A picture is worth a thousand words. This is true even when your main goal is to get people to listen to your music. Imagery and sound are closely linked, so make sure to choose your imagery carefully on your website.
To help with this, we’ve redesigned our image picker to be faster, sleeker, and easier to use. We’ve also added more ways to get great photos for your website with lots of new stock images to choose from.
Add images by clicking your header image, section background, or photo gallery. Then choose My Uploads or Stock images on the left side.
To easily view your images, choose from small, medium, or large thumbnails. You can filter stock images by the type you are looking for. Scenery might work well for a section background, while you may want to add a live shot as a text + image feature placeholder.
Your own images can also be viewed in different thumbnail sizes, in a grid, or masonry style view. Click on an uploaded image to download the original version (handy if you don’t have it anymore!), or get image info. This includes a direct url to the image. You can also delete old images this way.
Click on your image, then click Apply image to use it, and you’ll be all set!
The Band Perry released brand new music, “The Good Life,” their newest track which dropped July 12.
Here are some of the lyrics from her song: “I’m not gonna be a joke/I know about your side piece bro/I’m not gonna fight anymore/Glad I never had your baby/This’ll be a cleaner cut/You can keep the Labradors.”
Watch and listen to ‘The Good Life’ below:
Kimberly Perry said that she wrote this song about the infidelity she experienced during a toxic time in her life, and wanted to let the world know that she overcame and has now completely regained her strength and womanhood.
In an interview she said that her lyrics from the song empower her, and she hopes that her listeners will feel the same, and that they will know their value. She sends her fans the message that if they ever feel degraded by someone, they need to know that they deserve so much more.
DEJA VOOM 2020 in Cancún has officially been confirmed!!! This all-inclusive family event will be taking place in Grande Oasis Cancún, MO March 25 – March 28, 2020. Bassnectar will be playing 3 sets, and the full lineup for these shows will be announced shortly.
Never before have they held an event at this gorgeous property. The entirety has been reserved exclusively for this festival. They have completely customized everything about the venue from the beach, to the temple, to the nightclubs, pools, sound systems, YOU NAME IT. This is a Bassnectar show you don’t want to miss!
DEJA VOOM LOYALTY PROGRAM:
If you attended the event last year, there is special access for you called “Loyalty Pre-sale,” which will be available on July 17th at 1pm ET.
Go to the Deja Voom website, and view all the information so you’re not out of the loop! Spread the word and click here to review event info, helpful resources, payment info, and more!
Post Malone announced his second Posty Fest that will be held in Dallas, TX kicking off November 2nd. Last year, he performed with Travis Scott, Tyler, the Creator, Lil Skies and many others. This year’s lineup will be announced soon, so stay tuned!
Post Malone’s promotion video for the event displays an animated devil mascot. He moves his head back and forth until it goes black, and the screen says “He’s back.”
*No additional info has been given about the concert*
As a singer-songwriter, your time is valuable. It would be great to focus on the stories and just write songs all day, but it’s not that simple. Writing is just one part of a singer-songwriter’s career. You still have to find time to record, perform, and promote. This doesn’t even factor in writing for others, collaboration projects, and basic daily tasks.
With limited hours in a day, building a website may seem like a good idea, but one that keeps getting pushed to the back burner. So we’ve made it as easy and painless as possible to build a singer-songwriter website quickly. Not only is the initial set-up a breeze, but adding updates on the go is a piece of cake as well.
As a start, let’s look at what makes a good singer-songwriter website design. The following page examples include the most common elements needed for a successful website.
Homepage
Your homepage is the most visited page on your website, so you’ll want to spend a bit more time making it just right.
The first step is choosing the right template and header image. The featured image on your page can really make or break the site style, so choose wisely.
Bandzoogle member Nat Jay has done an excellent job of this by using a spotlight performance image of her on stage. The image is inviting and lets visitors know she’s a professional.
Although the header image is the star of the page, content is the opening act, so you want it to pave the way for the rest of your pages. This is the place to add any accomplishments, features, and awards you’ve received.
Add enough content on the Homepage to make visitors want to explore more, but not too much to make the page look cluttered. You’ll want to add a few samples of your latest work, some images, and links to your social media pages so fans can find you.
One of the most important items to add is a CTA, or call-to-action. A call-to-action is the one thing you want the visitor to do while they are on your page. It’s usually a mailing list sign up form or a link to buy your album.
Bio
A biography is important to any musician’s website, but it’s imperative for the singer-songwriter. Because you’re competing with so many others in the singer-songwriter space, you’ll want to share your story in a way that…. tells a story! Your story. Your experiences are what separates you from everyone else.
