Bandzoogle offers you the option to sell music and merch in advance of it being released. This is a great choice for gauging interest in a merch item, or for raising money in advance to fund a project or product. This option is only available to members on the Pro plan.

This Help article includes the following information:

  • How to set up an album for pre-order
  • How to test an album set to pre-order
  • Where to locate pre-order sales
  • How to release an album set to pre-order
  • How to set up physical merch for pre-orders
  • How to edit your pre-orders through your 'Selling Tools' control panel

For more information on uploading music to your site, please view the ‘Adding Music’ Help article.

Album pre-order set-up

The pre-order option in the Music feature is available to Pro plan members.

  1. From the ‘Edit Content’ tab, click ‘Pages’ and open the page on which you’ll be working
  2. Click ‘Add feature’
  3. Select the ‘Album’ feature and use the placement arrows to set the feature’s location
  4. Click ‘Add a new album’
  5. Enter the album information

  6. Next to ‘Allow download/sale’ select ‘Accept pre-orders’

    • Paid - fixed price: You set a purchase price for the file.
    • Paid - fans set price: Allow your fans to set the price they want to pay for the album. A minimum amount can be set here.

      Note: Pre-order albums cannot be set to ‘free’.

  7. Next to ‘Pre-order release date’, select the date of your album release

    Notes:

    • This date will display on your website under the album image as ‘Expected release: [Date you selected]’. The album will not be released until you manually release it.
    • Sales for this album will not be reported to Luminate (formerly SoundScan) until the album is manually released.

  8. Click ‘Save’

  9. Click the ‘Add track’ button to upload tracks to the album or import them from Dropbox or add existing tracks already uploaded to your Bandzoogle account

    Note: If no tracks are added and a customer purchases it, they would receive only the cover artwork in the zip folder download.

Bulk uploading tracks

If you are uploading multiple tracks to your album, you can choose to bulk upload using the following steps:

  1. In your ‘Album’ feature, scroll down to the section entitled “Drag and drop your tracks here”
  2. Click ‘Upload multiple tracks’ or drag a selection of tracks from your device
    • Upload multiple tracks: Clicking this option will open your device’s file manager. In your device’s file manager, use commands to select multiple tracks from your device and click ‘Open’
    • Drag tracks: In your device’s file manager, use commands to select multiple tracks. Then, drag the tracks into the space ‘Drag and drop’ area
  3. When you’ve completed your track details, scroll to the bottom of your listed tracks and click ‘Save’

Each track that successfully uploads will be listed and you’ll be provided with the following options for the track details

  • Audio file lists the audio file name. You can click ‘Replace’ to replace the track file or click ‘X’ to remove the track
  • Track info lists the main track info including:
    • Track name: enter the name of your track
    • Artist: this will default to your ‘Site profile’ name. You can adjust the artist name for the track without affecting your ‘Site profile’ name
    • ISRC code: Enter your track’s unique ISRC code. To learn more about ISRC codes and Luminate reporting, please see: ‘Reporting Sales to Luminate (formerly SoundScan)’
    • Track notes (optional): Click on the dropdown arrow to enter track notes. An ‘Info’ link will be generated next to your track name, which will link to a page containing the track and your notes.
    • Lyrics (optional): Click on the dropdown arrow to enter lyrics. A ‘Lyric’ link will be generated next to your track name, which will link to a page containing the track and lyrics. If you have also added ‘Track notes,’ only an ‘Info’ link will appear.
  • Pricing and availability offers these options:
    • Allow download/sale:
      • No: your track will not be available for download/sale from your website
      • Yes: your track will be available for download/sale under the condition of your ‘Purchase Type’:
        • Free
        • Free - require email address: allows fans to download your track for free, in exchange for their email address, which will be added to your ‘Mailing List’ members
        • Free - require member login: allows fans to download your track if they login or register as a site member
        • Paid - fixed price: Set a purchase price for the track
          • Optional: Select ‘Is on sale’ to set a sale price or a discount percentage (pro-only)
        • Paid - fans set price: Allow your fans to set the price they want to pay for the track. A minimum amount can be set here.
        • Subscriber pricing: toggle on to apply special pricing for fan subscribers
      • Apply this pricing for all tracks: Applies the pricing and availability options to all tracks in this bulk upload
  • Preview settings:
    • Preview clip: Set your preview clip range. Choose the start and end times of your preview clip using the dropdown options
    • Upload custom preview: You can upload an MP3 file with a custom preview you’ve created. This is useful if you have a watermarked preview clip
    • Play full track when shared: Choose this option if you would like the track to play in full when the direct link is shared
    • Use preview clip when shared: Choose this option if you would like the preview clip to play when the direct link is shared
    • Apply these Track preview settings for all tracks: Applies your preview settings to all tracks in this bulk upload
  • ID3 tags:
    • Automatically generate: creates the ID3 tag from the data set on each track
    • Leave tags as they are: will use your track’s embedded ID3 tags. Select this option if you’ve generated your own ID3 tags.
    • Apply ID3 tag settings for all tracks: applies this ID3 tag setting to all tracks in this bulk upload.

