If you are passionate about music, you must’ve wondered at least once about how to start a music blog. This is especially true if you’ve been dissatisfied by the lack of options to connect with likeminded people. You may have been reluctant to act on it though, thinking it might be too complicated of an undertaking. Well, it turns out that it might just be a lot more approachable than you initially thought.
Starting a music blog can be a great way to share your love for music and your views with others. However, it requires some knowledge and effort. Luckily, we can help you with the knowledge part. You’ll have to provide the effort yourself, but these tips should hopefully make your work a lot easier.
📚 Table of contents:
- How to start a music blog – strategy and niche
- How to start a music blog, and what genre to choose?
- How to start a music blog – What elements do you need for a successful one?
- How to start a music blog with WordPress
- Valuable tips on how to start a music blog in 2024
How to start a music blog – strategy and niche
This is the most important step, as it will have a tremendous influence on the ways your blog develops, your interaction with your followers, your income, etc. What do we mean by that?
There are two basic strategies you can follow – start a music blog about general music topics, or create a specialized music blog devoted to only one type of music (and its surrounding genres).
General music blog
The first strategy brings a much larger potential following, but it is much harder to break through due to strong competition like Pitchfork, for instance. The something-for-everyone strategy also has its shortcomings when it comes to monetization. Even though the potential market is much larger, individuals in it are less likely to spend money because listening to music or reading the latest news is just a pastime for most of them.
Specialized music blog
Specialized music blogs, on the other hand, have a much smaller potential number of followers, but they are more invested. Some types of music can be viewed as a way of life, which makes people more willing to spend more time and money reading about them and interacting with them in various ways. Brooklyn Vegan, for instance, is a NY-centric music blog that follows the local music scene:
How to start a music blog, and what genre to choose?
What are the most popular music genres? According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, the most popular music genres in the world are [1]:
- Pop
- Rock
- 90s
- 80s
- Soundtracks
- Hip-Hop/Rap
- R&B
- Dance
- 70s
- Soul/Blues
The report also lists more than 300 music genres people enjoy. For instance, video game soundtracks are quite popular in Canada, while people in the southern US states love Zydeco (dance music with roots in French, African, and Caribbean music).
You shouldn’t use this list as your only guide and simply follow the stream. The bottom line is – when picking a niche for your music blog, it is better to stick to the genre you know and love. That way, you can bring your own views and insights. Visitors can sense when articles provide real value, as opposed to generic texts written by people who have no real knowledge about the subject.
How to start a music blog – What elements do you need for a successful one?
Every music blog is different, and depending on your interests and resources, you will add or remove sections. However, there are some elements that most music blogs have. They are:
- New Music
- Music News
- Music reviews
- Links to music
- Interviews
- Concert and tour information
You could also include transcripts and explanations for song lyrics (always popular), which would solve many party debates. Memories of Taylor Swift’s highly debated lyrics “All the lonely Starbucks lovers” or “Got a long list of ex-lovers” coming up). You could also include artists’ bios (another party debate solver).
How to start a music blog with WordPress
Well, now that we’ve established what your website should have, let’s find out how to get there. Luckily, with WordPress, the process is simple and quick:
- Sign up for web hosting and choose a domain name
- Install WordPress
- Pick a theme
- Install plugins
- Plan your content and start producing
1. Sign up for web hosting and choose a domain name
WordPress is one of the most popular blogging platforms. That’s because it is easy to use and free. However, you will need to buy web hosting where that WordPress blog of yours is going to run. Hosting is not free, but thanks to fierce competition in the market, it almost is. For instance, the basic plan will cost you just $2.75 per month with Bluehost.
The next on the list is coming up with a domain name.
No matter if you already have something in mind or are completely clueless about how you will name your music blog, we suggest spinning the DomainWheel. It is a free name generator that can provide you with great ideas or improve your existing ones.
These are some of the results we got for a jazz blog query:
2. Install WordPress
The affordable price wasn’t the only reason we mentioned Bluehost. Another important reason is the simplicity of its use. Specifically, the company will pre-install WordPress as a part of the sign-up process. You can easily find it in the control panel:
However, if you want to do it manually, that’s also an option.
Now, you have to choose the domain you want to install.
3. Pick a theme
Now that you’ve installed WordPress, it is time to pick a theme. Themes can make or break your website because they influence its layout and appearance. That is why we recommend going with a proven theme from trusted creators. One of the best on the market is Neve. It has more than 100 starter sites ready to go – many of them perfect for music blogs.
Neve integrates with popular page builders such as Elementor and also works with the native block editor in WordPress. Plus, you can use it with extension plugins like Otter Blocks that let you create even more complex layouts and website interfaces.
Once you’ve picked out your new theme, it is time to install it. The process is simple. You should go to Appearance → Themes in your WordPress dashboard and choose Add New. Then, you can browse the available options or search for a specific one:
4. Install plugins
People like reading about music, but they love listening to it. That’s why you are going to need some plugins to provide them with that experience. Compact WP Audio Player is a lightweight plugin used to embed an MP3 audio file on your WordPress website using a shortcode.
If you want to hook up to some YouTube channel and automatically get the latest releases, then Feedzy – an RSS aggregator, is a good choice.
The next one on our list is Akismet. It is a spam protection plugin. A music blog is specific because you want to interact and exchange views and experiences with your visitors. However, leaving the comments open on your blog posts might (and almost certainly will) attract spammers.
Another plugin you might need is Revive Old Posts. Social networks are important for music blogs as a way of keeping in touch with followers and expanding reach. This plugin enables you to automatically share your blog posts on social media. The plugin picks them up on its own from your blog archive.
5. Plan your content and start producing
Deciding on the niche and general direction is just the beginning. Now, you have to start producing content. In the beginning, it is wise to take a broader approach and publish content about various subjects. For a new website, there is no right or wrong. Once you get a feel for your audience’s preferences, you can scale down on content types that don’t perform well and bump up the production of the best-performing content.
If you’re not quite sure where to start with content, maybe some of these tips will come in handy:
Valuable tips on how to start a music blog in 2024
1. Be creative, consistent, and honest
Create a blogging road map and a blog content calendar, and publish regularly, but don’t do it just for the sake of publishing. Add value to your posts and be unique. Music enthusiasts appreciate that. Don’t be afraid to be controversial and spark debates. That does wonders for user engagement.
2. If something is not working – drop it. And don’t look back
It is not uncommon in life and business that we have to drop a project we have invested so much in. If something is not working despite your best efforts, move to another project. If your visitors don’t like reviews, for instance, do not insist on them at the expense of other content.
3. Connect with your subscribers and the music community
For instance, if you devote a lot of space to newcomer artists, they will send their demos and albums for review and promotion. Just make sure you let them know your blog is live. Building an email list is one very effective way of staying connected and informing your audience on what’s going on with your music blog.
4. Do interviews
People love personal stories. Yes, getting an interview from a famous artist might be tough, but aspiring musicians will be more than glad to share their stories with you. And many of them have a lot of interesting things to say.
Key takeaways on how to start a music blog
👉 So, to summarize. You should:
- Choose a niche
- Choose a name
- Get good hosting and install WordPress
- Install a theme
- Install plugins
- Plan your content and start producing
Have fun and enjoy the work. We hope we’ve answered your questions about how to start a music blog. Be sure to also check out our tips on how to get your blog noticed and unique blog post ideas to skyrocket your blog’s traffic. They’ll complement the information you learned here and will help you grow a successful music blog.
Oh, in case you were wondering, the lyrics of 🎵 Taylor Swift’s song are “Got a long list of ex-lovers“.
Let us know if you have any questions on how to start a music blog!
