The OP doesn't want to learn html, cgi/php/jquery etc or pay a professional to build a site.

It's a breeze for a non-specialist to put together a few static pages in wordpress.

Embedded MP3 playback & audio playlists support is also built-in as standard in wordpress.

I for one didn't recommend any specific commercial wordpress templates. Indeed, all of @ghostwriter's requirements could be readily met using one of wordpress's built-in templates with only minor configuration/adjustment. He/she could always try-out a few commercial option once the essential site data/structure was in place.

Plugin options (e.g. yoast seo optimisation, paypal carts, etc etc) in wordpress dwarf those in any other CMS by some margin, although it's certainly also true that plugin quality is variable (a bit like VSTs really)

The problem with content management systems is in resource utilisation overhead, which definitely can impact on site performance - especially on cheap, shared-hosting servers/services. Even this can be mitigated by employing a page cache mechanism (of which, after checking just now, there are apparently 1,036 available cache optimisation plugins currently in wordpress).

I would be the first to admit that for really complex, high-volume interactive sites, wordpress (indeed any cms) can actually be counter-productive. But for @ghostwriter's stated requirements imho it's just the ticket.

 

I get the feeling that you vastly underestimate WordPress for a new user. It's quite overwhelming and not good if you don't have a person who knows what they are doing by experience. I have used and set up dozens of WordPress installations, and they just plainly suck out of the box. The time I spent making WordPress usable was better later spent making the website I wanted, with the dependencies I wanted. Everyone's gangsta until you have to edit your first PHP on WordPress to make something work. You can't run away from learning the inner workings of the engine.

Want something easy to pick up? Just get SquareSpace or one of its competitors. Sometimes limiting choice works better than the Jenga empire that is a WordPress website. It's also worth noting that all the good plugins are locked behind licenses, so the price of a full WordPress website like OP wants will probably go way over $100~200 just for setting it up. Then there's hosting (will probably need a VPS to get all the juice from it, which also goes against OP's distaste from dealing with IT) and domain costs.

 

Well, i'm not convinced it'll neccessarily cost all that much, but yes, you're probably right about wordpress being somewhat opaque if you don't know anything about site construction generally & don't want to spend any time or effort to learn.

 

Last edited: Apr 25, 2022

Interesting stuff. Musicians should be looking at how to utilise the web on their own platform (AKA Website), rather than YT, Insta, FB, TikTok. I'm not saying don't engage on these platforms. But if you can bring them over to your fanzine/platform this provides further opportunity and creates a more meaningful connection with users. (this benefit goes both ways)

The original question does seem to be requesting some kind of CMS. WordPress is open source and well supported. I agree with the criticisms, anyone can publish a WordPress theme or Plugin. Every cloud has a silver lining. It's probably relatively easy to find a reasonable dev too. Hosting can be dirt cheap but there are a wide range of options. Nobodies mentioned Drupal?

SEO is important. I would highly advise being careful with how content and site pages are structured. I'd argue especially important for music but it highly depends on personal goals/strategies.

Meta tags/infomation are also super important. This ensures that when links to your website are shared on FB/Twitter then things like the Featured Image appear, helping spread branding...

FWIW my blog is GatsbyJS (Almost completely static, super fast) sourced from a WordPress installation. Best of both worlds. I have YoastSEO WordPress Plugin set up, enabling me to config the SEO for each page. I can customise the WP admin/backend effectively with custom-post-types and login subsribers and stuff. My site was scoring perfect 100s on Google Lighthouse. And can even be installed as a Progressive Web App.

If I needed to use a different web service, say to host a video of a private performance, it would be relatively easy to integrate. Technically, I could totally bypass WordPress to achieve this, there's no obligation to use their API when it comes to offering further services. EG have the blog as WP and then use Shopify to manage sales.

To be fair, after writing all of that and reading it back, it's a pretty neat setup.

 

Last edited: Apr 25, 2022

Clients i have who come to me had some so called 'web developer' recommended wordpress to them because it was 'easy'. But really that developer wasn't a developer, but a shyster. Probably can't even write basic html. Company gets their pretty little site based off a theme and a few months later, Lo and behold they fucked the site up and then the amateur who set it up for them can't fix it because they don't know what they are doing. The worst part is, these fake web dev guys who don't know wtf they are doing have convinced businesses they need a cms. Companies waste so much money falling for this shit. Just hire someone who knows wha they are doing, get the content right the first time rounf and be done.

 

If your target market is local only then disregard, otherwise another important thing to consider when buying hosting packages is many hosting platforms advertise theyre globally accessible when actually they arent. You could be paying for hosting thinking the world is your audience when in reality half of the worlds population will never have access to your site! Getting your money back and switching hosting companies is a major PITA so choose wisely!

 

My 2 cents - squarespace is a bit expensive, but especially if you want business email and stuff thrown in it's an attractive package. The websites are beautiful, scale on literally any device, and making audio portfolios is easy and looks professional. Their SEO is also 100x better than the average wordpress site. If you're a pro, you can probably afford it, so I really recommend.

 

ADSRSounds is Wordpress based.