A great example of a thorough Bio page is Emily Shirley. She keeps it relatable, yet provides the content needed for fans and media pros to get to know her.
Along with the bio text, you’ll want to include a few images to keep the page visually interesting. If you’ve worked on several writing projects, it’s also a great idea to add a link to a ‘Discography’ or ‘Featured On’ page in the sidebar as well.
Music
When it comes to your music, don’t keep it a mystery. Use every opportunity to get your music in the ears of everyone you can. This may seem obvious, but you’d be surprised how many musician websites don’t include any songs! Having a dedicated music page allows you to show off all your own tracks as well as tracks you’ve written on.
Seasoned songwriter, Sydney Wright, maximises her music page using several built-in tools. She adds movement by using a video in the header. Our Forte template presents the header as a full page background, giving the website a full style design.
Next, she uses the list view of our music feature to keep the page layout simple. This keeps the focus on the most important element, her songs.
To make it more enticing, she’s opted for the option to allow fans to choose the price they’d like to pay for each track. Fans love this because it gives them the freedom to show support that doesn’t limit them to paying $0.99 per track.
Build your singer-songwriter website in minutes with all of these features and more. Try Bandzoogle now.
Store
In addition to selling digital downloads of your music, you can also sell physical CD’s and merch with our built-in Store feature (commission-free!). If you also create sheet music or video lessons, you can sell those as well.
As you get your music out there you’ll begin to build a strong fan following. Superfans are those who love everything you do. They want to represent you and share you with their friends.
A great way to help fans spread the word is through branded merch. Think about selling stickers, hats and t-shirts. You can also sell autographed photo cards and CD bundles like Adam Clarke has done on his site. Fans truly appreciate personalized merch, as it makes them feel valued.
For a singer-songwriter, performing live gets your name out to fans and collaborators alike. Having a shows page gives fans all the info they need to come see you perform.
Singer-songwriter Nikia Yung incorporates violin into her music which makes for a fun show. Her tour page gives fans a detailed view of where she’s going to be performing, over a beautiful background image. Adding social media links in a second column is a nice touch and provides fans a way to interact with Nikia before and after the show.
Photo and Video
Fans that can’t come see you live will need to get to know you thorough photo and video. Your personality can shine through on dedicated Photo and Video pages.
Take Danielle Taylor for example. Her Photos page is stacked with many different image styles. From promotional photos to performance shots, she displays all sorts of visuals to look at. Beyond just the looks, it’s a good idea to have various styles available for media professionals.
If you take a look at her press page, you’ll see she’s been featured many times by many media outlets. Having a variety of photos gives each of those outlets a fresh photo to highlight for their blog, magazine or podcast.
Press Kit
Speaking of press, having an electronic press kit (EPK) within your website shows industry pros that you are serious about your craft.
As you know, media professionals are inundated with singer-songwriters trying to get their attention. You need to roll up your sleeves and put in the work for them to notice you. Once they do, you need to make it as easy as possible to discover and feature your work.
Having a dedicated press kit page will do the trick, and Heather Aubrey Lloyd does a nice job showing us how it’s done. An EPK is simply a few small pieces of content on one page that highlights you and your music. It will generally include a bio, upcoming shows, hi-res press images, a couple of tracks, and a video.
By taking bits and pieces from the best singer-songwriter websites above, you’ll have your website up and running in no time! If you need even more inspiration, check out some of the most stunning website designs on Bandzoogle, and our most popular website templates.
A funk artist from Houston, Tx, Uché was recently a Top 10 finalist on season 2 of ABC’s American Idol.
Known by millions as an artist who can render a crowd completely speechless, Uché makes no apologies for leaving it all on the stage and “going hard” every time he performs for an audience. Since making headlines as a Top 10 finalist on American Idol, Uché has amassed a huge fan base while working nonstop on projects with legendary artists such as George Clinton, Howard Scott of War, and Bootsy Collins, just to name a few.
Music Industry Weekly sat down with the very talented, charismatic and bigger-than-life, Uché, to get a sneak peek into the mind of the artist who was dubbed “Mr. Entertainment” on what is arguably the biggest stage in the world.
MIW:Millions of AI viewers witnessed you being christened “Mr. Entertainment” by the one and only Lionel Richie. How did that moment feel for you and how did it change your life?
Uché: Dude it felt super dope! I love to “go hard” and give my all every time I get on stage. It’s like this other “being” takes over and I just go off. I’m so confident and free on stage. Then once I get off the stage, all of my insecurities slap me in the face again and I start questioning myself, like, Did I do too much? Was I too extra? Did I freak people out in a bad way? Should I not have picked up the mic stand and slung it over my shoulder? This would happen every time I would get on and off the stage. So When Lionel Richie the legend himself, who knows music and performance inside and out called me “Mr. Entertainment,” he silenced all of that negative self-talk noise forever for me.
