Important changes to the BandPage service

Important changes to the BandPage service and how to join us on YouTube

Since we joined YouTube, we’ve been working with the team to design and build improvements that will help artists connect with their fans on YouTube more deeply than before. As announced in December – in order to pave the way for new features, we’re making important changes to the BandPage service.

Effective March 8th, BandPage users will no longer have access to the BandPage editor, and the following features have been discontinued:  

• Bandpage.com public-facing profiles
• The BandPage Facebook applications
• BandPage store and event features
• Facebook and Twitter integrations
• Website widgets
• Custom website
• Account creation and ability to add new admins

Learn more about what this means and explore a list of alternative services for discontinued features in our help center article.

So what’s next? We invite you to join us at YouTube!

By setting up an Artist Profile on YouTube, you’ll be eligible for new artist features that help with music discovery as they become available.  Login to BandPage to transfer your BandPage photos and bio to a new or existing YouTube channel. Learn about eligibility for the move to YouTube here.

If you prefer not to transfer your BandPage photos and bio, learn more about your other options in our help center.

From the whole BandPage team, thank you for partnering with us over the last seven years.  Stay tuned for more news on new features at YouTube!

Important changes coming to the BandPage service

Updated 2/28/17

Note: You may have been unable to access your BandPage account due to an issue with one of our major service providers. We understand this is occurring right before we implement important scheduled BandPage service changes that we previously announced would go into effect on March 1, 2017. To accommodate users who may have experienced difficulties accessing their accounts, we will be extending the use of such services until March 8th, 2017.

Since we joined YouTube, we’ve been developing some brand new features for artists. By working hand-in-hand with the team at YouTube, we’ve been able to design and build improvements that will help any artist connect with their fans even more deeply than before. We’re excited to roll these new features out in 2017, but in order to pave the way for them, we need to make some important changes to the current BandPage service.

As of March 8, 2017, BandPage users will no longer have access to the BandPage editor, and we’ll be discontinuing the following features:  

• Bandpage.com public-facing profiles
• The BandPage Facebook applications
• BandPage store and event features
• Facebook and Twitter integrations
• Website widgets
• Custom website

This also means that content distributed to third-party sites and services through these discontinued features may be deleted and will no longer display on partner platforms.

We realize these changes are significant, so we’re asking that all BandPage users take the following steps:

Before March 8, 2017, BandPage users should do the following:

• Backup your content and data. We want to make sure you don’t lose access to any of your available assets or data, such as your photos, mailing list, offers, and events data.
• Explore and set up alternative services for discontinued features. If you are interested in replacing discontinued features, you can find alternative third-party services by March 8, 2017.
• Update BandPage network syndication settings. Until you hear from us, we will continue to syndicate your artist profile photo and bio to our network partners as per your syndication settings on March 8, 2017.

You can read more about these changes and the actions you can take in our help center.

So what’s next? Create an artist profile on YouTube!  

Throughout 2017, YouTube is ramping up their support of artists by releasing new features that will help them grow their fan bases, improve music discovery, and better connect with their fans. By setting up a YouTube artist profile, you’ll be eligible for all new features as they become available.  

Before March 8, 2017, we encourage you to set up an artist profile on YouTube by transferring your BandPage photos and bio to a new or existing channel. Here’s how to make the move:

• Make sure all of the BandPage profiles you manage are eligible to move to YouTube: To be eligible, you must: 1) have at least a profile photo or bio on the BandPage you wish to move, AND 2) have “Admin” access to the BandPage profile. Learn more about eligibility for the move to YouTube here.
• Transfer your photo and bio to YouTube: It’s easy for you to create an artist profile by transferring your BandPage photos and bio to a new or existing YouTube channel. Please note that doing this removes your profile from BandPage. To learn more about creating an artist profile on YouTube, how it will affect your BandPage profiles, and how your assets may be displayed across YouTube, Google sites and the BandPage network, please visit our help center.

From the whole BandPage team, thank you for partnering with us over the last seven years. We couldn’t have built BandPage and the BandPage network without you, and we’re excited for what lies ahead as we continue our work at YouTube. Stay tuned for more news on new features!

AllMusic.com is now a part of the BandPage network

AllMusic.com, a trusted music reference for more than 20 years, is now the latest online destination on which you can share your BandPage profile materials, such as your profile picture, bio, merchandise listings and upcoming events.

Effortless integration
As a BandPage musician, you will be automatically enabled via your BandPage editor to provide AllMusic with your BandPage profile materials.  If you keep this option enabled, AllMusic will have the option, at its election, of using your BandPage profile materials across its service starting 48 hours from the time of this blog post.

Please note that AllMusic may choose not to use any or all of your BandPage profile materials.  For example, AllMusic may choose to display your upcoming events and merchandise listings, but not your BandPage biography or profile picture at this time. If your content is not made available to AllMusic and you would like to request that it be made available, please contact us and include the URL of your AllMusic artist page; our team will help pass along your request!  

