How to Build a Band Website (And What You Actually Need on It)

A promoter you pitched two weeks ago finally looked you up. They typed your band name into a search bar, got an Instagram profile with a link in bio pointing at a dead Linktree, a Bandcamp page with one song from 2024, and a Spotify artist page with no photo. They closed the tab. You never heard back, and you assumed the music wasn't good enough.

It probably was. What failed was the ten seconds someone spent trying to confirm you're a real band that plays real shows. A website is the cheapest fix for that problem, and it does not need to be impressive — it needs to exist, load fast, and answer four questions: who are you, what do you sound like, where are you playing, and how do I reach you.

Decide What the Site Is Actually For

Bands build the wrong website because they never decide who's visiting. The two audiences want completely different things, and trying to serve both with equal weight produces a site that serves neither.

• Fans want music, live dates, and merch. They arrive from a flyer, a stage mention, or a streaming profile. They want to hear something within one click and know when they can see you.
• Industry — promoters, venue bookers, journalists, festival submissions — want proof and logistics. Have you played real rooms? Is there live footage? Who do I email? They want a press kit, not a vibe.

Build the fan-facing site as your main page and link the industry material from it. That way one URL works on a poster and in a booking email, and neither audience has to dig.

Get the Domain Before You Build Anything

The domain is the part you actually own. Hosts and builders come and go; a domain follows you between all of them, and it's what makes an email address look like a band instead of a hobby.

• Try the obvious first. yourbandname.com. If it's taken, add a word rather than mangling the spelling — "band," "music," or "official" read fine out loud. Alternate extensions like .band, .live, or .music are normal now and nobody will hold it against you.
• Check the name is clear before you buy. Search streaming platforms and your local scene for another act using it. The domain is cheap; renaming after your first release is not. If you're still choosing, here's how to name your band without stalling the project.
• Register it somewhere boring and put the renewal on a calendar. Expired band domains get bought by squatters within days. Use a card that won't lapse and make sure more than one member knows the login.
• Set up an email on it. booking@yourband.com costs a few dollars a month and changes how a venue reads your pitch. It also survives a member leaving, which a personal Gmail doesn't.

Pick the Simplest Build You'll Actually Maintain

The correct choice is whichever one your band will still be updating in a year. Be honest about that before you look at templates.

• Music-focused builders. Bundle mailing lists, tour date widgets, merch stores, and ticket links. Worth it if you'll genuinely use those. Typically a monthly subscription in the low tens of dollars.
• General website builders. More design control, bigger template libraries, no music-specific tooling. Fine if you mostly need a good-looking page and can paste in embeds yourself.
• A static page on a free host. One HTML file, one CSS file, deployed free. Fastest-loading option by a wide margin and costs nothing but the domain — if someone in the band can write markup, or you hire a designer once and never touch it again.
• A custom build. Only when you have a specific reason: an unusual merch setup, a real content operation, a visual identity that templates can't carry. Otherwise it's money that would do more as recording time.

Whatever you choose, check it on a phone before you launch. Most people who open your site will be standing in a venue holding a beer, not sitting at a desk.

The Five Things That Have to Be on It

Everything below fits comfortably on a single scrolling page. Resist adding a sixth thing until the first five are current.

• Music, above the fold. An embedded player or a clear link to where the music lives. If a visitor has to scroll to hear you, the page is built wrong.
• Two or three real photos. Not phone shots from the back of a bar. Press-quality images in both horizontal and vertical, with a downloadable high-resolution version for anyone writing about you. Here's how to find a music photographer and what a press shoot costs.
• A short bio. Two or three sentences on the page, with a longer version available for press. Say what you sound like and where you're from before you say anything about your journey. How to write a band bio covers the structure.
• Live dates. Upcoming shows with venue, city, and a ticket link. Past dates matter too — a promoter scanning your last six months of rooms learns more than any paragraph you could write.
• One obvious contact. A booking email in plain text, not buried in a contact form nobody trusts. If you have separate press and booking contacts, list both.

What to Leave Off

Most band websites fail by addition. Every extra section is another thing that goes out of date and quietly signals the band stopped caring.

• A blog nobody writes. Two posts from eighteen months ago is worse than no blog. Post updates where your audience already is.
• Autoplaying audio or video. It was annoying in 2008 and it's a bounce guarantee now.
• An intro splash screen. Nobody clicks "enter site."
• Follower and stream counts. Numbers date instantly and read as insecure unless they're enormous. Show the rooms you played and the records you made instead.
• A gallery of forty live photos. Pick the best three. The rest live on social.

Link a Press Kit From It — or Start There

The industry half of your audience isn't looking for a website. They're looking for a press kit: bio, live footage, press quotes, past venues, technical requirements, and a direct contact, all on one link they can forward to a talent buyer.

That's a specific document, and it's the one that gets you booked. Plenty of bands are better off building it first and treating the full website as a later project — a promoter has never once turned down a band for not having a homepage, but plenty pass on acts they can't quickly verify.

Bandry builds one for you. Your press kit gets a clean hosted link you can send anywhere plus a PDF one-sheet for the bookers who still want an attachment, and it's included in a Bandry subscription instead of being a separate monthly bill from a dedicated EPK service. You can see how many times it's been opened, and that view count stays private to you — Bandry doesn't put public follower or play counts on anything, anywhere.

Get the Assets Made Without Overpaying

The reason most band sites look thin isn't the platform. It's that there's no logo, no press shot, and no live video to put on it. Those are three separate jobs, and every one of them is findable locally.

Bandry is where independent musicians and the people they hire find each other. Post a seeking listing for a graphic designer to build the logo and type treatment, a photographer for press shots, or a videographer for the live clip that goes at the top of your press kit. Set the reach to local when the work needs someone in the room, or remote for anything that ships as files — a designer never has to be in your city. Browse the Gallery to see visual artists' actual work with their rates on it before you reach out.

When you find someone whose work fits, tap 🔗 to link up and trade contact details directly. You talk to them, you agree on the price, you pay them. No messaging middleman, no commission taken out of the job.

Once the site is up, the next thing to write is the thing you send when you pitch it: how to write a band press release editors actually open.