Band Website Analysis

1. The Blackout - Myspace - http://www.myspace.com/theblackout



The main colours used on the layout are green, black and orange. Which are the colours linking with their latest release. Black is also commonly associated with the genre that they are a part of. The album cover is at the top of the page so that it is the first thing you see. ECU at the side display each band member and their role in the band.

They also display all of their current tour dates and all of their promo videos released so far. The main one that they display at the top of their page is the video for their new single, 'Save Our Selves (The Warning). This is because they are currently promoting it and want to people to hear the song and then use the links below it to purchase the track or album that it is on.



As per usual on every band's Myspace page their are contact and label details along with a vast list of friends including bands they are currently on tour with and their record company. Linked with their label, Epitaph, there are also adverts to do with other bands on the label who are either touring at the moment or have had a recent release.



2. Alexisonfire - Official - http://theonlybandever.com/



When going onto Alexisonfire's official website the vibrant pink that confronts oneself is unsuspected unless you own a copy of their latest album, Old Crows/Young Cardinals. This is because the album cover is pink in nature and has a delectable image of a red cardinal bird on it. This is a move away from the more darker tones more commonly associated with the Post-Hardcore genre. On their homepage they also have a bird's feather which relates to the album and the same font used on the cover. From their homepage you can view the latest news about the band and also some of their upcoming tour dates along with their latest video. From here their are also many lins across the top of the page to different sections of the site.



These range from 'media' which displays pictures of the band to the ievitable 'store' section where you can buy products ranging from cds to shirts. A feature that may be different from other bands is that their section about themselves titled 'about' is actually written by the band themselves to give over a more personal feeling about it. They also have a 'community' page where fans send in their own content that could be videos of the band live or drawings of the members. These are all available to view and once again adds to the personal nature of the site.

3. The Devil Wears Prada - Myspace - http://www.myspace.com/tdwp


At the top of The Devil Wears Prada's Myspace page is their name in massive bold typing to let you know that you are in the right place. Behind it is a nicely drawn picture of a tree which is their latest album cover and relates to the title of it, 'With Roots Above And Branches Below'. The colours used are also dark like ' The Blackout''s page and the colours also link once again to their latest release.
There seems to be an endless amount of adverts and promotional material on their Myspace. These include their discography, merchandise and even downloadable ringtones. This seems a much less personal experience than Alexisonfire's website as it feels much more of an industry driven website and almost as if they have not had a part in creating it. It is also annoying that half of the videos don't seem to play as they are an American band and MTV don't allow English people to watch them due to stupid copyright issues. There are numerous images of the band in the stereotypical genre image with tattoos and fringes. This makes it more accessible for fans to copy their look.

The 4 Ps

a) What band/artist related products can audiences buy?
Products range from the actual music that they produce which comes in many different formats, such as cds, downloads and dvds. Other products include the bands merchandise which fans buy to be associated with the artist. These are often mainly clothing and posters.

b) Where can audiences buy/listen to music/merchandise/hardware?
The internet has recently taken over from high street shops as online sites such as Amazon and Play have become more favourable compared to HMV and other retailers. Downloading is now popular, this applies to both paid for content and illegally downloaded music. Bands myspace pages also offer fans a chance to hear their music. All of their videos can also be freely viewed on sites such as Youtube.

c) Give 2 or 3 examples of paid-for/subscription based and free products.

• Record companys sometimes give out free sampler cds in places like magazines to give their artists greater exposure. Both Epitaph and Roadrunner records have done this in recent months.
• Mailing lists are also very popular among artists as they keep the fans up to date on breaking news.

d) List between 5 and 10 examples of creative music marketing strategies (including at least 3 internet based examples).

• If you preordered Enter Shikari's new single online you got the service charge on your gig ticket discounted for a show on their upcoming tour.
• Saosin gave fans the chance to be credited on their album booklet if they texted in their name to a given number. Example of subambulant marketing.
• Radiohead let fans decide on how much they wanted to pay for their new album. They were the first to do this and it has recently spread to other media platforms with the new 'Championship Manager' video game poised to do the same.
• Green Day released their single 'Know Your Enemy' without any warning or publicising. This started rumours that a new song was out and momentum eventually picked up and got people talking about them again.
• Slipknot posted a video on youtube and their myspace 'encouraging' fans to go to their shows on their 2008 US tour.

Carol Vernallis

Carol Vernallis says the camera in music video seems to mimic the way we view sonic space... do you agree? Do you think we are conditioned by music video to read sonic space in particular ways?

This term 'Sonic Space' has confuzzled me as I have no idea what it means. This has unfortunately led me to have an incomplete answer for this particular section. I profusely apologise.


She suggests that the jumping camera focus is like the camera in place of our eyes, doing what we do when we listen. However, this is predefined for us by the Director - we have even less choice to look away/outside of the Director's choice than we do in film - do you agree?

I agree to an extent as there are so many cuts in music videos that it is hard to focus one image unless it is repeated many times. Music videos are much more based on the directors vision as he only has a few minutes to pack all he wants in so we are forced to look solely at the directors choices of shots.


She says music video is more like listening than viewing - do you agree?

Not really, because if you wanted to listen you would just listen to the song rather than watch the video. The video generally anchors the lyrics and helps to promote the artist as we can look at them and we are able to easily recognise them.

"We compensate imaginatively for what we do not see in the frame" - Agreed?

Yes it is natural for the human mind to link the things they see and jump to conclusion. This is useful in music videos as there is only a limited amount of time available so you can cut corners by suggesting things rather showing events in detail.

The constant motion in a music video and the variances it shows mean that a strong CU is a stable point. The music video "brings us towards these peaks, holds us against them, and then releases us" - do you agree?

I agree with this statement as it is crucial to see the artist's face as they are the focus of the video. Also the words of the song would be escaping from their vocal chords located inside their mouth.


Is the viewer "sutured (stitched) into the diegesis of the film world through the editing"?

Yes, the viewer is brought into the world of the music video. This is partly due to the gaps in narrative having to be filled by the audience and that there are many CU shots which make the viewer feel more involved.

Music video is freer in terms of viewer identification and perspective - agreed?

It is freer to an extent as not all people would watch some music videos due to the genre of the music and whether they like the song. The director can be freer, however, as he can take his own perspective on the track and the images that go with it.

Carol Vernallis believes the image alone cannot tell the story - do you agree?

I belive she is correct because if you watch a music video on mute it doesn't feel like a complete viewing experience. In my view this would also be pointless as the song is the whole reason the video exists so without it the shots would be rendered pointless.

Goodwin Deconstruction: Slipknot - 'Dead Memories'

This is the video for Iowan band Slipknot's 'Dead Memories'. It was filmed in their hometown of Des Moines by director Paul R Brown who specialises in heavy rock videos. The genre of the music is evidently metal and videos of this genre are largely performance based and have darker colours involved.

The bands constume and mise-en-scene at the start of the video links with the cover of the album that this is from, 'All Hope Is Gone'.


Along with every band member appearing in different locations, the lead vocalist walks through and almost narrates his journey. The lyrics could be seen to be amplified by the video as the theme of the song is dead memories and things that have happened in the past. The events being shown in each room could therefore have links to things in the protagonist's past.