R & P Post 11: Artist websites that have inspired and influenced my ideas

Our artist's website is hugely important as one of a number of promotional platforms for our artist. It is a cross-media converged hub for a number of marketing tools, such as promo pictures and music videos amongst others. A huge benefit of using websites is their accessibility via technologically-converged platforms such as smartphones and tablets.

I have conducted research into archetypal conventions, as well as analysing the content, form and style of existing female pop artists' websites.

Please see below my analysis of Daya's website:

The forms and conventions usually present are typically:

-Relevant information on the artist such as their name and logo (in the header)
-Clear, synergistic colour scheme, plus often a visual motif
-Often websites will have banners or revolving images at the top of pages
-Numerous pages, including a homepage, gallery, about, store, etc.
-Occasionally, the site will have a popup or 'landing page'
-A range of photos of the artist or band across the site
-Immediate promotion of an artist or their latest work
-Promotion of tour dates/upcoming events
-Links to social media platforms
-Links or widgets - e.g iTunes, Spotify
-Opportunities to sign up to a newsletter
-A store with a range of merchandise
-Footer containing institutional/copyright information

Having researched websites and their form, content and conventions, I can deduce a number of vital roles which our website will play - our website must:

-(First and foremost) Promote and sell the artist; the website is an important promotional platform to market the artist.

-Create a brand which is synergistic and easily-recognisable.

-Sell their work and their music - both in terms of promoting the music of a certain artist, and literally via purchasing opportunities (an online store, for instance).

-Carefully tailor the site and its products to the needs a specific target audience 

-Offer fun or interactivity - gratifying the audience's needs for escapism & involvement.

-Incorporate symbiosis via links to social media platforms

I believe that this research into artist websites has been extremely beneficial, as we have been able to take on board the key conventions of artist's websites of a similar genre to our own artist, whilst also being able to take creative inspiration from several features on these websites. Hopefully, we will implement lots of these conventions and inspirations into our own project.