ReverbNation Debuts Artist Website Builder

Good news in the web DIY space for indie musicians looking for a creative assist with building a web presence – quite necessary, I’d say, these days. ReverbNation, a music and marketing platform with over 400,000 artists, labels, managers, and venues under one roof, has announced a new product called Site Builder via a partnership with Montreal, QC-based website software company, Bandzoogle.

The new Site Builder enables artists to create and deploy websites with just a few clicks, using their existing domain name, or one provided by the company – for less than $20/month.

“It’s critical for artists to have their own ‘home’ where they can develop fan relationships, grow their brand, and conduct business directly with their fans,” says ReverbNation Co-Founder Lou Plaia.

“Site Builder is another step in creating a true, turnkey solution for the DIY artist. Soon we will be adding a comprehensive direct-to-fan store that will allow Artists to sell merchandise, music, ringtones, and tickets to their fans through all of their fan touch points online.”

At the root of Site Builder is that it automatically integrates content from the ReverbNation platform (songs, videos, photos, show schedules, store links, ticket links, etc.), plus features like widgets and an email service known as FanReach.

Artists who incorporate the solution will be able to update their content one time at ReverbNation and then it automatically shows up on social networks like MySpace, Facebook, Twitter and a personal Blog.

If I’m in a new band and would rather spend my time writing killer songs as opposed to killer code, I’d look to a simplified service such as this. Not having used ReverbNation’s Site Builder I can only comment that from the outside it looks like an impressive solution for indie artists hoping to fortify the band-to-fan relationship.

Overall the ReverbNation product offers a big collection of services: content hosting, email, street teams, widgets, Facebook applications, a ‘gig finder’, digital distribution onto iTunes and Amazon, and more. A lot of bang for the buck, which definitely speaks to the up-and-coming musicians.

“We’re ecstatic to be partnered with ReverbNation in this endeavor,” remarked Chris Vinson, CEO of Bandzoogle. “Together, we have built an integrated solution for DIY Artists using ReverbNation’s leading marketing and promotion solutions to deliver a world-class website for their fans.”

Do you think this is a good media solution for band’s hoping to expand their presence?