On this page I will be finding the purpose of solo artists and bands social homepages/websites.
What makes a good website?
From researching three seperate examples for artist/band websites I have concluded that the following inclusions should be considered when constructing a website:
- Band/Artist Logo (to ensure the user is certain that they are on the artist/band’s website. Also helps to provide identity for the website)
- Images (to provide an interesting appearance to the website, rather than having a standard website full of text which may bore the user. Including images may also show the user a more creative and individual appearance to the band/artist overall)
- The words ‘Official Website’ (often give the user an impression that the website they are viewing is 100% authentic, and is owned and controlled by the band themselves, or their management)
- Social network feed (this provides an up to date news feed for any user of the website to view upon. These social network feeds also show that the band/artist is available within other websites that they may be members on, and may decide to ‘follow’ or ‘add’ the band or artist to their friends/pages section.
- Tour/Concert information (this provides information for the fans of the band/artist in order for them to make arrangements to watch them!)
- Consistent Theme (nothing is worse than a messy appearance, unless if the band intends on that, however the user should be able to navigate around the website without being confused or have the need to exit because it looks awful)
- Showcase the music/videos and any other talent! (this helps connect with users of the website, and allows users to view/listen to content they might not have heard or seen before)
- Band members/artist information (this allows fans of the band or artist to gain much more knowledge of the band or artist if they wish to do so)
- Newsletter/Mail list (helps users who often use their email to gain knowledge of the band/artist’s latest news)
From creating the above list of considerations when creating a website for an artist or band, I am now able to put some of my knowledge and these considerations into the construction of my very own website for the artist of which my group has chosen.
The main purpose and elements of artists homepage
The main purpose of an artist homepage is simply obvious as one of the most important elements include:
- Style and visual attraction – With most band websites its important to pay extra attention to detail when it comes to designing the site. It needs to match the personality and attitude of the band to give the over visual impact of what the band is about. If the site is kept simple as it would be a bad idea to detract from the band.
IMAGES OF ARTISTS/BANDS AND BASIC INFORMATION:
- A picture of the band/artist with information – as the fans will be only interested in the simple facts and information about their favourite bands so they can develop their knowledge about the music being played, but they would also be interested in the individuals who are in the group and make it more ‘personal’.
http://www.falloutboyrock.com/ – Home page
Fall out boy have managed to connect with their audience really well by the simply design of the sites layout. It has all the information that you could possibly need. I like the message board page where the users can personally write their opinions have conversations with people in the similar interest. They also have a Q&A page which I really like as everyone has the ability to ask a question about the band that they want to find out and then other people can answer the question. This is a good social aspect of this website that is a good design idea, as it allows everyone to stay connected.
ADVERTISEMENTS OF THE ARTIST/BANDS NEW RELEASES:
Most websites are full of advertisements to promote the artist and all the events taking place. It also helps make people aware of all the latest new releases of their news albums. As soon as I entered Beyonce homepage it immediately began to play her latest single so anyone who enters the site will immediately hear the new song and if they like it its straight away promoting her new release that people are wanting to buy.
MERCHANDISE:
Fans of the band will be looking for in a bands website is a merchandise. Not every band/artist will have a merchandise option on their website as they might not have any items to sell or on offer. If a site has a merchandise its entail to have a shopping chart system to set them up. This will allow them to set up their own personal account and stop for certain items they are interested in and then add it to their shopping basket. When designing this type of page it is important to make it look as attractive as the rest of the pages. It needs to grab the users attention and not distract from it. Therefore colours and imagery can be a big aspect as there should be clear and professional images of the product they want to sell.
Here is a big band name “Kings Of Leon” which have a website with a merchandise included. When browsing their site I found a shop that shows the type of product that they have available for their fan base. I found all sorts of different men t-shirts with album art work that is simply screen printed on. I’ve also noticed that even though the band is a rock band it appeals to both types of genders and the items to purchase can be for both Men and Women due to the shape of clothing.
http://kingsofleon.shop.livenation.com/ – Merchandise
http://www.kingsofleon.com/ – Home
CALENDAR EVENTS:
Another element when designing a bands/artist site is to have calendar events included. This is where the fans will have access to tickets to view their favourite celebrity idols and listen to their favourite music. This is an element area that will be most commonly searched for when browsing a fan based site. As this page will be mainly based in text with all the important events it’s still really important to make it attention grabbing and exiting. So it gets the fans to buy the tickets as they do not want to miss out on a big opportunity.
