First Look At Wix

Wix is the website creator i will be using to create my artist page for the website so i had a look at some templates and features the website offers.
 I searched up a music artist website template to see if there were any that follow the typical conventions. There were many to choose from but i found one that was quite simple yet effective.

I would want to change the colours and fonts around to create my own house style and obviously add my own pictures eventually but i thought it looked very appealing an enticing at a first glance.

I found it really easy to navigate round and there were a lot of different options to make your website as unique as possible which is a goal i want to achieve. There were options to add easter eggs and embed your own music, videos and a store which is also something i would want to do following music artist website conventions.

Statement Of Intent: Draft

Statement of intent draft 

Product 1:

For my music video, i intend to create one with a performance and narrative style combined to the song British Bombs by Declan Mckenna. This is because the narrative part will keep the ‘socially conscious’ demographic informed and entertained and the performance part will keep the ‘16-25’ audience active and engaged. This will hopefully be entertaining for this ‘upmarket’ demographic and something they would find aesthetically pleasing. I also hope it will reflect the industrial context desired by Warner Music Group which is to create a video to a protest song. I will do all this through the use of media language, one being intertextuality. I want to reference other music videos during parts of my video such as Bob Dylan’s Subterranean Homesick Blues where he uses flash cards for lyrics. Referencing this will also link to Goodwins theory of putting lyrics to visuals. Other media texts I want to reference include scenes of the talent reading the Daily Mail as this is mentioned in the song and will also be relevant to the socially conscious demographic. I want to incorporate a ‘British’ theme into my video, so referencing iconic Britpop music will be something I want to achieve, perhaps through shots of old vinyl records throughout the video. The video will follow typical conventions of music videos with the mix of styles and different locations providing a range of mise en scenes to keep the audience engaged throughout. The narrative will hopefully follow a girl going up to London to a strike whilst doing typical British sightseeing along the way whilst incorporating performance shots of the band/artist lip syncing to the song. The strike is an important part of the video as it is something the demographic take part in themselves (especially in recent years - climate strikes etc) to make their voices heard and it has had a significant cultural impact on the way this audience view current affairs and politics and the way they show this freedom of speech. The song is quite upbeat so i would like to use a bright, pastel colour palette throughout the narrative as i believe the song and what it’s about will really contrast with the fast pace and seemingly angelic mise en scene. The lyrics are quite deep and dark creating that contrast which i think will be really effective by having that dark underlying theme to it in a sense that perhaps everything is not as perfect and pretty as it seems and that there are lots of issues in our postmodern world.

Product 2:

For the working website of my artist, i intend to hold interactivity at its core. Audience to artist connectivity is one of the most important parts of being an artist with an active audience. Audiences creating a fanbase is something that happens all the time, playing into the new age of ‘participatory culture’ as suggested by Jenkins. I intend to create a sense of house style across the artist website with a contrasting colour palette to reflect the theme of an underlying darkness of the world we live in sort of as a mantra for what the artist would stand for. I would like to bring into some sort of campaign into the website taking inspiration from other Warner signed artists and to create the ‘protest’ link between the music video and website, perhaps about climate/war. This can be done through hidden easter eggs embedded in the website where perhaps the ‘upmarket’ demographic can donate to a certain charity. I want there to be artist features and exclusive content from the artist including videos etc and merchandise for the audience to buy to follow typical artist website conventions. The merch will maintain the brand identity that has been created as well as all other features of the website.

How do you intend to link your media products to demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of the digitally convergent nature of your media production?

I will intend to link my products through taking inspiration from modern artists who use a multitude of promotion techniques, including digital media, to increase a following and fanbase. When artists use digitally convergent methods to promote themselves, they are likely to engage a younger demographic such as one the brief suggests (ages 16-25) making it increasingly important to do so. To be able to get maximum audience reach I intend to use synergy to create a unique audience experience whilst maintaining the ‘British’ theme and house style throughout linked to my video. The campaign for anti war/climate mixed in with the strike themes in the video will encourage audiences to think about current affairs and the impact this is having on the world. The audience will be able to engage with the artist in a number of ways through social media, buying merch or subscribing to the artists newsletter further reinforcing the digitally convergent nature of the website.

Planning: First Ideas

I decided to create a mind map with a rough sketch of ideas i want to include in the video, through inspiration from my research but also ideas that link to the brief and target the right demographic.

Generic research: language and digital convergence

How do media producers use language to communicate meaning?

