoogle to expand its toolset for artists". TechCrunch.
  28. ↑ "New: Preset page template for crowdfunding music".
  29. ↑ "Bandzoogle's New Crowdfunding Platform Aims to Fill the PledgeMusic Void – The Vocalist Magazine". vocalistmag.com. Archived from the original on 2019-06-18.
  30. ↑ "Bandzoogle Adds Commission-Free Fan Subscriptions". Hypebot. 6 August 2019.
  31. ↑ "Bandzoogle reveals $5m of pandemic-era sales for artists". Musically.com.
  32. ↑ "Bandzoogle adds integration with Printful's print-on-demand drop shipping services". Radioandmusic.com.
  33. ↑ "Bandzoogle, Hamilton-based illustrator team up on special merch to benefit Unison Fund | Ottawa-based Bandzoogle, a musician website and direct-to-fan platform, is celebrating its 17th birthday this month. But instead of keeping all the". Alan Cross' A Journal of Musical Things. 1 February 2021.
  34. ↑ "Bandzoogle adds Smart Links and Landing Pages for musicians". Hypebot. 22 April 2022.
  35. ↑ "Bandzoogle Expands EPK Tools for Artists". Music Connection Magazine. 15 March 2021.
  36. ↑ Dredge, Stuart (10 January 2024). "Bandzoogle launches a plan for artists' electronic press kits". Music Ally.
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