selling music

[smurkin]

Folks, a lil advidce plz.

My Brother wants to start a site for networking with musicians and selling music. He wanted to know how to do it all. Now, Ive done my own websites in the past, but I recon his site needs some sophistication/prfessionalism to make his ideas work. So..

1) can anyone recommend some fairly cheap webstie authoring software, perhaps with design templates ?

2) how do you run a bulletin board & is there free software ?

3) whats the first port of call for selling stuff online (other than ebay ;P)

Thanks in advance :worthy:

 

[Clown]

Is this how Napster started?

 

[smurkin]

The plan is to retail his own work and community forums...nothing dodgy

 

[Jonty]

Hi smurkin

1) can anyone recommend some fairly cheap webstie authoring software, perhaps with design templates ?

You really have three options here. First, use a content management system (CMS) such as PHP Nuke or the likes. These essentially allow you to start a site without any knowledge of programming and can be customised as you see fit. The only problem is they can seem a bit unprofessional at times, due to their use by every Tom, Dick and Harry, but nevertheless they're a good starting point.

Your second option is to design the site yourself in something like Dreamweaver or Frontpage. Both of these cost, but they do (I believe) come with templates and have a visual designing mode, so you don't have to worry about hand coding anything. The only downside is when you need advanced functionality (e.g. beyond the mere look of the site) you're probably going to have to locate third party scripts.

Finally, you could pay someone to design a site. This is by far the most expensive option, but if your brother is serious, then the old adage holds true: you pay for what you get. If you get a good designer (sadly there are many not so good ones) then you'll get a professional, bespoke website.

Bear in mind that whatever option you choose, you will probably want a decent webhost (e.g. Burton Hosting, Hosting Unlimited to name but a couple from the many which exist) as well as your own domain name (e.g. UKReg etc.).

2) how do you run a bulletin board & is there free software ?

Forums are plentiful in this day and age, and the majority are free. PHPBB is one of the most well known varieties, but others such as YaBB and Invision Board (the latter being potentially more than just a forum) are also quite well spread. FreddysHouse utilises vBulletin, which is very well known and respected, but this isn't free.

Running a board is simply a matter of installing it, but bear in mind you will need a half decent web host which supports PHP (a well-known programming language) and access to a MySQL database. Virtually all forums come with detailed installation instructions, so setting it all up shouldn't be hard.

3) whats the first port of call for selling stuff online (other than ebay ;P)

You can install third party scripts which act as 'shopping carts', but for payments you're going to need some kind of PayPal or WorldPay merchant/business account. These sites will process credit card payments for you, all done in a secure manner, and in return they usually get a cut of all the transactions. Essentially you have little choice in the matter as this kind of thing needs to be done securely, so it's not something you can really code yourself.

Alternatively, if your brother is serious, some banks have e-business plans which provide this kind of transaction processing as part of their offer.

Also note that either way, you'll want to secure the music in some fashion to prevent somebody from accessing content which they haven't paid for.

Other than that, just a couple of things which spring to mind. Firstly, the legality of it all. You'll probably want to be clear what rights your brother has (and equally what responsibilities) and what rights the musicians have if he sells any of their work. It may sound a bit daft, but it pays to know where everyone stands so no-one can call foul later on. If it's just his own work, then obviously there's no problem Secondly, well, I forget, actually, so it can't have been that important

Kind Regards

Jonty ... feels himself being drawn back in to FH ...

P.S. Try Hot Scripts or just searching to find CMSs, forums etc. Also, if he's just after promoting his work, then PeopleSound or the likes may be a good bet if you don't want all the hassle of creating a site.

 

[smurkin]

Hi smurkin


Other than that, just a couple of things which spring to mind. Firstly, the legality of it all. You'll probably want to be clear what rights your brother has (and equally what responsibilities) and what rights the musicians have if he sells any of their work. It may sound a bit daft, but it pays to know where everyone stands so no-one can call foul later on. If it's just his own work, then obviously there's no problem

Yes thats a good point. Its very common for signed artists to be forced to use record company-run websites, plus often THEY own the music. AFAIK he hasnt been signed and works to commision, but there is a potential confict here. Tbh, I dont think hes into an earner here with retail...but I think the forum thing maybe useful.

I'll have to have a good loock around at those links. I already had a look at dreamweaver, but it appears to be £100s. Thanks for the reply.