  Media producers use a number of different language techniques to make music videos and their accompanying website unique to their persona and brand identity.
  One language technique used frequently is intertextuality. Both in videos and websites media producers pay homage to other media texts for a number of reasons. The references are made to influence the audience and add layers of depth to a text. Although, these references can only be noticed if the audience has a certain level of cultural capital or knowledge.
  From my own research, i have found that in music videos, these intertextual references can be very effective in bringing a sense of nostalgia to the viewer and bringing in that 'retro' feel that older audiences will gratify from as well as the younger demographic.

Here are the examples of intertextuality i found from my previous generic research:

A reference to old Microsoft PC software as the layout for an artist website.

Reference to 80s movies through use of camera shots.

Referencing other iconic music videos - lyrics to visuals using flash cards.
Link to Andrew Goodwins theory.










  Another language technique that communicated meaning was the mise en scene of the music videos and of the photos used on band wesbites. From research, there is typically more than one location used in the video to change the scenery and create a theme. The different shots used of different locales was presented in a way that matched the beat of the song - a typical convention for a music video. This links to Goodwins theory as he said that 'seeing the sound' through beats of the song allows the video to flow.
  The mise en scene was also pulled together through the costume and prop use. The costumes varied according to the artists star persona and the theme they were representing throughout the video. It was sometimes used to also put a message across to audiences, such as graphic tees with text on it to make the video memorable and to highlight certain aspects.

How costumes created the bands brand identity as one that is quite vintage and retro.

How mise en scene of photo location gave a 'fun' and modern feel in contrast to their style.









How do media producers use digital convergence to link their products?

  There are a number of ways digital convergence is used but for artists it is primarily through their website as a way to distribute their content from other media platforms. From research, I found an artist that creates podcasts weekly that can be accessed through apple music or spotify. This is also another commercial imperative on top of merchandise and music buys as the streams from the podcast will create revenue. It may also enable to artist to gain new fans and gives them a way to promote their actual music.

Digital convergence is also shown through the use of the promotion of other social media accounts. For artists, they are linked in the Youtube description of their music videos and are also linked on their websites through icons which are easily recognisable by the demographic. This promotes an active audience (as suggested by Jenkins) who are able to respond to texts through the use of commenting and sharing on social media.

Generic Research: Artist Website 3

Glass Animals

Homepage

This artists webpage is conventional for an artist in the sense that it - in general - has sections for music, tour, shop etc although, the layout is extremely unique and fun to create that particular brand identity for the band. The house style that they have created is consistent and maintained throughout. It is also an intertextual reference to an old PC screen a pixilated and retro feel to it compared to modern PC home screens. The colour palette is bright and enticing to promote the album that is about to drop. The bright pastel colours give a sense of modernity which contrast with the actual retro feel of the layout. The pastel colours would also stereotypically seem quite feminine for an all male band to they are subverting masculine stereotypes here adding to their unique persona.
The band are signed to 'Republic' owned by major conglomerate Universal Music Group.

Conventionally, an artists persona is clearly established online through photos of the star(s). This is still present in the website through the use of video promotion for their latest release but a main image is not obviously promoted as other artists typically would to make their faces recognisable to the fans. To find photos of the band, they have to be downloaded through numerous clickthroughs further emphasising the bands values and beliefs. They do not present themselves as one that wants to promote their identity as physical but rather as one that is more low-key, and more interested in the music than the appearance. This is unconventional of many popular artists which promotes their brand identity as one that's quirky and mysterious which could also link to how their website is laid out - differently to most.

Digital convergence is used through the use of music videos. On the homepage there is a clickthrough labelled 'watch' which opens up another tap sending the user directly to their youtube channel filled with all their music videos. Audiences can interact in the comment section sharing thoughts which is conventional for artists to have. There's a similar clickthrough labelled 'listen' seeing the user to a tab again giving more links to stream the artist on numerous sites. Here they can purchase the music or just stream it increasing the potential for audience contact and commercial success.

Social media sites are all linked at the bottom left hand corner of the site such as twitter, Instagram and Facebook. This gives the audience an oppertunity to interact and follow artists and engage with new updates more than they would with the actual website perhaps. This symbiotic relationship between fans and artists are important for brand loyalty, to promote the artists and maybe gain new listeners. A sense of community is also created with the fans who have similar interests and will gain satisfaction from talking to people who share the same experiences and likings as them.

A commercial imperative is created through the store click through. Merchandise and music is able to be brought including exclusive signed items and limited edition pieces. As you go through to the store there is a pop up exclaiming that fans who buy off the website can get early access to any upcoming show. This is a good way to promote the merchandise as it will encourage audiences to do so to feel exclusive and get that priority access. The store is conventional of an artist website as it is official and fans may feel a sense of personal belonging through wearing/buying off of the website - whilst also supporting their favourite artists

There are a lot of added features to the websites to allow further audience interaction and to create a fun sense to add to the brand identity of the artist:

There's an interactive retro game maze the viewers can play - another intertextual reference to old computer games.

