The Musician Project Part #2 : The tools
This time round I want to look at some of the tools and services I'm going to use for this project. There are many options out there, and other tools may suit your exact needs better than the what I will be using here. I'm going to list out the what I have chosen for each component I mentioned in part one and also an alternative that came close in consideration.
Web Site Platform:
Chosen Platform: Joomla!
Runner-Up: WordPress
Joomla! is an open source CMS (Content Management System) that I have been using now for a while. The fact I am very familiar with how it works was a strong factor in my choice, but even for a new comer, it may be the best solution. Joomla!, with its large repository of components and add-on functionality either has all the features out of the box, or features that can be added that will handle all the site features I am after: user management (Fan Club), mailing list management, content management for news and blogging, and additional components for message board and image gallery.
The additional components or modules that will be installed to provide this extra functionality include :-
- Community Builder - user management
- Gallery2 - image gallery
- Fireboard - message board
WordPress is by far a more robust blogging tool, but as the site is a bout more than just blogging I feel that Joomla! is a better choice.
Online Audio Distribution:
Chosen Platform: Broadjam
Other Platforms: iTunes via TuneCore, Paypal direct from site
There is no single solution for this. The more places you can get your music out there for people to buy, the better. But you want to keep it manageable. As far as song downloads go, I believe BroadJam is possible the best choice. With different account type to suit your budget and your requirements, and possibly the best return from each sale to the artist that I have seen, I think they are the hands down best choice.
But what about iTunes? I hate iTunes. There, I said it. But it is a necessary evil. So rather than deal with that evil you can have someone else do it for you. For a small fee TuneCore will handle all the dirty work with iTunes and get your music on there for you.
Another option to consider is to sell your music directly through your site with Paypal or similar payment system. I will most likely be doing this with of my older demo's that I couldn't really sell at full price. There are a few PayPal services that can facilitate this, with expiring download links, that I could utilise. As I'm not too sure on this yet I haven't really looked too much into it, but will do so eventually.
Online Merchandise:
Chosen Platform: Spreadshirt
Runner-Up: CafePress
This one was tough. Spreadshirt may be a little more expensive than CafePress, and they don't have the range of products of merchandise, having mostly only apparel. But the apparel they have is much better than CafePress's offerings and offers a higher flexibility in design and printing options. Also, no monthly fee is required to sell multiple designs on the same item. This is the biggest thing it has going for it. I want to sell multiple designs on multiple types of apparel so Spreadshirt wins the contest.
If I decide to offer other items such as stickers etc., I will set up a CafePress store. I'll start with Spreadshirt and go from there.
Now that I know what I'm going to be using, it's time to work on the site design. This will be an interesting process as I have several ideas that I keep going back and forth between. It will be cool to see what eventually sticks.
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I have had a bit of a look at Drupal and was impressed, yet it still feels a little "young" for my liking. Plus knowing how to code in PHP helps me modify extentions and modules when they don't quite do what I want them to do.
But that is not very often. The developer pool to tap into with Joomla is huge, both GPL and commercial and is hard to go past.
My other advantage is I have spent quite a bit if time learning the templating system for Joomla so it does make it easir for me to edit premade templates for extra features. My recommendation is to set up a sand box with both and have a play.
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