Codes n Conventions Website Media studies.pptx

music website codes and convs

1. Codes and Conventions – Websites

2. Inspiration Websites

3. Analysed Websites  Codes and Conventions:

4. Marquee A constantly sliding compilation of photos can be used to convey a larger and more varied impression of the band to the audience without their purposeful investigation deeper in the website The Haunt use a marquee as their main feature on the top/ first scroll of their website, transitioned into after a still of the two band members, requiring no user-effort but delivering many images and information on the band

5. Animated/ Interactive Elements Another method of adding motion used by these websites is animated aspects that bring attention and interesting motion to an otherwise still image The Red Hot Chili Peppers do this in their homepage by animating parts of their latest album cover which takes up the first scroll-width, with the bubbles drifting; lightning striking; clouds floating; and text wiggling Billie Eilish also does this in her homepage, which features her latest album art, with the door and water particles swaying in motion Furthermore, an artist can do even further into the use of motion and engage the audience with interactive elements such as AURORA's front page featuring a pumping silver heart that can be rotated and switched between dark and light filters using the mouse, a promotion for her new album which features the same heart.

6. Logo and signature typography Often, artists will keep their name and related named products in a similar succinct font related to the artist, which can be used to denote aspects of the musical and aesthetic style of the artist For example, the Cure use a distinct stylised font on their front page, the bottom of their front page, and even in their bio tab. Granted, their store page uses a similarly graphic font, but it is different however most of their branding is kept in a similar recognisable font that allows the band to stand out by font and typography alone On the other hand, some bands add a specific twist on the visual appearance of their band name beyond fonts, such as Korn who stylise the ‘r’ in their name as a backwards capital to make it original and stand out. This is also seen in their merchandise, advertisements, as well as their homepage

7. Photos featuring artist Though bands tend to favour using images without central focus on the artist(s) in leu of logos, single artists tend to use images containing their likeness, in order to establish a presence of the artist’s appearance in their brand, even if the photo is indirect in showing the full visage of the artist This is shown in a more subtle way in Caroline Kingsbury’s website, where the background is a collage of tv-static images of her face from close angles Bands do also exhibit themselves in front page images, such as Destroy Boys who use an overhead shot of the band making direct address with the audience. A more obvious example is Conan Gray who not only features his likeness but chooses the album cover of his latest album to promote his appearance and music at the same time.

8. Performance Images Images of performance is an important element of musician websites as it serves as a form of advertising for live shows and tours, whilst showing motion-filled shots of the band in their element and often expressing more emotion and passion than a non-candid photoshoot image would The Cure use this along with Nirvana who implement a video of a performance from the band to show the audience what they could expect should they buy tickets to a show from the band.

9. Album/Single Cover Art Often, artist advertisements are suffused into the first visuals of their website, making sure the audience is aware of the latest piece of music released before anything else. This can relate to the latest music videos through the use of links, which a lot of these examples contain The Arctic Monkeys, Conan Gray, The Red Hot Chili Peppers and MOTHICA all feature their latest albums in the front page of their website at the top of the page, with Conan, RHCP and HMHAS featuring the name of the album and the art; Arctic Monkeys featuring the album art; and MOTHICA including text related to the release of her newest album and an alternative photo from the cover.

10. Tour Dates Following from the featuring of photos from live performances is the providing of audiences the means to act on learning more about the artist and their tour. Artists usually exhibit their tour dates in a long list below their main image and ‘greeting’ screen of the home page Shown here are two examples of tour advertisements, both formatted in similar ways yet differing depending on their genre and aesthetic. Slipknot, a nu metal band, use a tour photo as a backdrop, adding to their busy and chaotic style however Conan Gray, a pop artist, opts for a clean black background to sacrifice stylisation for clear conveyance of information, using the core colour of the website and his latest album as a text colour.

11. Merchandise slideshow and link Artist websites' main goal is to promote the artist and engage the visitors enough to pursue consumption of the artist's music. This consumption comes in many forms, one being merchandise. Usually considered after the audience has grown attached and fond of the artist, notably after viewing a music video or other piece of performative media with the artist featuring (like a live show), merch is integral all music artists as a method of direct income more valuable than streams, and as a form of advertising as people begin wearing the artist's face, logo, and album covers on their persons in public Thusly, links and inviting presentations of the artist's merch are crucial to the marketability of an artist on their website, providing the means with which the audience can support the artist directly. Merchandise is not limited to apparel and vinyl/CD forms of the artist's music is also a direct and more personal way of supporting the artist to many consumers. This is best shown in Billie Eilish's website, where her products feature photos of her holding, wearing and interacting with them. Furthermore, the band Korn present the audience with a deal, showing the scope of their merchandise, from clothing, to accessories, to mugs, and coffee, also storing it in a bundle to encourage a sense of a 'deal' to buyers

