How Much Are Artists Willing To Pay To Increase Their Online Presense?

Thanks to this new business section, I thought I'd drop this scenario in and see what kind of responses I can get.

I'm setting up an online business for audio related services (press kit writing, beat sales, custom computer building, the works) and I'm curious about offering a website building/managing service for aspiring artists.

Basically, for an start-up fee of $150-$250 and a monthly fee of $50-$100, an artist could obtain the following:

- His/her own .com name.
- Custom website complete with bio, events, news, pictures, songs, and more.
- Hosting provided by my company.
- Website management provided by my company.
- Management of MySpace, SoundClick, YouTube, et cetera accounts.
- Discounts on certain services, such as custom production.
- Some other things that I've not decided on yet.

What I'm asking, is well, is it worth to invest time into offering a service like this for aspiring artists who need that extra online edge? Are they going to be willing to invest their money into this type of exposure. Will they feel that the money involved is worth the benefits that the service can bring? Is there a market for such a thing? Would my business profit from such a service or would I lose money due to a lack of interest?

So, what do you think about this scenario?

i think what you wanna do is great and i was thinkin bout doin somethin simular but i mean part of being an underground artist these days is how you manage your own shit and proving how much you willin to do as the dirty work but i mean there are those lazy artist who arent gonna make it that would rather pay for a service like that then reach out and be real with people, but i think its an excellent idea cause what you wanna do is where moneys at just a piece of my mind

i'm willing to admit there's probably a market out there for this. just don't expect anything better than the next SOulja Boy, because the good ones will be out there getting heard.

Amazing entrepreneurship, and I think that if you start off with some sort of opening special such as "Get this $XXX.XX value for $XX.XX for your first month/three months!" you'll have a lot of a marketing coming in. Also, break it down into packages, such as a total package, then an all inclusive web package, then a myspace-only package, etc. Work out how to distribute artist's music legally, and you COULD compete with cd baby.

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You could also look here for other business who may already be doing the same thing.

Thanks for the responses everyone. It's still a working concept, as with about half of my business right now, but it's getting there.

Yea, this is really my only concern about taking the time to start up a service like this. Many artists would prefer to do the process on their own. I think what is going to end up happening is that I'm going to tailor the service to both types of artists, the ones who are passive and the ones who are "hands-on".

Well, as long as they have the monetary resources, the level of talent is a non-factor for me. The potential business and traffic to my business that could come from a successful client is great but the money will benefit me more in the short term, which is the important thing right now.

Great advice from you as usual. The idea of specials are already in effect for some of the other services I am going to offer, so if I decide to go with this idea, I'll definably offer discounts to encourage people to take a chance with this. I've even thought about doing a "one month trial" at a discounted rate to allow a client to see if the service is actually going to help them in the long-term.

Packages are a great idea as well. That's probably how everything is going to get worked out in the end. Everyone isn't going to require all the bells and whistles. They may need a domain and website but not the management. It's just additional things that I'm going to have to work out before September. :P

Also, with your distribution idea, it's a good idea. There are legal issues, but then again, there are legal issues with every aspect of starting a business, especially one that caters to musicians. I've done a lot of reading on DMCA and intellectual rights as of late, so I feel confident that I'll be protected legally until my business grows (hopefully) to a level that will allow me to hire a lawyer to handle any legal issues.

Thanks for that link as well. It's something that I'm going to take a dive in and see if I can come out with any useful information.

The marketing aspect is the only issue that I'm hesitant with at the moment. I usually outsource marketing work when I open my websites, but what I'm doing now is on an entirely different level and I'm trying to do the challenging tasks on my own so that I can gain that experience for the future.

Thanks for the responses, though. If anyone has anything else to add to the discussion, I'd appreciate it.

Awesome. See, outsourcing is something that's hard to do when you've been fucked a few times in business ventures. That's why I bought all of my recording equipment instead of going to a studio. I got the programs and taught myself so I wouldn't have to hire someone. I did my best to learn graphics as to ease some of the pain with designing things. I learned to rap so I'd have more of a variety of music. I learned to DJ so I could spin my own shit as well as anyone on the label. I started making beats so I wouldn't have to rely on someone else.

Don't get me wrong, outsourcing has it's ups. I wouldn't trust anyone other than my photographer with anything in the related field. Graphics I usually give to him as well, and if he can't do it, he finds me someone who can.



That's one thing that I'll say man. Always keep your word in business. One successful business venture, no matter the size, could and most likely will always lead to bigger and better things. I'll make a post ASAP where we can all discuss the benefits of networking.

Good luck, though, and if there's ever anything you need, you can contact me through here or through MySpace and I'll give you my number.

thats exactly why i got my own equipment and learned how to do everything so i can cut the middle man out and not have to rely on no one but myself, except with the graphics and web designing thing i did that way before i got into music but def got the same mindstate as you malpraktiss we agree on a lot of the same methods industry wise

people dont pay for services they pay for names....i bet you if myspace stayed the way it is today but tommorow you have to pay to use it people would pay just because its myspace

thats a good service you offer but who are you? what has your business done who is connected to you and your business? these are the things id want to know id want to make sure i wasn't sending my money to some cat that swore he could do shit that he couldn't

and i dont agree with paying for things a person can do themseslves...what could u do so special to a myspace, youtube or a soundclick account that they couldn't do?

that website shit u said was a good look a lot of artist want they own websites but u can buy your own dot come and design your own website for cheaper then what your offering

i think you are offering a high ass price to do something that people can do themselves what is the one time fee for if they have to pay monthly? too me i think you reaching but a lot of people who don't have tha time may reach out

LMAO at Ef. You obviously have no clue about the economics of the web development world. Lemme explain:

No, people generally pay for services. Those addicted to materialism pay for names. Those who want results pay for services.

