Update: BandWPThemes is now live. You can grab the Indie version for $27 and the Platinum version for $37. Learn more here.
I love WordPress. It’s no secret. I’ve gone toe-to-toe with a lot of people on this and I seldom lose. It is the most powerful tool (outside of email) due to the amount of community generated resources, plugins and help. In other words it can do anything you want and more. Google loves it. People love it. Fans love that it allows interaction via comments and integration with your social profiles.
That’s good and all, but for some musicians adding all the bells and whistles is a bit of technical problem. I’ve been working with two good friends over the last few months (Brett Burky and Andrew Norcross) on chopping that barrier to entry and making it easy to get your site up and looking funky fresh as quickly as possible.
In the next few weeks we will be launching BandWPThemes. It will be a premium WordPress Theme made solely for musicians, along with a ton of training on using the platform to get more cool people checking out this new site. This is not a theme made for business or bloggers who bog about bloggers and you tweak it to work like a band WordPress site should. That takes a lot of work. This is a WordPress Theme made for you guys – artists, musicians, bands, MC’s, DJ’s and those that spend their time being creative and just “want the technology to work.”
I’m not here to sell you on it today. You’ll get enough of that in the next few weeks.
Today I want to give away 2 of them. To you!
I want you to test it, to break it and provide some feedback on it before we launch. You might also get some extra publicity on the pre-launch if you want to share your story.
Here’s how to enter:
Opportunity 1 – The Blog Comment
Leave a comment below. Yup, that’s it. Leave us a few words about why you want the theme or why you think WordPress is cool, or why you haven’t used WordPress before. We’ll pick one at random this Friday at 4pm EST and I’ll shoot you over a copy of the theme.
Opportunity 2 – The Twitter Star
Tweet one of the messages below or a variant of it. Just use the #wordpressband and the link http://bit.ly/cNsBmn. We will be monitoring it with Twitter Search and will also pick one Twitter Rock Star at random. With Twitter though – you can enter once a day (or 5 times total) We will pick the winner on Friday at 4:15pm EST.
Win a new WordPress Theme made just for musicians from @g_ro #wordpressband http://bit.ly/cNsBmn
New WordPress Theme For Bands via @g_ro #wordpressband http://bit.ly/cNsBmn
ReTweet this to win a new WordPress Theme for musicians via @g_ro #wordpressband http://bit.ly/cNsBmn
Please no SPAM. Remember to treat your followers with respect and provide value to them.
Looking forward to getting you guys a sneak peek at the theme.
-Greg
Tags: Music Marketing, wordpress
Leave A Reply (49 comments So Far)
The comments are closed.
B
639 days ago
This is fantastic. Tweaking other themes to make them work for a musician is a painful process. I work with a musician/singer and I’ve been working overtime trying to get his site up but found it difficult to find themes suitable for musicians.
Mike
639 days ago
I’ve always been a fan of wordpress for musicians- there is a huge void of “musician ready” theme’s…consider this my entry- I can’t wait to see the demo.
Mike
639 days ago
Good idea. My experience with the wordpress themes I have used is that they require a lot of coding and maunal manipulation of html and other code. That gets really tedious.
Mazon
639 days ago
as a musician I understand that an online presence is mandatory these days for any kind of artists. I’m trying to craft my own blog now with WordPress but it would be better if I could get a design from a professional designer. that way, I could be taken more seriously by visitors of my site.
dg
639 days ago
I want to try the WordPress themes for bands because I could use it myself for my radio show podcast, and, I’m working with a few bands consulting and developing WordPress and social network sites, all in the interest of sharing more music online. Hook me up!
D.s.sence /// DJ D.SCOTT
639 days ago
Whether i’m chosen or not, i am definitely starting a wordpress blog soon. I am about to graduate from college and am trying to now stay on my music grind (MC, DJ). I’ve read a lot articles containing advice for artists who are trying to get their sound out to world and most agree that a blog is a great start.
Check me out if you have a chance: facebook.com/d.s.sence
hchicha
639 days ago
Hi freinds,
I’m using WordPress since 2002
It’s the best CMS ever created by a humanoid
)
I like it cause it’s simple to be adapted to lot of type of use.
https://twitter.com/hchicha/status/14689484749
Thanks
ps: sorry for my ridiculous english
Gidgets Ga Ga
639 days ago
We would be most grateful for another app to increase awareness and sales.
ADAMHOEK
639 days ago
Man I am really looking forward to this.
My website is kinda ok. but it can be better…but i just want to focus on my projects.
I wish it worked real smooth like.
I already use word press. but have got some problems with it. I think it has to do with how my builder set it all up in the first place. It really should have an overhaul.
Sami
639 days ago
Great idea.