This is Nicki Minaj’s home > Events page. This is where all the special events are held that will be taking place throughout the current year. It directly shows the date of the event, location, place (venue), activity and the tickets which can be either brought V.I.P (Gold) or just a normal ticket which is (silver). http://www.mypinkfriday.com/events
NEWS FEEDS:
News feeds are another element of keeping the fans up-to-date with all the different things that are going on with their celebrity lives. For example below is a screen shot of Cheryl Cole’s news page? As Cheryl Cole is not only a great singer but she is also a busy business woman that has a lot of publicity pressure on her. This news page lets the fans know where she is and what she is doing. For example she now a part of the American Idol as she was successful in the X factor in the UK. So from reading this news feed we can find out all the gossip about the X factor and American Idol and how is getting on with the pressure of being away from home.
The news page is normally very consistent to the rest of the site. It has the same type of images and colours so it looks more professional plus still grabs the user’s attention. News feed and newsletters can be quite intensive if there are huge amounts of text involved. To stop boring the fans text has been split up into small paragraphs with different animations between them, to keep the user involved.
Above is Eliza Doolittle’s homepage. I fell in love with her CD cover artwork and wanted to see what the website will look like, as normally the album cover contrasts with the blog. I was amazed when I saw her homepage. It so bright, colourful and full of interesting animations. Her news page is really sweet and girlie with bright solid colours that contract and ‘clash’ with eachother that it forces the eye to the information.
This is her Latest News feeds. It immediately shows its consistency with the bright solid yellow background but then clashes with the bright blue and red. This makes it extremely fun to use showing that Eliza is not a boring person, as she has a bright quirky personality. Her personality shows strongly when browsing the site and I think its important to show the characters personality when designing a worldwide site for the famous.
Facebook and Social networking process
1. These are links. They will navigate you to all the basic information, news feeds, photos, music of their new releases plus videos that are updated from ‘YouTube’. There are also some events that will be taking place with fans comments, so you have the ability to talk about the band to people with the same interest.
2. These are tags and images from the band so the fans can enjoy what the Veronicas get up to, etc. It also allows the fans to make images and tags the Veronicas in them to share their creations.
3. Is the section where all the most relevant information is held. Whoever make this Facebook page has written some basic facts about the band and added some links that the viewers may be interested in.
4. This shows the amount of people who ‘liked’ the ‘Veronicas’ showing popularity
_____________________________________________________________________
These are my Favorite Bands/Artist home-pages:
Jessie J’s Homepage http://jessiejofficial.com/
The Veronicas Homepage http://www.theveronicas.com/
The veronicas is an Australian duet girl band with a genre of pop rock. As they are a band that I am a fan off I tend to check their website to find all the latest news and gossip, as im eager to find out when they will make a new album. The site is bright and colourful with neon pinks and dark purples. These are the type of girl rock colours that perfectly symbolize The Veronicas personalities.
From first glance of this site it immediately shows its easy to use by the simple, neat navigation buttons and scroll menu’s. I think its really interesting and eye-catching all the way through the pages which shows consistency.
If this website was to be improved anyway I would recommend to actually have product that people can buy but it does have a merchandise where people can buy their 3 current albums.
Kat Deluna’s Homepage http://www.katdeluna.com/
Kat Deluna homepage is very basic with not much things going on. There are only 6 links that are linked to different pages, this is just enough for something to get the information they need. However I think the designers of Kat Deluna’s homepage should have considered her fan base a bit more.
The Scripts Homepage http://www.thescriptmusic.com/gb/home/
As I’m generally interested in The Script as a band I was spontaneously researching the band as I wanted to gain some knowledge of the group and find out the latest gossip. They also had a new song recently played on the radio, so I was eager to find out what this song was called and when it will be officially released. I found this home page of The Script and it gave me all the information I needed. It told me all their new releases and when their next album is going to be published. I also found some concert tickets of the band which was really exciting.
From the first impression of this home page, it really grabs the eye with the plain simple layout and colour scheme. The colour co-ordinate with the groups theme and the latest front cover album with adult hand welcoming the child hand in special browns.
Chase and Status Home Page
Rachel Louise Taylor 