Like I said, the business is new. I personally have five years in the web development industry and I have a nice clientele, ranging from individual webmasters to small business owners. I bring results and I show those results to my clients. In my five years as a freelancer in the web development industry, I've never had a negative complaint from a client. Additionally, I've promised some free work to a few individuals (including two individuals on this forum) to reassure any potential client that I'll be bringing a quality and cost efficient service.

Can you code a custom content management system using the PHP language and a mySQL back-end? No. Do you have the experience to code website templates that are compliant to web standards and work in all major browsers? No. That's what I thought. If you had actually READ my topic, you would have noticed that the incentives you are mentioning are extras that are included in the base service.

Unless you have a solid background in HTML / CSS programming, you aren't going to be able to make a decent site that is going to represent you well. Anyone can buy a domain for $9 and acquire some free hosting. What everyone doesn't have, however, is the time and expertise to create all of the elements of a successful website. Additionally, many people refuse to take the time to use proper English structure in their typed work. This looks extremely unprofessional on a website (hell, it even looks bad on a forum) and can lead to undesired results. By entrusting their needs with my company, they'll be covered on a professional level at an Indie rate.

Wow? Seriously? I make anywhere from $30 - $50 an hour as a freelance programmer. Considering that I will spend more than an hour a month on any given client website, along with the fact that I'm hosting the website for free (hosting is expensive, you know), the fees that I have established are reasonable.

The start-up fee is higher because, in the event that you desire a more complex website, I may have to outsource the design work to someone who has the required Photoshop skills to create the website design. That's going to run anywhere from $50 - $150 by itself in a normal situation. My personal designer charges me $75 per design, and that's on a discount.

I appreciate the fact that you took the time to input your opinion, but it's obvious that you have little to no experience in the website development industry. This work is not cheap, and compared to the industry standards, I'm offering a service for easily 2-5 times under market value. Unlike the saturated beat industry, programmers like myself don't have to undersell our work by extreme margins.

If a potential client (artist) is either not willing to invest their money into a professional website or if they don't have the money to invest their website, then that's their personal decision and it is going to limit their growth beyond the local neighborhood. That's their own individual decision, but for those that would like to advance their image in the hopes of something greater, I'm going to offer an excellent service at competitive rates.

If you honestly think that my prices are overpriced, I challenge you to find an American programmer that would do this amount of work for that price that has a solid working background with musicians.

Thank you for your input.

justin went in on that but i mean hes got a point a lot of people under look web designers and graphic designers and yeah with 10 years experience in coding and graphics myself i see why justin got tight a real website is needed and a lot of artists got these wack ass sites that make me loose interest in them cause they dont even take it serious enough to have a real looking site. anyone can read an html book and make a website and pay for a domain and hosting. but to make something real requires experience and more then just html. like php, asp, perl, cgi, mysql, etc. theres def a good market for what he wants to do, as far as the myspace thing artists like myself would prefer to manage there own shit but you know damn well a lot of artists think they can make it by sitting on they asses so its a lot of money in it and the website ish will make money regardless cause theres few good designers that dont charge you market rate. any serious/lazy artist or artist who thinks theyre the next big thing (be it they are or arent) would take advantage of that shit quick

he aint go in on shit i just said how i felt...he is speaking from a guy that stands behind his product and he should. I am not saying that he wouldn't make money, i am not saying it isn't a good idea. What he just said provided more information then what i read how as i suppose to know that he knew what he knew and he could provide what he could provide. You know how many messages a day i get from people claiming they can do this for me on myspace do this for me on youtube do this for me on this site. you know how many web designers out there? all im saying is he may offer a quality thing but people go where its cheaper even if it isn't the best choice

and i see people who have nothing on they websites and get just as much love as people who get fancy shit done like you are offering. Having all these things are a great added bonus but if you are not in a space to really afford the exspense of it is it worth it? is it something you really need if you can't really afford it?

just like i dont no him he dont no me he don't no what im capable of or who i know and what they are capable of so while he is saying oh can u do this can u do that...i may not but that doesn't mean someone i know cannot and will not do it for me for a cheap price if not for free...

a lot of artist make it our business to get shit for free and when you are targeting people who trying to make money not spend it you have to sale yourself

i didn't say his idea wasn't good i said that people would be sketchy about it..so he has worked with people before and got good results great but i dont no that and im sure a lot of you dont no that so how can we co-sign what we don't see??

its a good idea that you want to provide a service to people who can or cannot do this themselves im just letting you no that it is a lot of negative shit to consider along with the positive of it all...relax

yeah i see what your sayin i mistook you a little, either way my bad if i came off sounding like a dick

I think personally its a good field to get into. Doesn't matter if the people know you or not. If you have a good list of service to provide for the consumers then you'd get business. I know that I was looking at doin this same thing once, but never followed up on it. Not because I am lazy, but because I do not have the equipment or know-how to do graphic design and creating webpages/sites. I'm still leanring til this day, I'm trying to learn more about any & everything that I can.

But good luck with everything