Notes:

Test your album pre-order

  1. From the ‘Edit Content’ tab, click the ‘Music’ feature
  2. Select the ‘Email a download’ tab in the left-hand pane
  3. Select your pre-order album from the drop-down and enter an email address
  4. Click ‘Send’
  5. When you receive the email, click the ‘Download file’ button
  6. On the download page, click ‘Download now’
  7. View the download on your computer

Pre-order sales

To view all your pre-order sales use the following steps:

  1. From the ‘Edit Content’ tab, click the ‘Music’ feature
  2. Select the ‘Pre-orders’ tab in the settings pane on the left
  3. View your list of pre-order album sales
    • Transactions will be listed only when the funds have cleared in your PayPal or Stripe account.

Releasing a pre-order album

  1. From the ‘Edit Content’ tab, click the ‘Music’ feature
  2. Select the ‘Pre-orders’ tab in the left-hand pane
  3. Click the ‘Release your album’ button

    Warning: There is no second step or undo button. When you click this link, an email containing the download link will be issued to all those who have pre-ordered the album.

After the album has been released, it will be available for purchase on your website.

Notes:

  • The ‘Release’ button will not display until the date entered for your release. If you’d like to release it early click the ‘Release your album’ link on the Pre-Orders page. Please note that clicking this link will release it without any confirmation or second step.
  • If a digital pre-order album is associated with a physical CD in the Store feature, the buyer won't receive the digital files until you click the release button in the Music feature.

Merch pre-order set-up

We don’t handle order fulfillment for physical items, so you are responsible for shipping physical items. Because of this, our Store feature does not have an automatic ‘release’ option. You can still sell merch pre-orders through the following steps:

  1. From the ‘Edit Content’ tab, click the ‘Store’ feature
  2. Click ‘Add Product’
  3. Select ‘Product/Service’ from the drop-down
  4. Next to ‘Product name’ type “(Pre-order)” and then enter the product name
    • Example: (Pre-order) Band T-Shirt
  5. In the description box, enter your product description and mention that it’s a pre-order. Also mention the expected ship date.
    • Example: PRE-ORDER your band t-shirt! Each t-shirt is 100% cotton blend and made with quality printing materials. T-shirts are expected to be printed and shipped by [add expected ship date.]
  6. When your item is ready, ship the items to your customers using the mailing address in the emailed sales confirmation from Stripe or Paypal.

For more information about shipping confirmation and getting paid, please view the ‘Getting Paid through Paypal and Stripe’ Help article.

How to edit your pre-orders through your ‘Selling Tools’ control panel

You can access your store features through your ‘Selling Tools’ control panel. To learn more, read our Bandzoogle Selling Tools Help article.