MIW:You quickly became a fan favorite due to your flair for showmanship and the vocal pipes to back it up. What goes through your mind in the few minutes just before you hit the stage?
Uché: Before I hit the stage I’m usually somewhere on my knees praying for God to take over. My best performances are when I completely lose myself on stage, just like flowing – not thinking.
MIW:When it comes to performing, would you consider yourself a perfectionist, or do you always just go with the flow? How do you prepare mentally?
Uché: I can be a perfectionist when it comes to preparing and rehearsing. My s*** needs to be right and feel right or it needs to be changed…adjusted. Once I’m on stage though I have to just let all of that go, lean on my instincts, and hope that everything I practiced is in my subconscious – then I can focus on feeling, not thinking or remembering. At that point, it’s just like, Did you practice enough?
MIW:Did you grow up in a musical household? How did your family life contribute to the artist that you are today?
Uché: Kinda, but not really. My sisters sang growing up and we would sing together all the time, but we were the only ones who were even a little musical. My mom told me when she was young she asked God for kids that could sing and that’s what she got. Hah. My family has always been supportive so that support gave me the reassurance to push harder for my musical aspirations.
Uché – Season 2 of ABC’s American Idol Top 10
MIW:What has been your greatest challenge in becoming an artist so far and how did you overcome it?
Uché: Trying to catch a break was hard af. There are so many artists in the world, everybody and their mama wants to be a star! I have auditioned for so many things. I’ve gotten so close to things and had it ripped out from under me literally at the last second. For example, last year I auditioned for the show “The Four” on Fox. I fully got cast, signed the paperwork, shot my package, and was literally backstage about to walk through those huge doors onto the stage to perform. I was soo excited – I was thanking God – and I was ready to slay. Bruh… at last second one of the producers pretty much told me I was written out of the show. They sent me home and that was that.
The year that followed was dark and depressing. I was engaging in self-destructive behavior, letting doubt and negative self-talk take over my daily thoughts. I felt stuck and broken. I was so over trying anymore and an inner battle started to stir within me. One side had a little bit of hope but the rest of me was like, Dude, your trash. You’re too different. When are you gonna give up? You’ve been at this for years. Through all of it though, I consciously tried to stay faithful and thanked God every day for the disappointment, literally thanked him through the tears. Every time one of the commercials for the show popped up on my Instagram and it was my friends from the show killing it and not me, I’d get sad but then I’d thank him. Thanked him, even though I was thoroughly pissed off at him about it. And I discovered that’s OK. Then Idol happened.
MIW:What is your favorite part about the music industry? Your least favorite? Why?
Uché: Getting to make a career out of being creative, making badass music with badass people for badass people who need to hear it. Least favorite, early af call times – I’m a night owl.
MIW:What advice would you give someone wanting to follow in your footsteps?
Uché: Develop yourself. In other words, find out who you are as an artist, study artists of the past, and try to find yourself within them. I am a little bit of Prince, a bit Rick James, George Clinton, a dash of Janet Jackson, Madonna, Freddy Mercury, and Bootsy Collins. I’ve come to realize that all of the stuff other people hate about themselves or the things that make them weird or different when comparing themselves to their peers, classmates, co-workers – all of the differences that make up you, and everything that some may consider weird about you, it is exactly the thing that makes you dope and great! So embrace your weirdness and the thing that makes you different. It’s a good thing, lol.
Uché – Music Industry Weekly’s Featured Artist
MIW:When it comes to songwriting, what is your creative process?
Uché: Writing flows easily when I’m in the thick of an emotional situation. For example, if I just found out some terrible news that puts me into an emotional state, writing lyrics and creating the melody at the same time come effortlessly. Other times, I usually will start with either the melody or the lyrics first. I will come up with a general vibe of something that sounds catchy to me, then I come up with melodies using an onomatopoeia, like “La” or “Da” all the way through the Chorus. Then I will begin to write lyrics. I feel like creating melodies and writing lyrics uses two different parts of your brain, and if you try to do it at the same time, one may suffer. I don’t know if that makes any freaking sense, lol. But it’s my process.
MIW:You mentioned that some of your musical influences include Prince, Rick James, Freddy Mercury, and Bootsy Collins. If you had to pick one artist who had the greatest influence on you as an artist, who would it be and why?
Uché: Prince. I grew up in Minnesota. The first song I ever remember singing was “1999.” He was the epitome of cool to me. I studied how he worked a stage, how he used the mic stand and his stage persona. He’s part of the reason I fell in love with funk music.