Generic Research: Artist Website 2

Tom Misch Website - link from video analysis

This website adheres to the typical conventions of a music website to some extent. The front page is actually a moving image of clips taken from the most recent tour. Its quite a simplistic layout with only two links on the navigation menu to 'shop' and 'contact'. Usually there are 6/7 different links that typically include a news and videos section. This makes the website look very minimalistic with details about tour included but not much else information and no use of interetxtuality and not a huge use of digital convergence.

The colour palette is maintained throughout the front page to create a house style and a mix of fonts creates his brand identity. Theres a chance for the audience to be active through subscribing to the news letter to get updates on the artist.

After clicking through to the shops section there's a chance to buy merchandise and music which is conventional for an artist website. Digital convergence is also used in the section of the website through the links to all different social media sites allowing the audience to feel connected with the artist and to keep them active and engaged, linking to Stuart Halls audience response theory.

I believe an easter egg is used on the home page - if you click on the moving image you are then taken to another website about the artists latest release and the collaboration song with another artist. 

This gives the audience more chance for interaction through social media and 'supporting local record stores' - showing something the artist is clearly passionate about. This same font is used as on the front-page maintaining a house style and brand identity.

Generic Research: Artist Website 1

Blossoms band page - link from video analysis 

The website adheres to typical conventions of a music/artist website.

The homepage consists of a main image of the band members in the exact same location as the cover art of their newly released album this year. It constructs the band as a brand though their retro-style clothing and the brightly coloured mise en scene - reinforcing the bands ideas about how they should represent themselves as pervious albums also all include pictures of them as a group on.

The menu bar is placed clearly on the left which is a typical convention of a website to make all areas easily visible and accessible. There are links to tour, videos, merchandise store and a music store reinforcing a commercial imperative.

 The colour palette and layout is quite simple as is their band logo and the iconography they use. This simplistic layout is consistent throughout the website maintaining a brand identity.

Cross media production and digital convergence is a present on the homepage with hyperlinks to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube and Spotify. All these platforms are used to promote the brand and to interact with fans. The links make the platforms easily accessible for fans to find out more information, see what they have been up to etc. This could link to Henry Jenkins 'participatory culture' theory where fans are active consumers that can interact with the artist through sharing, commenting and creating online communities such as fan pages:(https://www.instagram.com/blossomsvideos/?hl=en)

The podcast link is something that is not conventional for a band/artist website in particular although, this is something the band do every week as part of their star persona. It includes interactive features such as calling fans or reading out fans comments to maintain their active audience.

On the videos section the first one linked in is the one i analysed. This is used to promote the bands star persona and their music through fun and enticing videos. The layout is again very simplistic to maintain the house style. When clicking on the video the viewer is not taken to another website the video is just embedded to keep fans on the website and to save moving over to another tab which could be more time consuming.

After clicking on the music store tab it takes you to that page where there is a pop up regarding deliveries. This keeps fans aware the band are doing their best despite the circumstances and the viewer has to actively click off of it to access the website fully. 

The website does not use easter eggs which is quite unconventional although, on the home page of their store there is a header mentioning a competition which is conventional for bands to do especially after a new release. The band tactically mention that people who have pre ordered the album automatically are in the competition promoting the benefits of buying their album as a way of saying thank you almost. This represents the bands persona as grateful and caring of their fans perception of them.

Their house style and brand identity is further maintained and emphasised through their merchandise online store by including their logo on the centre at the top of the page quite large and having the background image as a picture of all the members. This further shows how important it is for the band as a collective to make their faces recognisable to their fans, something that is conventional for most band websites and videos.

Research: Intertextuality

Some extra research in how music videos generally have incorportaed interextuality into videos.
I found typically, it's from other films or general iconic things that have happened.

Revision Of Pitch

Ideas I want to adapt

Narrative and Performance    

I  want to definitely include a mix of both styles into my video now and try and keep it as balenced as possible and not too heavily one or the other. Originally i thought in my pitch that it should be narrative although from further research, a mix of both is a common convention in music videos. Having the artist perform their song alongside a narrative is a typical structure and allows more engagement with artist to audience - something the audience will appriciate.

Lyrics to Visuals

This is still something I want to incorporate into my video especially as through research ive found it is a common convention. I have found I can do this through physically showing the lyrics somehow or  through a shot of something physical that is mentioned in the video e.g the lyric ‘we read it in The Mail’ and a shot of the subject reading that paper (also an intertextual reference).

Camera Movment & Editing 

Matching the sound to editing is something I want to use especially with an upbeat song and by using lots of different settings, it will make the video more interesting and engaging – something that the video will need to be to keep the demographic involved.