By 2005–2006, having a MySpace Music page was nearly essential for up-and-coming bands. This platform let artists upload songs, curate a top friends list (often other bands or influencers), and interact with fans via comments and messages. The appeal? It was free, easy, and where the fans were hanging out. Indie bands embraced MySpace as a primary web presence; many treated their MySpace page as their official site, sometimes even more than any standalone website. Major acts eventually joined the fray too, as MySpace’s user base exploded to over 100 million users by 2006–2007. The result was that official band websites now had to coexist with social media. Rather than the sole online destination, a band’s .com became one spoke in a larger digital wheel.
During 2005–2010, we start to see design trends favoring usability and content management. Flash was still around (especially for rich media sections), but web developers also began adopting more standard HTML/CSS designs that were easier to update. Many band sites added blog sections or news feeds (often powered by early CMS platforms). It became common to see a “News” page with chronological updates from the band or their team – essentially an official blog to keep fans informed. RSS feeds and email newsletters gained traction to push these updates to subscribers.
Fan engagement continued evolving. Traditional forums were still present on many sites, but some communities started migrating to external forums or early social platforms. In 2006, Facebook opened to the public and would soon introduce fan “Pages”. While Facebook wasn’t yet the music hub that MySpace was, it hinted at a future where fan conversations might move off official websites into the social media realm. Meanwhile, band websites in this era often embedded external widgets: e.g., a YouTube video player for the latest music video (after YouTube’s 2005 launch, bands quickly took advantage of embedding rather than hosting heavy video files themselves) or a SoundCloud player (founded 2007) for easy audio streaming. These widgets enriched band sites with content but subtly trained fans to engage with the content platforms (YouTube, etc.) rather than on-site tools.
Another notable shift was the introduction of more robust e-commerce and direct fan marketing. By late 2000s, bands could integrate third-party store platforms or use services like Topspin Media (launched 2008) to sell merchandise, offer digital downloads, and even bundle VIP experiences. Bandcamp launched in 2008 as well, offering artists an alternative to MySpace – a clean page to sell music directly to fans with streaming and download capabilities. Bandcamp was envisioned as an easy-to-use website where bands could interact with fans and sell music directly, taking care of “the fiddly stuff” like payments and file hosting. This direct-to-fan model started gaining traction, especially among independent musicians who craved more control and a larger share of revenue.
It was clear by 2010 that band websites were no longer an island. The best sites acted as aggregators or hubs – they provided the official info and content but also linked out to burgeoning social networks, digital music stores like iTunes (launched 2003), and streaming services. Fans’ expectations were rising: they wanted to easily find tour dates, buy tickets, watch the new video, follow the band on multiple platforms, and perhaps still have a unique experience on the official site that wasn’t available elsewhere. Web design also began steering toward cleaner layouts. We hadn’t fully reached “minimalism” yet, but compared to the busy 90s pages, the late-2000s sites used more white space, consistent navigation bars, and Flash intros were fading out (partly because Apple’s 2007 release of the iPhone – which famously didn’t support Flash – signaled the need for more universally accessible design).
From a mainstream vs indie perspective, mainstream artists by 2010 often had a split strategy: their label-managed official site for press releases and official merch, and a heavy presence on MySpace/Facebook/Twitter for fan interactions. Indie artists might skip an official site altogether in favor of a Bandcamp page and social media, or use a template-driven site that auto-updated with content from other services. The DIY tools were improving: even a non-technical band member could set up a decent website by this time using platforms like WordPress, Bandzoogle, or ReverbNation’s site builder.
This democratization of web tech meant indie bands could mimic a lot of what major label sites offered – an important leveling of the playing field which services like Bandzoogle explicitly championed (providing more and more features to musicians, from music players to simple event calendars to list tour dates, which had been one of their earliest features in 2003).
Rocking Tech grew out of this era’s needs as well – recognizing that artists needed more than just a MySpace page, they needed a centralized home they controlled. To this day, Rocking Tech advises musicians: your website is the one corner of the internet you own, immune to algorithm changes or platform shutdowns. The mid-2000s taught everyone that lesson, with MySpace’s decline by 2009 being a cautionary tale.