I use WordPress for all my musician websites too
Dexter Bryant Jr
639 days ago
Wordpress is the SHIZNIT. I use it for my main site The Hit Music Academy and it has everything a blogger/musician needs. I suck @ HTML & web design (I’m not much of a techie I admit) but my WordPress-powered site still looks friggin swEET, or @ least that’s what I hear anyway xD
I need the bandWPtheme cuz its high time for #DME to take over the music business with web 2.0. The right WP theme with the right logo spread across the right web hangouts is a meme just itching to contaminate the universe. That’s digital branding @ its finest.
Peace+Love+Music
- d.BRYJ
Anthony Burbidge
639 days ago
Talk about synchronicity. It’s been on my “to do” list for months to update my website. One thing after another seemed to keep coming up and I still haven’t gotten to my website
overhaul.
Then, just recently, I was at a workshop where the speaker spent 15 minutes praising WordPress and the new templates and plugs that are available. I was blown away by what she’d done with her website. Suddenly I knew why my website overhaul had been delayed – I hadn’t yet learned about WordPress!
Since then, I’ve been wondering how I might adapt these new WordPress templates and tools for my website as a musician. Now it seeems you’ve done it for me! Fantastic!
Thank-you!
Peace -
A
Martin Giraldo
639 days ago
This is great! We have been using WP for more than 5 years now. Can wait to get my hands on a theme like this. Our latest music project was hosted online thanks to WP, check it out: http://www.unconventionmedellin.com.
Christopher Joel
639 days ago
I’ve been using WordPress for years and I’ve only seen one theme made specifically for musicians and it wasn’t that impressive. I hope you guys have something better!
I even wrote a book showing musicians how to install and setup WordPress for their site. The theme section is pretty thin though since there are some many subjective choices. I’d love to include your themes as a recommendation in there, but I’ll need to be familiar with them first!
Kenneth Younger
639 days ago
Cool. I would love to play around with this.
What license are you planning to release it under?
corinne morris
639 days ago
I’ve been looking all over the internet for a WordPress theme that is “musician-friendly”! Could it be that my wish has come true?
Cheers,
Corinne
B. Junk
639 days ago
Our website has been dragging for sometime. It’s like one of those big elephants in the room or whatever. We all know it needs an overhaul and need to have a solid online home for the band. But we just pretend its not there. Quite sad, indeed.
Please send help. Cheers,
BJ
DCT
639 days ago
How fitting that just as I was (unsuccessfully) searching for a musician-friendly WordPress theme, I see this site. I love WordPress because it makes updating my site so much easier, but I’ve never been able to find the “right” theme. So, I guess you can consider this my entry. =)
-DCT
Larry Burnett
639 days ago
As a former “somebody” in the music business, and having failed at all attempts to live a “normal life” for the past couple of decades, I am desperately trying anything/everything to re-emerge as a simple singer/songwriter to somehow support myself into my alleged “golden years”. I have a WordPress blog attached to my web site, but I discover that I’m not much of a blogger, although my few posts have generated significant interest. I look forward to seeing how your new themes might impact my efforts.
LB
Dave Davis
639 days ago
As someone specializing in creating cool, in-demand music products to help bands earn a decent living, a good website is a key to success. Like you guys, we advocate WordPress as a platform to promote bands and connect with fans. We’d absolutely LOVE to have a simple, effective out-of-the-box solution for our clients, so your WP band themes are pretty exciting to us! If it works, we’ll use it for all of our projects!
Can’t wait to see it!
chris strange
639 days ago
Hey all. I’ve tweaked this theme for my personal musician site. I love using feeds and social media tools to make updates easy. Thanks to twitter, I can update this site from my phone. http://www.chrisstrange.com
Abby Feferman
639 days ago
Hello! This is great! I actually haven’t tried WordPress yet, but even if I don’t win this, I am definitely going to start using it soon. I am a musician and I know the way a person markets his/her music is very important. Wishing the best of luck to everybody!
Heidi Kolman
639 days ago
Need better ideas always.
Heidi Kolman
639 days ago
pingled it too
Richard O'Brien
639 days ago
I’m a hard working musician with only a myspace page. Although quite good what I neally need is a proper site…I hear good things about World Press
Scruffy
639 days ago
mmmm… would love to win a wordpress theme – broke and touring
SD
639 days ago
I do not know what WordPress is but would like too. If it has something to do with helping bands promote themselves. I spend 6 hrs a day online promoting, emailing, commenting and connecting with fans. Myspace and Facebook seems to be the biggest and best ways now. Let’s see what WordPress has for us. Up the game, make it easy on us musicians, bring it on! What ya got?!
elkin
639 days ago
I’d love to test this out with one of our artists! Thanks!
