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Bandzoogle

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Music distribution & website service
Bandzoogle
IndustryOnline services
Founded2003
FounderChris Vinson
Key peopleStacey Bedford (CEO)
ProductsSocial networking
Online service provider
Online media
Websitebandzoogle.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. 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. Members can create sustainable income streams through their websites, including selling physical merch, singles, or albums.

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

History

Bandzoogle was founded in 2003 by musician Chris Vinson 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.

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

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. In 2021 alone artists earned over $9.9 million in commission-free revenue using the platform’s direct-to-fan sales tools.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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. 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.

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.

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. 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.

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.

In 2023 Bandzoogle added a new subscription plan focused on electronic press kits (EPKs) for artists. 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.

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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