In comparison to our other two media products, namely the music video and the digipak, our website seems to be quite conventional. The way in which it is built up is very similar to many other websites on the market, and in order for it to be manageable for the audience to scout around it needs to be in order. This isn't as vital for the digipak or the music video. But the website is essentially the main marketing tool, not only for the albums and past music they have made, but also for tour dates, meet and greets, and just general information about the artists themselves - it is there to sell the entire campaign. Would our website be as unconventional as the other two products, our campaign may run into way larger issues than just being different to the norm.
When looking at the website of
The Electric Swing Circus, there isn't a large differentiation in style. The basic and utmost important factors of the website is the fact that the title of the band is in the largest letters and falls into the eyesight of the audience, and that there are headers for the different pages which are part of the entire website which then help the audience to navigate around the page. We have used this on our page as well, which is conventional, as every website does this. However, something that is unconventional in the stylistic element of the website is the fact that we don't show the name of the website at the very top, but rather to the right hand side, which could potentially be negative to the entire layout as it may not be as obvious and the audience may have to look around first before realisting whether they are on the correct page or not. Something else which has caught my attention which may be unconventional is the fact that we don't have a logo to represent our band on the website. Alongside
The Electric Swing Circus,
Parov Stelar's entire
homepage almost consists of just the logo/header which is present on each facet of the website. It is something that makes the band recogniseable from afar and gives the audience the ability to recognise other media products created by that certain artist if just a factor of that logo/header is used. Next to this, each of the headers/websites have a specific font which is used and carried out throughout the entire campaign. The font which has been used on our website is simply one like Lulo Clean, which is different to the one which was used on our digipak. This is quite unconventional as it may make it difficult for the audience to recognise the digipak in stores if they have looked at the website in advance. Next to this, the unconventionality of not using the own logo and/or font means that the website looks rather cheap and doesn't give the band the opportunity to sell themselves properly. Therefore, audiences may be turned off the appeal of the artists and forget or disregard the music they make entirely. This is something that should probably be thought about in order to make the campaign more successful, as the website should be as conventional as possible to be successful. Also, this helps to represent our band as an organic one due to the fact that the representation of it will be expressed through the logo rather than the people who are in the band.
Something which is quite unconventional is the fact that at the top of our website, we do not showcase our music video but rather a media player with the album tracks in it and technically, the icon for the album (rather than a cut out of the music video???). Many other websites, such as that of
C2C, showcase the music video at the top which allows the artist to directly market their music video, and therefore build hype among the audience for the album which they can then find the link to on the website. However, we do it the other way around which may make it more difficult for the audience to express an interest in the album, as they may just scroll through it and skip through the songs, whereas the music video may catch their immediate attention. The main reason as to why a media player is at the top of our website rather than a music video is because of the attention to detail and aesthetic, and the layout just looking better to begin with. Therefore we chose unconventionality and aesthetic over managability, stereotypes (and slightly convenience). A simple website is practical when it comes to representing an organic star image due to the fact that it is not overdone and doesn't reflect an unrealistic and synthetic appeal which promotes the star image to an extent where it becomes all about the artist rather than the music created, however I fear that our website has not gotten the additional flair that it may need.
Something else that is also completely unconventional for our website is that there is no social media interaction whatsoever. Many websites offer the audience the ability to interact with the band, or be updated on what is currently going on, on platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. This website by
Caravan Palace illustrates it perfectly. They give the audience the ability to create an online community to interact with other people who are fans, or perhaps even get in touch with the band (if they are lucky!). However our website displays no option to do this whatsoever. It makes it very difficult for the audience to be updated on news and perhaps cause a loss in interest after a while.
Something else which is also quite conventional for some websites, especially those presenting their album rather than their music video at the top (which is quite unconventional), they present the possibility to purchase, stream or download the album. Other websites usually have this on other pages of the website and not the homepage, but as it seems the options are only "Home", "Album", "Tour Dates", "About", "Video", and "Representation", there isn't a possibility for us to properly market the rest of the albums they may have released and therefore make it more difficult to link the audience to other products our band may have created. This unconventionality can be very bad for the band as it makes it almost impossible for the band to sell any music and may therefore run out of success very quickly. Also, by not including this in a place where it can be found easily, it makes it more difficult to navigate through the website in general.
homepage almost consists of just the logo/header which is present on each facet of the website. It is something that makes the band recogniseable from afar and gives the audience the ability to recognise other media products created by that certain artist if just a factor of that logo/header is used. Next to this, each of the headers/websites have a specific font which is used and carried out throughout the entire campaign. The font which has been used on our website is simply one like Lulo Clean, which is different to the one which was used on our digipak. This is quite unconventional as it may make it difficult for the audience to recognise the digipak in stores if they have looked at the website in advance. Next to this, the unconventionality of not using the own logo and/or font means that the website looks rather cheap and doesn't give the band the opportunity to sell themselves properly. Therefore, audiences may be turned off the appeal of the artists and forget or disregard the music they make entirely. This is something that should probably be thought about in order to make the campaign more successful, as the website should be as conventional as possible to be successful. Also, this helps to represent our band as an organic one due to the fact that the representation of it will be expressed through the logo rather than the people who are in the band.
Evie
ReplyDeleteA magnificent effort and account of your use of media form and conventions. Not only do you provide detailed explanation of the use of conventions across the campaign but you argue clearly what is conventional ad what you challenge. through out you use academic ideas and make use of specific examples - well done.