How to Build a Music Web Site That Sells: 500 Secrets to Online Stardom by Mihkel Raud is the ninth edition of an ebook full of practical information on how to build a music website that will actually generate sales. I have my own music review and interview website (MainlyPiano.com) and have been working with musicians in a variety of capacities for many years. I don’t sell anything from my site, but I have seen more than my share of cheesy websites that are a total turnoff as well as difficult to navigate. This concise and well-written handbook is a great source of information from someone who has been there, done that. Raud’s writing style is warm, friendly, and encouraging without getting sappy. He writes with humor, but stays matter-of-fact and to-the-point, covering topics that include domain names, layouts, pathways, home pages, hosting, sub-pages, sound sample pages, search engines, and the all-important order page. I’m always skeptical about a one-size-fits-all approach to anything, and this isn’t in that mold at all. Raud allows plenty of room for personalization and individualization while laying out guidelines that are designed to get results. His basic premises should be valid for any genre of music from rock to hip-hop to jazz or classical, country or new age. If yours is one of the 95% of music websites that sells five or fewer albums each year, or if you haven’t yet built your website, this book is a must! At $6.99 for the Kindle edition on Amazon, how can there be anything to lose? Very highly recommended!

I received a free PDF copy of this book in exchange for an honest review, which this is.