The Art of Simple Music Web Design

My old pal Bob Gleason recently sold his CD/DVD replication company and is now devoting a lot more time to playing music. The other day I visited Bob's web site to see what he was up to, and I was stuck by what I saw.

In an era of intense graphics, Flash intros and multimedia sensory bombardment, it was refreshing to see a music web site stripped down to the bare bones.

His one-page music web site may seem primitive at first glance. And it is missing some things (most notably an email list sign-up form). But a closer look reveals the effectiveness of its simplicity.

Right at the top you see who Bob is, what he plays, and who he might sound like. Perfect.

Under that is a lengthy list of places you can see Bob perform live. That makes sense, especially since he seems to be using this site primarily to promote his live shows. (Note the brilliant move to have MapQuest direction links for each venue.)

It's also a good site to send potential venue people who are thinking of hiring Bob. They can see where's he's playing, along with a lengthy list of cover songs he performs down the left hand column. He's also got his contact info and song samples prominently displayed.

Pay a visit to www.bigmusicbob.com and see for yourself.

True, this site won't win any design awards. But does that matter? No. What really matters is that people who visit the site can find what they're looking for -- which is access to Bob and his music.

You may not want your music web site to be this stripped down, and that's fine. But I encourage you to keep these simplicity principles in mind. Sometimes, less is indeed more.

-Bob

P.S. In the coming months, I plan to publish a Music Web Site Critique ebook and audio program. Subscribe to my free ezine and you'll be the first to know when it's available.

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