MIW:Although you have a massive fan following as a music artist, some people don’t know that you are also an established actor and model as well. Do you still have time to do those other things now that your music career has taken off?
Uché: Literally my entire life is music right now, that is my complete focus. I barely even have time to see my friends – I miss them. I feel like the music, acting, and modeling goes hand in hand though. Everything seems so symbiotic nowadays.
MIW:What can you tell us about your latest music project?
Uché: It’s going to be funky but I’m dipping into other vibes as well. So many funk legends have reached out to help me and have expressed wanting to help me with my music career and contribute to my project. From, Bootsy Collins, Howard Scott from War, and even freaking George Clinton, The Godfather of Funk. I’m literally still shaken by it all. These guys are music royalty. The level of support I’ve been getting from these guys who have inspired so many other artists’ music and paved the way for sooo many is something I could never imagine, and they’re so down to earth. My project, the music, is going to be incredibly raw and honest. Its gonna be me just being human. In my circle, I am the rock for so many of my friends. I’m always the one giving them advice, talking them down, and keeping it together. But in my music, I don’t want to be that guy. I just want to be who I am when I’m alone in my bedroom and somehow translate that wholly in the music so you guys can begin to understand the guy behind all the extra, obnoxious shit. I’m gonna reveal the things that I personally go through, think, and worry about. Don’t expect too many sappy love songs out of me… that’s not my thing right now.
MIW:Where have you performed recently?
Uché: I just wrapped up headlining for Pride Houston. Prior to that I did my first hometown concert – played a show with the legendary funk band “War.”
MIW: When can we expect to see your next project drop?
Uché: Look for a new single from me late August.
MIW: How can our readers connect with you on social media, learn more about you, or stream/download your music and/or videos?
Uché: DM me on Instagram, I will respond and I love talking to yall:
Machine Gun Kelly dropped the official video for “Candy” ft. Trippie Redd & Pete Davidson on Tuesday. Miles and AJ directed the video of MGK and Trippie Redd in a pharmacy, rapping about their drug-use to cope with life’s pains. “Stay up, take addies, yeah/ I’m tryna fix this damage, yeah/ You know I keep that candy.”
Saturday Night Live‘s Pete Davidson stars as the pharmacist who isn’t fooled about these kids wanting to purchase some cough syrup labeled “Lit Juice,” which they claim to be for their sick mother. Davidson continues to tell the kids that they’ll need to make up another plan if they’re going to trick someone into selling them drugs illegally.
Here are some of the rapper’s thoughts on how Hotel Diablo came about:“I would say that each track is just a different entryway to my soul. The last 2 years I was looking for a place to go where I could escape, but that place I was looking for ended up being in my head the whole time. Hotel Diablo became a concept album with each song acting as a different door to the soul; don’t be scared to unlock them and come inside. The truth sets us free and the mind is an infinite world.”
Watch the “Candy” video below.
Taylor Swift took the stage at the Amazon Prime Concert and performed for the very first time, “You Need to Calm Down” which dropped on June 14 as the second single from Lover, her upcoming seventh studio set.
Her fans or “Swifties” went absolute bananas as you could imagine. She opened the show with one of her singles from her album Lover called “ME,” and closed with “Shake It off.”
Over-all she performed a nine-song set. This show will forever stand out from all the rest because of T-Swift’s showmanship for “You Need to Calm Down.”
Beyonce has just released a new single called “Spirit” which is her single from the album & soundtrack for The Lion King, due out July 19th. This album features many well-known artists that committed their time and music to resemble the sounds of Africa for this production. This was all curated by Beyonce Knowles-Carter.
You can listen to her single below:
Beck just premiered the rawest video called “Saw Lightning (Freestyle)” that surprise dropped on April 15, 2019. The video shows him “stripping his latest single down to its bare bones.”
The video was directed by Giovanni Ribisi. He said that Beck’s new single and video are completely different from Beck’s first single off of his upcoming 14th album, Hyperspace via Capitol Records.
Beck and Cage The Elephant will spend the rest of the summer co-headlining the Night Running Tour.
Watch the intimate take of Beck’s “Saw Lightning” official video below:
Never before have they held an event at this gorgeous property. The entirety has been reserved exclusively for this festival. They have completely customized everything about the venue from the beach, to the temple, to the nightclubs, pools, sound systems, YOU NAME IT. This is a Bassnectar show you don’t want to miss!
DEJA VOOM LOYALTY PROGRAM:
If you attended the event last year, there is special access for you called “Loyalty Pre-sale,” which will be available on July 17th at 1pm ET.
Go to the Deja Voom website, and view all the information so you’re not out of the loop! Spread the word and click 
