Okay, so there are some good band website designs out there. The Blizzards for example:
But I looked at a lot of sites before I came across any that were better than just average as far as design goes. Is it because it’s easier to put up a band page on MySpace instead of pushing design boundaries?
Where are the innovative site designs bands used to have? Drop me a comment link to any nice band website design you’ve seen recently.
Here are some nice ones I have found so far:
- theshins.com
- deathcabforcutie.com
- sleepingatlast.com
- camera-obscura.net
- interpolnyc.com
- theyoungknives.com
- decemberists.com
- coldplay.com
- elbow.co.uk
4 responses to “Where Have All the Cool Band Websites Gone?”
I think its a product of the direction of web design in general (not just band sites). Everything is a blog or news site, or looks like a blog or news site, since the interent really is about information first and a unique experience second. Designers seem to be pushed more and more into just skinning someone else’s information/application framework rather than the creative being all-encompassing. It seems that people think “okay, I really just need to get some info online, or I’ve got this semi-useful application that people can use to do such-and-such, or I want a place for people to hang out online.” And then, when that’s all said-and-done, they think “okay, launch is like in 2 weeks, lets make it look aesthetically pleasing.” And what do you get? A blog. A news site. A boring social network skin. (and definitely not with any costly, artistic, SEO-killing flash)
So when a band wants a site, what do think? They (or more appropriately their record label – can’t underscore the record label part enough) think(s) about all the places their (potential) fans hang out and interact online: blogs, social media networks, news sites. And low-and-behold, their site looks like every other blog, news site or social media network. So…we design as we see, and all we see is boring.
Oh and did I mention good web design costs time and money? People seem to miss that part when they think about getting a site designed.
So true Mike. Really good observations. I totally agree with you on the record label influence. Also, the time and money factor can definitely influence site design decisions–particularly with lesser known, or relatively new, bands. Also if a band becomes involved in more than just music. For example: http://www.u2.com/.
What I totally don’t get is the Rolling Stones’ website: http://www.rollingstones.com. Here you have a band with a potentially huge budget, and yet a super boring website. And in flash that could have easily been coded in plain html. Plus it hasn’t been redesigned in four years. Not sure what category that one fits in. 🙂
Long time ago, that I visited a band web site. They are all on Myspace, which is better from the social point. You can connect there with your favourite bands.
Yeah, many of them went to MySpace. Even though they all end up looking like crap, they get all the networking and music player functions they want. Personally I can’t stand 90% of the MySpace band profiles out there, but it *is* nice to have a player that consistently works properly.
Also keep in mind that many musicians aren’t hardcore technologists, so for some, MySpace is an easy win that gets the job done.