Pete
639 days ago
Well, this is seriously interesting….why? Because, basically I know I need to add WordPress to my marketing arsenal, but I don’t have a clue as to how to do it,where to do it from, how it works…..I know how to spell ‘WordPress’, but that’s about it….! We have a great website, but I know that by using WordPress, say for blogging etc., this will help enhance our exposure to our growing fanbase…..but I can’t get a grip on it….if you’re offering advice and help (and free themes to boot…..by the way, what’s a’theme’…?), then I’m your man!!
gregrollett
639 days ago
Thanks for all the awesome comments and Tweets guys. There is still plenty of time to enter the contest and win one of the 2 free themes.
I am going to answer each and every one of your questions over the next week or so during the pre-launch. Everything from
“what is wordpress”
to
“why blog”
to
“what do i even use this for”
onto the more advanced stuff like
“how can i leverage this stuff to get more fans and build a bigger music business”
Keep an eye out on the site and in your inbox for all that stuff.
Really appreciate it and I am learning a lot about you all from this experience. Your voice is being heard.
-G
Wicked D
639 days ago
Damn Greg, we should have met awhile back and maybe worked on some stuff together. As I have mentioned before, I am developing “The Musician’s Affiliate” in which your product, “The New Music Economy” would fit in rather well as far as opening other income streams for artists.
I am also a huge WordPress advocate and have been considering launching a “WordPress for Musicians” section on the new website. No doubt I will link to and recommend your new themes site!
Keep up the great work!
alice hive
639 days ago
Well, how does the theme look like?
gregrollett
639 days ago
hey alice,
you will get to see all of that and more next week during the pre-launch. for now, its kinda super secretive over here. we have a ton of awesome stuff to show you and you’ll mos def get to preview some sites using the theme before it goes live.
-G
David
638 days ago
Man, this would be great to have. My band Paper or Plastic uses Ning currently, and though it’s full of great features, it’s just not quite there in terms of what a band site should be. Plus it will no longer be free in july
Would love to test out the WP band theme.
cheers!
david // paper or plastic
http://www.paper-or-plastic.com // @paperor
cj3000
638 days ago
I desperately want to use this site to “inspire” my own band’s site re-design. I love how concise, powerful and connected wp sites can be when properly designed and managed. And yes, it’s a real shame there aren’t more musician-useful templates about.
http://www.teenagersintokyo.com/home/
DEV
638 days ago
I think WordPress Theme would catapult my label through the roof. I have to get involved in the happenings.
DIY Band Websites
638 days ago
Hi Greg,
I’m a huge proponet of WordPress for bands, and am in the middle of creating my own training. Would love to check out your themes and recommend as well since it’s always good to have plenty of options out there. I’m looking forward to finding out more and seeing what your themes bring to the table!
Mike
Valentin
638 days ago
Wordpress is great, I use it for my blog about music and design http://www.sensoria.ws , and I would like a theme that’s made for musicians, it would be great for me.
James
638 days ago
Pick me, Pick me, Pick me, Pick me! Come on random number generator I have faith in you
Shantha
638 days ago
Yep, all you would need is to see what the guys are now using for a “band website” & your random picker would pick us out of sheer PITY!
*crosses fingers*
Himanshu
638 days ago
using wordpress for a yr now, but only for my photoblog yet… need to make my band website and customising is a pain! would love to have a music ready theme! looking forward to previewing the theme
donnam13
637 days ago
I’ve been on wordpress for about a year and a half – love it. Use it to host my photo blog, and use the free version for my charity project and music blog.. I can already see the possibililties of this! I’d love to use your new theme for my client’s much needed website – she’s starting from scratch and as I’m good with wordpress this would be amazing.
Mike @ GarageSpin
637 days ago
I’m a Movable Type-to-Wordpress convert since 2008…I’m not sure how I survived without WP for so long. That said, I still spend hours on tasks that would take a decent web designer minutes to implement. An artist-tailored theme that incorporates all the latest integration technology would be super-dooper.
theconniemack
636 days ago
Besides all the terrific plugins, a Music Themed WordPress Site would be an awesome tool for SEO!
Stephen Francis
635 days ago
This would make our lives so much easier. Thank you for taking on this task!
Mike
635 days ago
Hi Guys- good work! Can’t wait to see the theme. I run a little recording label and I’ve built all of my client websites on wordpress, including,
http://www.JoshKnightMusic.com
http://www.TwitterSongs.com
http://www.RenotRecords.com
Wordpress rocks- how much of the 3.0, capabilties are you incorporating? changable background image? eh?
Zologie
635 days ago
Artists don’t want to worry about coding an entire WordPress theme! We need to stay focused on the creative aspect. These new themes will allow artists to expand their online representation in a more legitimate matter! Amazing innovation here.
-Zologie
http://www.reverbnation.com/zologie
http://www.twitter.com/zologie
big A
632 days ago
My website needs a heavy heavy duty overhaul. I’ve been thinking about switching over to wordpress for some time, just never got to switching over. I am definitely interested in seeing what designs y’all come up with. An artist page needs to be able to blog allow comments, have a media page or music and videos pages. I look forward to seeing what you guys create. Keep up the innovation.