If you do not want to provide AllMusic with your profile materials, you may opt-out by visiting your BandPage editor and deselecting the ‘Enabled’ option in the ‘Audience’ tab.

If you do wish to participate but do not see your BandPage content on your AllMusic artist profile page please contact us and include the URL of your AllMusic profile.

To provide your most up-to-date materials, make sure you update your BandPage profile often. If you need help, we got you covered.

Remember, size matters

Upload a profile photo that is at least 1600 x 1600 pixels, so that you look your best across all platforms and devices.

Google Play is now a part of the BandPage network

Google Play is an online store with millions of digital songs, movies, TV shows, apps, games, books and more. It brings together all of the entertainment you love and lets you explore it in new ways, anytime, anywhere. It is now the latest platform on which you can share your BandPage profile materials, such as your image, bio, merchandise listings and upcoming events.

Effortless integration
As a musician on BandPage, you are automatically enabled to provide Google Play and Google Play Music with your BandPage profile materials in your BandPage editor, unless you opt-out as described below. If you keep this option enabled, Google Play and Google PlayMusic will have the option, at their election, of using your BandPage profile materials (such as your artist profile picture, bio, merchandise listings and upcoming events) across the service starting 48 hours from the time this blog was posted.

If you do not want to provide Google Play or Google Play Music with your profile materials, you may opt-out by visiting your BandPage editor and deselecting the ‘Enabled’ option in the ‘Audience’ tab.

To provide your most up-to-date materials, make sure you update your BandPage profile often. If you need help, we got you covered. Please note it may take some time for our partners to implement syndications.

Remember, size matters
Upload a profile photo that is at least 1600 x 1600 pixels, so that you look your best across all platforms and devices.

BandPage has been acquired! We’re joining YouTube!

Today we take a big step forward in our mission to create a better future for musicians around the world. We are very excited to announce that BandPage is joining YouTube, a move which dramatically accelerates our shared goal of helping musicians everywhere thrive.

BandPage is dedicated to helping musicians build their careers by growing their fan bases and increasing their revenue on the largest digital music services in the world. By joining forces with the team at YouTube, we can help artists reach their fans in more powerful ways than ever before.

We are extremely excited about this because we believe YouTube truly shares our commitment to musicians. YouTube already offers a global distribution platform for any artist to be discovered and some of the best self-publishing tools for musicians and other creators. The team has a lot of things planned to help musicians succeed on the platform, and more broadly across the BandPage network. There’s still a lot that we can do to help musicians, and we can accomplish so much more together. We can’t wait to get started!

Our collective goal remains the same: to grow an open network of digital music services, develop intelligent new tools for managing/distributing artist content and commerce, and create new revenue opportunities for all musicians, on YouTube and beyond.

Ultimately, this is about our partnership with you, the musician. As always, we’d love to hear from you, so reach out to us at ideas@bandpage.com with your thoughts.

Rhapsody and BandPage launch tool to drive fans to local concerts for their favorite musicians

How many times have you heard this from a friend, a fan, even yourself: “I had no idea [insert artist name here] was in town! I can’t believe I missed that concert.”  It’s a more common occurrence than many of us realize.  In fact, a Live Nation study claims that 40% of tickets go unsold largely due to a lack of awareness.  Many services have tried to solve this problem, but most fall short of helping musicians sell out shows and give fans the best ticket purchase experience possible.  

BandPage and Rhapsody have teamed up to let fans know about upcoming concerts and help musicians drive ticket sales. Starting today, a new real-time concert push notification feature will deliver alerts to your fans based on their listening behaviors, preferences, and geography, the first  of its kind. The best part is there are no additional services required – no apps to download, no complicated tasks to complete.  All your fans need to do is simply listen to your music.  

But what does this push notification service look like?  Imagine you are absolutely head over heels for Oakland based artist G-Eazy.  You’ve had his latest album, “When It’s Dark Out,”on repeat for weeks.  Unbeknownst to you, G-Eazy recently announced a world tour, and he’s coming to your town.  In the middle of a G-Eazy binge on Rhapsody, you get a push notification on your phone (like the one pictured here) informing you of an upcoming G-Eazy show in your town!  A simple tap on “Get Tickets”, and you are on your way to G-Eazy bliss.

What makes this a more powerful experience for music fans is two things:

It engages your fans in a ‘moment of intent’
We live our lives in moments.  And we act upon our impulses in these moments.  If we’re in an “I’m hungry and need to eat” moment, and we see an ad for a local pizza place, we’re more likely to go buy that pizza than at any other time.  As BandPage has observed, the same applies to music.  When a fan is actively listening to your music, that is the best moment to show them a message, an offer, or a concert ticket direct from you.

