Amanda Palmer's Webpage

I have created a webpage thanks to a free software called Wix, which we will use next year to present to the world the artist that we potentially create. To give it a go, I created a fake account of Amanda Palmer, the lead singer, pianist and lyricist in the duo The Dresden Dolls, though she also performs indiviadually. She is an underground rock and punk cabaret artist, and her songs tend to be controversial.  

Thinking about her style and how she comes across as a person, I realised she is very individual in the way she acts, and her strong personality is highly noticeable. Therefore, I decided to include mostly pictures of herself in the midst of a concert or styled in the bizarre ways that are her preferred. 

I chose a simple layout because I imagined that someone like Amanda "Fucking" Palmer would like to draw all the attention to herself, and the colours are quite dark as a reminder of the dark cabaret arts in which she performs.

I thought it was important to show one of her most characteristic physical traits, which are her sleek, painted eyebrows she does herself, always reinventing them. As a consequence, I included a close-up next to some information about her I gathered in the internet.

I included as well the covers of the most important albums in her discography with a brief commentary about them. No matter how much Amanda strikes us with her appearance and behaviour, very disruptive, it is very clear that she is a professional singer and holds her job seriously, giving a huge importance to commitment and the aim of transmitting a message through her lyrics. It would be unthinkable not to include some sort of reference to her actual albums in her website.

Also, perhaps her strongest impact is caused in live performances rather than in album versions, due to the choice of costume, her masculinity and the passion with which she sings. This is the reason why I found relevant to add a direct link to a video of her performing "Do It With a Rockstar".

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After creating my own version of her webpage, I visited the real one and I was surprised of both the design and all the options available, as I thought her style would have been more minimal. However, the aesthetic is still quite artsy and she has her own logo on top of the page, which is definitely her style. Also, she has links to her social media and advertises her latest album much more than I had imagined.

As her life inside and outside of music is very active both culturally and socially, she has a link to her blog which keeps her fans updated. This is the right thing to include if an artists has important things to contribute with in their day to day life. Moreover, few artists share a link between their career and personal life as Amanda Palmer does, often involving her husband, the writer Neil Gaiman, in her songs as a narrator —among many other examples—.

                            

As engaged as she is with her audiences, Amanda Palmer's website also has the option to communicate with her directly, which would never be an option in hugely mainstream and popular musicians. This is probably encouraged as well by the type of fans she probably has; most if them are engaged with politics and social issues, which are interesting to talk about as opposed to the fans of, let's say, Justin Bieber, who would mainly be interested in his physical appearance and therefore provide very limited room for discussion if they were to write their idol.

This experiment has proved useful both to start getting familiar with Wix and to think about the many ways that the same artist could be represented in the media.

What are websites and how are they used?

A website is one of the tools that an artist can utilise to market and sell their music as well as to establish their image in the Internet so the audience has a more clear outlook on their style and career. 

Any artist's homepage usually counts with the latest LP they have released and a direct link to buy it —a crucial business tool—, as well as their tour dates so that those who are interested can follow their journey and try to get tickets to see them. Musicians usually also publish a wide range of pictures of them which come from photoshoots or performances. This enables them to establish how they want to be seen worldwide, as they are to a certain extent in control of what they want to show instead of fans just going to Google Images and finding all kinds of uploads from gossip magazines or more unreliable sources. Websites usually also have news about the artist or band and some sort of forums were fans can share their opinions. Another increasingly important function of their sites is to provide multiple links that will take you to their social media. If the band is successful enough, they will also have a section were merchandise can be bought.

I will look at the webpages of two very different bands that I have been fond of since I was quite young. Muse is a British rock band, very popular among certain audiences. Although they started aiming for a more alternative public in the beginning, the sort of people who would still enjoy classic rock bands like the Beatles but would also crave for a more modern twist to it, they have moved with the times and evolved towards a more electronic sound lately. Regina Spektor is a Russian mezzo soprano singer who has released several albums of ballads in an alternative style which joins together jazz, rock and blues, but became renowned especially for taking part in movie's soundtracks like "500 Days of Summer".

Muse's webpage has a modern look, though it is caught up in the 2010s rock stereotype. The choice of dark colours is clearly to contribute to the convention that rock has a reckless, secretive side about it. Muse's style can be a bit extreme for the average listener at times, so maybe the dim colours and mysterious outlook of the page overall suggest that the music they create is not for everyone. The last single they released, some weeks ago, is prioritised above everything else via audio and video files, before even being able to enter the site. This is a good marketing strategy, as the temptation of watching or listening to the new song is almost unavoidable for a fan who did not know about it previously. Also, though it may seem obvious, the fact that the page is updated with the latest single —which wasn't released so long ago— implies that the band is popular and the team behind them cannot allow themselves to be out-of-date.

The members of the band are shown on top of the page once you log in, with a clear choice of giving protagonism to the most important member of the band, the singer Matt Bellamy, who is also the most popular out of the three.

Once you scroll down, you encounter a lot of information, like the tour dates, latest news, social media links and comments from fans.

In order to make their faithful fans happy, the marketing team have decided to include a variety of photographs from every concert of relative performance they performed.