12. Latest project advertisement Often, the musician's latest musical endeavour will be pushed to the top of their website, bringing with it a complete redesign of the website including colour scheme and theme. The same is true with merchandise and tours, the artist's current project having the entire website revolve around it. This is important to spurn new and interesting/ cutting edge content interaction rather than the artist's older work which has had its hype die down due to its less recent release. New albums and singles are opportunities for artists to start a new chapter, appeal to a new audience, and draw in all sorts of new visitors to their websites. This is seen in almost every artist's website, notably Conan Gray, whose career and genre was redefined by his latest album, his website using the same colour palette as the cover

13. Dark atmosphere, monochromatic Signature colours are crucial in defining an artist's aesthetic and setting them aside from other artists. Thusly, many artists stick to a specific colour or palette for their website, used by MOTHICA and Arctic Monkeys. Dark and gloomy atmospheres are also succinct with many subsects of indie and alternative rock, notably grunge, goth, emo and punk. Such artists as Korn, The Haunt, and the Cure use dark colours and a generally gloomy atmosphere in their websites to better identify with their genres and appeal to such a group. However, some artists purposefully stray away from monochromatic and dark conventions like the Red Hot Chili Peppers appeal to an entirely different and polarised section of people, standing out more by rejecting common codes.

14. Music Video Snippets Converging websites and music videos, artist can feature snippets of their music videos on their websites, giving a teaser of what the video contains and spreading awareness of the video on a wider scale AURORA advertises music videos from her current and second latest album lower down on her website, using thumbnails that feature her face or her performing to register that it is her brand Kasabian advertises their latest music video for their yet-to-be-released latest album on the front page of their website at the top, a small snippet of the video playing upon entering the site

15. Newsletter Persuading the audience to sign up to an artist's newsletter opens up another pathway of delivering knowledge and updates about the artist, with frequent updates being delivered personally to every person signed up by email, detailing upcoming tours, albums, and other information about the artist. The amount of supporters can also help gauge economic aspects of the artist's career like venue sizes and amounts for tours, expected traffic of newly released songs, etc. Korn, and Arctic Monkeys all do this towards the bottom of their pages, as an afterthought after the audience digests all other content Destroy Boys and Conan Gray keep their newsletter sign ups relatively high up, with Destroy Boys featuring it at the very top of their website as they prepare to release their new album

16. Alternative Fashion Fashion and outwards appearance is a huge factor in an artist identifying with their genre, especially in the alternative community, wherein rejection of normative fashion trends is revered as a staple of the genre We see this best in Destroy Boys, MOTHICA, and The Haunt's websites, where gothic and punk attire signifies their belonging with the genre, appealing to the audience they are targetting but perhaps presenting as off-putting to a more mainstream audience. More extreme cases of this can be found in metal band Slipknot, wherein costume and provocative attire often teetering on the edge of disturbing is succinct with their brand and identity as a 'hardcore' band

17. Navigation Bar A navigation bar is a staple feature of any artist website However, the font, use of logo, location and colour all allow for a small amount of expression of the artist's style to be conveyed through a functional and interactive aspect of the website This is seen in nearly every artist website, with some highlights being shown here.

18. Collages To convey a large scope of the artist's expression and identity, collages of many photos, often from many different times in the artist's career, helping immerse the audience's with the history of the artist's career We see this from MOTHICA, featuring photos from her previous two albums under her current fourth album to release soon Furthermore, Slipknot use a collage of music video stills, each linked to a music video in an interactive use of audience participation as each photo enlarges and colourises when hovered over

19. Industry-wide Codes and Conventions:

20. Layout Sites are designed to be easily navigated and delivering information with ease Images are often used to garner interest with the latest images, especially of new music releases, taking priority and often appearing in larger and more prominent form Backgrounds are often simplistic and monochromatic unless intentionally colourful to draw interest by breaking this code, often with high contrast between text and background The main content of the website is often centralised, with notices and less important segments delegated to lower down the page or the sides, along with other tabs being linked to at the top or bottom bar

21. Convergence Allusion to other products and merchandise belonging to the artist is evident in these websites, with visual displays of new albums and merch along with links to social media pages and music videos This helps keep all of the artist’s media existing to be consumed by an audience referencing eachother in order to foster interest and research of the artist in the target audience This is seen in AURORA's website,   wherein all of her previous albums    are displayed along with social links