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Sell Your Music Online
Hostbaby.com
www.Hostbaby.com (spinoff of Cdbaby.com)
For $20/month you get...
Basic Features:
1. You can register and own your own domain name (www.yourname.com) for only $20 instead of the usual $70.
As long as you're out there promoting your music and your website, you should own it! It's not just for vanity. It's for permanence. So you'll have the same web address even 10 years from now.
So - pick a domain name, and we'll register it for you for only $20! We worked out a quantity deal. Instead of the $70 it would cost to do it yourself, it's just $20 per year. And yes YOU own it, not us.
To find one that's available, go to Network Solutions and try 'em out! But don't register it there. Just do your research there.
When you find which one you want, let us know, and we'll take care of the rest.
If you already have a working website somewhere, we'll be glad to transfer it over for you to your new home.
2. We can transfer your existing website easily, with no interruption.
Whether you registered your domain name yourself, or someone registered it for you, we'll be glad to do the technical stuff to move it over to hostbaby.
We can even do an instant clone of your old site on to your new one, so that there will be no interruption at all, and you won't have to re-upload everything.
Since everyone's situation is different, just email us with your domain name, and any other info, and let us know what you'd like to do.
3. You get 200 megs of web space to do whatever you want. You're in total control of it.
That's enough for TONS of MP3 files, photos, RealAudio, even video clips.
You'll have total control over it. You can FTP upload (and download) anything you want there.
4. Endless permanent email addresses like you@yourname.com - so you'll never have to change your email address again.
You know what a drag it is to change your email address, especially as you're out promoting your music. Liner notes on your CD, reviews in magazines.... These things are going to be around for years, so what you really need is a permanent email address.
When you own your own domain name, you keep your email address no matter where you go. You can drop AOL, switch to cable modem, switch to satellite, switch to gamma-ray access in the year 2053, and your email address will STILL be you@yourname.com. (even if you leave hostbaby.com - your name is yours!)
You can give an endless amount of private email accounts for friends, or different aspects of your business. (Example: you@yourname.com, junklist@yourname.com, bookings@yourname.com, guitarist@yourname.com) And you don't need our help or permission to do this. You'll be in control of your own account to do whatever you want.
These are *real* personal private POP3 Email accounts. Not web-email like Hotmail. Real email that you can check in powerful email programs like Eudora and Outlook Express.
5. Streaming RealAudio and MP3. CGI scripts. The works. Your website can now do any fancy stuff you ever dreamed of.
If you've worked with some other web-hosting companies, you know that whenever you want to do something cool, they either tell you, you can't do it, or they try to charge you extra.
At hostbaby you can do CGI scripts, streaming RealAudio, FrontPage extensions, telnet, FTP server, server-side includes, forms, counters - ANYTHING.
(Ok - anything except Microsoft-only things like Access and ASP. We only use Linux servers, no Microsoft. But we can do Microsoft FrontPage extensions.)
So, in short, if you're wondering if your new website can do ______[fill in the blank]_____ - the answer is YES.
6. A very VERY fast connection on a powerful and reliable Linux webserver.
Your website will be in this big corporate Qwest bandwidth building, right next to servers for sites like internet.com
We have an OC-48 connection from our servers out to the internet. That's 48 times faster than a T3. That's 2.4 gigs a second. That's about 800 MP3 files in one second.
What that really means is your website will come up lightning-fast. Your fans will appreciate it. Your sound clips will play without stuttering. Your site itself will be much faster than anyone's modem, no matter how many people are connected.
The webserver itself is a Linux Cobalt RaQ. It's strong, reliable, efficient, bug-free, and almost never goes down.
7. No setup fee. First month is free so you can see if you like it.
Not many details on this one. There's no fine print or exceptions.
We think you'll be VERY happy with hostbaby, so we'll get it all set up for you, and give you the first month for free. If you like everything up to that point, you can start paying $20 / month the next month.
You do have to pay $10 to register your own domain name, if you don't have one already.
Other than that, everything else mentioned here is free! There will be no extra charge for all the extra musician features of hostbaby.
MUSICIAN section features: THE BEST PART
8. The REAL mission of hostbaby: To give you musicians' most-needed tools, right on your own website.
As I got my own webserver for CD Baby, I started learning all the things you could do with it.
I realized that all these things that other companies ask you to do on THEIR websites, YOU can do on your OWN website.
And wouldn't you rather keep your fans on your own site, instead of sending them away to other sites filled with banner ads and things meant to distract them?
So - I'll be constantly configuring our webservers to let you do anything you want on your own website, and not be dependent on other companies. (So far: tour calendars, mailing list managers, guestbooks, password-protected MP3 files. If you have ideas for more, let us know!)
EXAMPLE: Want a concert calendar? No problem! Emailing list manager? Guestbook? Hit-counters? Password-protected MP3 files? All these things are ready-to-go on your own site.
9. Hostbaby Musician Modules
NOTE: We're opening the doors to hostbaby a few weeks before the last of the modules are ready. So if you're interested, let's get you set up with a basic site first, then add these special features in a few weeks.
All you'll need to do is add a few cut-n-paste lines into your HTML code to do anything below. Or we can do it for you if you get stuck.
CONCERT CALENDAR: You have a private area on your site where you enter your upcoming concert dates. Then just stick one line in your HTML code like "show_upcoming_dates" and voila! Your page shows your upcoming concert dates in a pretty little customizable table. And since the website knows what day it is, it automatically moves past your past dates into a "show_past_dates" page. (So you don't have to worry about updating all the time.)
EMAIL LIST MANAGER: Instead of sticking everyone you know into the "CC:" field of your Outlook email program, an email list manager on your site will let you email some or all of your contacts, using their name right in the email itself. You can send announcements that say "Dear Bethany..." and "Dear Evan..." instead of "Dear Fans and Friends...". And you keep your contacts safely on your own website, so you can access them from anywhere on the road.
MAILING-LIST SIGNUP: No need to sit and struggle with forms and CGI scripts to do things with forms. We've got it all done, and ready to put on your site in any way you'd like. Fans can fill out their info to be on your mailing list. It can get emailed to you and auto-added to your email list (described above.)
CONCERT DIARIES: Coming soon: A true concert diary, updated on your site. Write up a few memoirs about each show you do. Perhaps upload a few photos from the show. Fans that were there can talk in a bulletin board about that show, or all your shows. Fans can even upload their own photos of the show.
MEMBER-ONLY MP3 DOWNLOADS: Ever wonder who's listening to the sound clips on your site? You can require people to quickly fill out their email address and first name before downloading. They can't download your MP3 files (or any file you choose) until they're authorized with a working email address.
HIT COUNTERS, GUESTBOOKS, MORE... More things like this to come soon. All on your own site, and totally customizable.
10. And of course we'll always give you all the tools and knowledge we can, from one musician to another, to help you promote, design, and run your site for maximum results.
Can you imagine if everyone that visited your website signed up to your mailing list, came to a show, and bought your CD?
Since hostbaby is all about helping musicians have great websites, we'll always give you all the tools and knowledge we can. Books, articles, examples, advice, etc...
MusicDish Bookstore - where print meets digital  "Music Is Your Business: A FourFront Music Marketing Handbook"
Music Is Your Business takes the mystery out of the music business! Christopher Knab divides the music business into four key areas and explains what you, as an independent musician or record label, need to know in order to empower yourself and take control of your music career. |
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