It offers a seamless experience, taking your fans directly from Rhapsody to the point of ticket purchase
Unlike other ‘concert awareness’ services that require another app to open or an intermediate page to view, BandPage concert push notifications take your fans directly to your ticketing provider’s purchase page for that specific show, increasing the likelihood that your fans will complete a purchase.

Under the Hood: What goes into triggering a push notification?

It all starts with getting your tour dates into BandPage.  BandPage then uses a combination of listening data to identify the best fans to receive information about your concerts.  That data is then combined with geographic data to identify the best tour date to feature in the message.  Finally, once we identify a fan is in a ‘moment of intent’, aka. actively listening to your music, the appropriate tour date will be selected from your BandPage profile, and the push notification will trigger.  BandPage regulates carefully the frequency and volume of messages your fans receive, so they will never be spammed with unwanted messages.  

You have questions.  We have answers.

How can I start sending push notifications about my shows to my fans on Rhapsody?

If you already have your music on Rhapsody, all you need to do is add your tour dates to your BandPage.  Once your tour dates are in BandPage’s system, we’ll automatically start searching for the best fans to receive messages about your tour.

How much does this feature cost?

Exactly zero dollars.  Free.  Just like all BandPage content hosting and distribution services across Rhapsody and other streaming services, sending push notifications to your fans doesn’t cost you a dime.

Do I need to worry about my fans getting too many or unwanted messages?

Nope.  BandPage will optimize the volume and frequency of messages your fans receive so that such messages never become ‘spammy’ or burdensome to your fans.  Your fans also have the ability to disable push notifications from Rhapsody entirely if they so choose.

I want to read more about this! Where?

Great! Here’s what Hypebot had to say. And here’s a nice shout out from Rain News.  And check out Rhapsody’s press release here.

I have other questions.  Who can I contact?

We’d love to hear from you!  Direct any inquiries about this program or anything BandPage to support@bandpage.com

BandPage and Deezer just put more power (and money) in the hands of musicians, where it belongs

BandPage and Deezer have announced a landmark partnership enabling musicians to directly monetize Deezer’s 6 million subscribers in 180 countries.  Deezer will source profile photos, events, and offers from BandPage, and target specific offers and event listings to a musician’s biggest fans based on each fan’s listening behavior.

BandPage has pioneered the use of listening data to help musicians generate more revenue from streaming services such as Rhapsody and Rdio.  This partnership with Deezer represents a major expansion of BandPage’s targeting capabilities, providing even greater value to musicians all around the world.  

Read more about this exciting partnership below, and Log In to your BandPage now to make sure your profile, tour dates, and offers are up to date:

BandPage is now sending over 1 million fans to musicians’ stores every month!

Today, we announced a major milestone for our business and for all musicians who use BandPage to distribute their offers.  We are now sending over 1 million fans to musicians’ stores every month!  Read more about what that number means below:

BandPage announced it is now sending over 1,000,000 music fans to musicians’ online stores each month from its partnerships with Spotify, Rhapsody, Rdio, VEVO, Shazam, Lyricfind and other music services and destination sites. This level of traffic positions BandPage as one of the leading sources of traffic for most musician stores, along with Google search and Facebook. This scale, along with BandPage’s ability to provide fans with highly targeted offers personalized to them, has resulted in musicians making thousands of dollars per month from their offers distributed through the BandPage platform.

relentlessGENERATOR, one of the world’s largest D2C music and entertainment retail platforms managing hundreds of musician stores, confirmed that BandPage was now one of its leading sources of traffic, alongside artist websites, search, email, and social channels. “BandPage has emerged as a significant and valuable partner for GENERATOR,” said Thai Randolph, Chief Marketing Officer at GENERATOR. “If we had to replace the traffic we have received from BandPage during the past six months through a display advertising campaign, we would need to buy over one billion impressions.”

The amount of traffic and transactions occurring on the BandPage network has given the company unparalleled insight into which musician stores and offers are performing the best. The company announced that offers that connect fans to their favorite artists in unique and distinctive ways, such as online experiences, VIP tickets and signed memorabilia, are the best selling items. Additionally, the company announced that fans of the Rock, Electronic and Country genres are the most likely to buy. BandPage is seeing that signed merchandise products sell at prices twice as high and twice as fast as their unsigned counterparts. BandPage reports that the sales of in-person experiences are increasing at the fastest rate.

”Every day we study online trends and the purchasing behavior of music fans and we’ve consistently seen the highest qualified traffic come from the streaming services and music destination sites – where an artist’s customers are engaging with the artists’ music the most,” said J Sider, CEO and Founder of BandPage. “After years of testing, we now have clear insights around what products music consumers find most interesting and what they’re most likely to purchase. The goal of studying these trends and applying the findings to our industry is to always help musicians increase their revenue at a time where the main product we’ve sold for decades has been in major decline. As an industry, we need to work together to understand the new types of products our customers want to buy and then find the most effective ways to reach them to build sustainable careers for musicians big and small.”