The 2010s: Mobile-First Design, Minimalism, and Direct Fan Support (2010–2019)
With the 2010s came the smartphone revolution and a fundamental change in web design philosophy: mobile-first and responsive design. As fans started accessing sites on iPhones and Android devices, band websites had to shrink from desktop monitors to tiny phone screens gracefully. By around 2012–2013, any new website was expected to be responsive – adapting its layout to work on mobile, tablet, or desktop. This pushed design trends toward simplicity and clarity. The busy, graphics-heavy layouts of the past gave way to minimalist aesthetics: think large hero images (often a striking band photo or latest album cover), sparse text, clean fonts, and easy tap-friendly menus. Navigation was streamlined – you might see a one-page design or a few core pages (Home, Tour, Store, Contact) rather than elaborate subpage trees. Minimalism also reflected a broader trend in the 2010s: the influence of flat design and the idea that content (music, videos, tour dates) should be front-and-center, while visual clutter was reduced.
During this decade, many artists made their official site a central hub linking out to all other platforms. The rise of Instagram (2010), YouTube’s dominance, Twitter’s real-time feed, and later TikTok (2018) meant fans often encountered the band on those platforms first. Thus, band websites sometimes functioned as a “landing page” with all the important links – a concept that later evolved into the popular “link in bio” approach. (Services like Linktree emerged to fill this need, allowing a single page of links for an artist.) On an official site, this might translate to a homepage that immediately presents you with buttons: Listen on Spotify, Follow on Instagram, Watch on YouTube, etc., alongside the basics like latest news and tour dates.
Fan engagement in the 2010s mostly migrated off-site. The once-vibrant official forums were largely retired as fans favored social media comments, Twitter conversations, or Facebook groups. Instead of hosting fan discussions, band websites integrated social feeds. It became common to embed a Twitter timeline or Instagram gallery on the site, effectively pulling the conversation in without having to maintain it directly. Some artists experimented with on-site engagement via moderated comment sections on blog posts or using Facebook commenting plugins for news updates, but these were often secondary to the action on social networks. One notable new avenue for community building was email and membership platforms. Email newsletters saw a resurgence as bands realized the value of reaching fans directly in their inbox (unfiltered by social algorithms).
Additionally, in the mid-2010s, services like Patreon (founded 2013) and other fan club platforms allowed artists to set up membership subscriptions. By late 2010s, many indie musicians (and some established ones) launched Patreon pages where super-fans could pay a monthly amount to get exclusive content, behind-the-scenes updates, and other perks. Patreon essentially modernized the fan club, and crucially, it was a monetized engagement: “support my ongoing creative career for the price of a coffee each month” became a viable pitch. Artists could earn reliable income from a small fraction of their audience – a powerful shift at a time when streaming royalties were (and are) notoriously low.
Monetisation strategies on band websites diversified through the 2010s. Bandcamp had matured into a beloved platform for selling music and merch (by 2020 Bandcamp would pay out hundreds of millions to artists). Many bands integrated Bandcamp into their sites or simply used it as their site via custom domain. Merch stores became more sophisticated with tools like Shopify, allowing even small bands to run a professional online storefront for shirts, vinyl, and bundles. Ticketing integration also improved: bands could embed tour date widgets from Songkick or Bandsintown, where fans could RSVP or buy tickets directly. For larger artists, official VIP packages and experiences (e.g. meet-and-greet passes) were sold through their sites, often during tour announcements.
In terms of content, the 2010s saw artists dabbling in richer media on their sites again, but in new ways. Interactive mini-sites would sometimes accompany album releases – for instance, some bands created web experiences (like interactive music videos or games) accessible on their website to immerse fans in the album’s concept. These were often short-lived promotional sites, separate from the main homepage. Nonetheless, they signaled that even in the age of apps, a cool website could still generate buzz (as seen with projects like Arcade Fire’s WebGL-powered interactive video in 2010, which got fans talking about web browsers!).
By the end of the 2010s, an interesting dichotomy had formed: mainstream artists often had simplified official sites (since their massive fan engagement was happening on Instagram, YouTube, etc.), whereas indie artists – valuing every visitor – often packed their sites with as much as possible (music, merch, sign-up forms, community links) to capitalize on that traffic. In fact, a 2024 industry piece noted many independent artists mistakenly assume social media alone is enough and neglect their own website. But those who invested in their sites reaped benefits: an official site offers control, direct fan data (emails), and merchandising with better margins than third-parties. The late 2010s underscored that lesson, and both indie and major acts started to treat their websites as the anchor of their digital strategy again, not just an afterthought.
Rocking Tech was instrumental in this period, helping artists implement responsive designs and integrate all these new tools. We often reminded bands: your website can be the one-stop shop for fans – the place that you shape the narrative. By integrating socials, streams, and sales, forward-thinking artists turned their sites into a command center for their brand. The 2010s laid that foundation which the 2020s are now building on.
In the final part of this series, we look at the modern landscape of 2020s band websites – and what the next decade might hold for artists, fans, and their digital spaces.