Best music host site for Composers (vs. bands/artists)?

[ckbarlow]

• First off, what compels composers (vs. artists/bands) to host their music someplace other than on their TAXI page, e.g. ReverbNation? What does that do for you; how do you use it?
• Assuming I should use such a site, which one do you (composers) like best and why?

Thanks!

[mazz]

I really like the ability to host playlist widgets from RN to my website. Makes updating the site seamless. I also like the ability to put together little "tunepacks" and send links to them via e-mail or forum posts. I also like the "metrics" that track visits, plays, charts, etc. Being able to post an update and have it "broadcast" to Twitter, FB, MySpace, etc. is a great time saver. For live performers, there's lists of gigs, tour maps and e-mail list management, street team, and so on. It's well thought out.

RN works well for me thus far. I'm looking forward to seeing what TAXI 2.0 offers as well. In the meantime, RN has what I need.

HTH,

Mazz

[marcblack30]

+1 to RN.
I love that I can embed the player/widget to my website and there's many to choose from.
The one I have is like a mini website, pics/videos/song etc.
http://www.marcblackwellmusic.com/site/my-music/

It's super easy to upload tunes too.
The only thing I find just a bit annoying, is that if you have an updated version of a song, you can't just replace/update the mp3 file, you have to upload it as a new song, I typically delete the older version so any stats gathered on the old version are lost, not a "deal breaker" but it would be nice if you could just update the mp3.

RN is pretty powerful, I only use it for basic stuff, but the basic stuff is great!

[prez]

I have gone the way of using neither, utilizing web hosting at Bandzoogle. It's inexpensive ($15.00 a month) and making a website is extremely easy. Plus they now they have it to where you can customize it even more. Overall, I believe it makes you look a little bit more professional than those just using free services and allows you to expand beyond TAXI for leads.

God bless.

[mazz]

As I mentioned before, I mostly just use RN to host my music, but I then just put the RN widget on my website as a player. I don't use RN as my main site but it's widgets are very cool for linking songs on FB, Twitter, etc.

And even though I link the player to my main site. it still captures plays and shows up in the metrics at RN. All in all a cool thing, IMO.

You can see how I use it at www.johnmazzei.com


Mazz

[mazz]

I have gone the way of using neither, utilizing web hosting at Bandzoogle. It's inexpensive ($15.00 a month) and making a website is extremely easy. Plus they now they have it to where you can customize it even more. Overall, I believe it makes you look a little bit more professional than those just using free services and allows you to expand beyond TAXI for leads.

God bless.

Cool website, BTW!!!

Mazz

[ckbarlow]

Thanks, everyone, for your feedback.

Mazz, when replacing one rev of a track with a newer rev, do you do the same as described by MarkBlack? Deleting and losing the metrics would definitely get annoying.

[prez]

As I mentioned before, I mostly just use RN to host my music, but I then just put the RN widget on my website as a player. I don't use RN as my main site but it's widgets are very cool for linking songs on FB, Twitter, etc.

And even though I link the player to my main site. it still captures plays and shows up in the metrics at RN. All in all a cool thing, IMO.

You can see how I use it at http://www.johnmazzei.com


Mazz

Hey Mazz. Thanks for the thumbs up. It's still a work in progress but it gets the job done.

I see what you're talking about and it looks good. A simple blog template with your music right in the middle where people can't miss it. Nice (talking about the music too ). I'll have to look at seeing if I can get a music player to match my site from RN because the one BZ has now is not the best looking thing in the world.

God bless.

UPDATE: Well. Looks like with barely any tweaking I got the player to look decent. Much can happen with a little work.

[mazz]

Thanks, everyone, for your feedback.

Mazz, when replacing one rev of a track with a newer rev, do you do the same as described by MarkBlack? Deleting and losing the metrics would definitely get annoying.

I must admit that losing the metrics when updating hadn't occurred to me. That's an issue worth an email to their customer service dept. If there was one thing good about another companies' annoying website, it was the update feature. Maybe there's a way to do it on RN that I haven't discovered.

Otherwise I'm happy with it

mazz

[bigbluebarry]

Hey Mazz, I sent them a tweet this morning about it their response was that it's possible to update an existing mp3 if you use their mega storage solution.

http://twitter.com/reverbnation/status/11426969896

- Big Blue