Musicians are able to list all of their commercial offerings including presale offers, VIP meet and greet tickets, online concerts, t-shirts, signed merchandise and more by accessing their profile and store via the BandPage Editor. Once added to the BandPage profile the offers display in near realtime to fans on places like Spotify, VEVO, YouTube, Shazam, Rhapsody, and Rdio at the moment fans are most likely to buy.

BandPage is now 10 Times More Effective Than Facebook at Driving Music Customers to Musician’s Stores Using Streaming Behavioral Data

When we announced our landmark partnership with Rhapsody back in June, we were excited to breach a new frontier of opportunity for artists to earn more money from streaming.  The idea was simple: use the power of data to give fans what they want from their favorite artists, whether it’s a VIP ticket upgrade, custom recordings, signed LPs, or anything else an artist might offer.  Never before had listening data from a streaming service been used in this way, and, while optimistic, we weren’t sure just how effective these efforts would be…

We are the musicians, we are innovative and creative and the streaming services that are innovative with us will benefit from having our support.
~Flo Rida

Today, I am thrilled to announce that the results are nothing short of staggering!  To date, we have sent tens of thousands of push notifications with artist offers to Rhapsody listeners whom our algorithm identified as “super-fans” of particular artists.  And fans are engaging at an incredible rate.  We’re seeing clicks at double the rate of Google Search ads, 10x the rate of Facebook ads, and at over 50x the rate of traditional web display advertising.  It’s now clear that this is the most effective way for artists to reach their fans and generate significant incremental revenues from streaming services.

Musicians with whom we have shared the results, including some of the biggest in the world, are rallying behind this incredibly powerful way for streaming services to support artists and help generate new revenues.  Last week, international Hip-Hop star and entrepreneur Flo Rida stopped by the BandPage office in San Francisco where we had a chance to show him the results of our Rhapsody partnership first hand.  He had this to say:

“The fact that these two companies now allow me to engage my biggest fans at the moment they are listening to my music is incredibly impactful to my business, the numbers speak for themselves.  This is an important path forward for musicians and I hope all streaming services make efforts to support musicians in this way.  I, for one, will be directing my fans to use the streaming services that do this and I suggest the same to my fellow musicians.  We are the musicians, we are innovative and creative entrepreneurs and the streaming services that are innovative with us will benefit by having our support. It’s a win win. The solutions that BandPage has created are the kind of innovations that change industries and it’s time for us as an industry to act on it.“

As if that weren’t enough, it turns out that fans love receiving these notifications.  Rhapsody users are engaging with these BandPage targeted messages at a rate 50% higher than other personalized messages sent by Rhapsody.  So Flo had it right, this is a win for artists, a win for streaming services and a win for fans who are now more connected to the musicians they love.

In the coming months, we will be working tirelessly to scale this program, increasing the number of artists that can take advantage of this new revenue opportunity.  At full scale, taking advantage of this program will be as simple as logging in to your BandPage, uploading your offers to your profile, and we’ll take care of the rest.  If you already have offers on your BandPage, we’ll start syndicating those offers to Rhapsody automatically in the coming months.  We will also be working to bring on new streaming partners so you can continue to use BandPage to reach your biggest fans wherever they are.  And, of course, we’ll continue to distribute your content and offers free of charge.

In the meantime, if you are interested in participating in the Rhapsody pilot phase, log in to your BandPage account, click on the ‘Audiences’ tab, and click ‘Request’ next to Rhapsody.

Here’s to building the future of the music(ian) business,
J and the BandPage Team

Sunsetting the BandPage Service

Steps to Take Before BandPage Sunset on May 31st

Effective May 31st, 2018 we are sunsetting BandPage to fully focus on developing the Official Artist Channel program at YouTube. Once we sunset BandPage, your BandPage account will be deleted and your content will no longer be shared with the BandPage syndication network.

So what’s next?

If you haven’t done so already, you may transfer the contents of your BandPage profile to YouTube before May 31st if you meet the requirements. Once you have transferred your profile, you can manage or update your content in the Press Kit section of the YouTube Artist Center. Your new YouTube Press Kit will be governed by the YouTube Terms of Service and will enable you to manage your profile on YouTube properties, such as Search and the YouTube Music App.

To migrate your account you’ll need your BandPage profile Admin credentials. Go to www.bandpage.com, log in with those credentials and follow the prompts.

If you do not take action, your BandPage account will be deleted by June 30th.

From the whole BandPage team, thank you for partnering with us over the last eight years. It’s been an exciting journey, and we hope to be able to continue to build impactful products for you at YouTube.

– The BandPage Team