Additionally, there is an online shop where everyone can buy merchandising in every shape and size you can imagine, with more than two pages full of treats.

Apart from all of this options, the forum and the map with all the destinations where the band have made history are worth pointing out.

 

Regina Spektor's website constitutes a contrast to Muse's mastery of marketing thanks to the years of monopoly in the rock industry and being a mass entertainment, even if it is an educated mass.

Her site is more empty, more orientated towards unsusual people. The first thing we encounter is Regina transformed into a centipede, with a button to access the main page. It is clear that she aims to impress an older fanbase with a more delicate taste, while moving out from the serious image of many similar singers who would not play that much with their image.

Her webpage is more simple, with a white layout and less options on top, as well as the information distributed along the page without bombarding the fans, as they are probably not as technological as the potentially younger audience of Muse. However, her strategy to sell is clear, her latest album being on top of the page.

Similarly to Muse, the site includes some news —more scarce and spaced out in terms of dates—, as well as tour dates.

One of the latest videos from her YouTube channel is included, with black and white photographs of the artists as a child. This indicates she wants to give out a very authentic image, supporting her music with her own background and childhood memories back in Russia. Although this is not the most commercial approach, the choice will certainly work with the most sentimental fans.

Regina Spektor includes her music, which you can easily listen to by a single click. This is a wise strategy to gain new fans who might have never have heard of her before. Artists who are fairly popular but not massively successful have the need to keep gathering audiences.

Regina's Instagram doesn't look incredibly stylised. In fact, it gives off a very home made image, as if the singer was completely in charge of it —for instance, we see random selfies without good lighting choices—.

Although Regina Spektor also has an online shop, she barely sells anything: the only page is not even wholy full of items. Also, the designs are less mainstream.

The themes discussed in the forums seem more run-of-the-mill, and Regina herself probably contributed with some ideas herself.

CD Digipaks and Album Covers

A CD digipak is the modernised alternative of the traditional CD Jewel Case. Although it initially was only planned for limited editions, the clever design soon became popular and musicians use them to give off a specific image-orientated or concept-driven version of themselves with the help of a designer or artistic team. Digipaks are becoming increasingly important in terms of originality due to the increase in online downloads and non-physical ways of acquiring and listening to music. They must support the image of an artist, their ideology and their genre of music.

I will compare and analyse three different CD covers: "Black Holes & Revelations" by Muse —the acclaimed British alternative rock band—, "Pablo Honey" by Radiohead —a more classic band from the 80s, and "A boot and a shoe" by Sam Phillips, an indie, acoustic singer.

Muse's "Black Holes & Revelations" album is not their first one, which is one of the reasons why a band would not show their physical appearance. However, in the case of this band, they have always been more interested in conveying a message through their lyrics. They pay attention to their concept, and their songs are usually about politics, war or love among other themes. This CD has a dystopian connotation which is represented throughout, especially in the cover where we can see a futuristic meeting of bold men in a desertic place. It definitely preserves the atmosphere of the whole album.

In "Pablo Honey", Radiohead definitely wanted their creative team to innovate, proposing a new and surrealistic approach in terms of the artwork. The cover is interesting by itself without owing anything to the music, it is more detatched if compared to the clear synergy throughout Muse's album. Radiohead have always tried to come across as edgy and revolutionary in every piece of work they put together. They also avoid having a fixed image or exploiting the appearance of the members of the band as they try to appeal to a fairly intellectual audience with a mature perspective of life, rather than a superficial point of view.

Sam Phillips has clearly tried to construct a "hipster" image around herself, trying to appeal to a more mainstream audience because of the huge popularity that this social tribe was gathering when the CD was released in the market. She obviously gives a bit more importance to her image of a natural woman. The singer included a black and white photograph of herself in the forest to support an organic image which is probably quite styled. This photograph, together with the picture of the Polaroid camera, conform a typical approach when aiming to represent the modern "hipster" trend among young audiences.

In spite of the individuality of any artist, some details which must be included for the audience are definitely the artist's name, the album name, a track listing, contact info and corporate info (the company that the artist/band is signed with). 

"Like a Prayer" by Madonna. Analysis

Madonna's music video came out in the year 1989 and it brought controversy to the world immediately. First of all, the video is full of racist accusations supported by the narrative and the black cast, who play priests and one of them even represents Christ. This was revolutionary for the society of the 80s, when racial segregation was not as common as in the present. Also, Madonna is quite sexualised and has some scenes of kissing inside of the church which constitutes the main location. The clip tells the story of a white woman —Madonna— who visits a church were the worshippers and the worshipped are black. One day, after the service, she witnesses a crime by some young white men who get agressive with a woman. Then, the black Christ who is also represented as a regular man goes to help her, and by the time the police arrives they blame him. In the end, Madonna goes to court and frees the innocent black man who she is in love with.

"Like a Prayer" follows the conventions of a narrative-based video. There is lip syncing, and the main singer is on screen as a performer most of the time, while getting involved in the actual story as well. The themes include violence among white people and the racist system which blames it on the black community, legality, religious beliefs and love.

Women are depicted with certain power, but Madonna definitely has an innocent side in the church, where she is shown through low angles and faithfully holding on to her cross. Her cleavage and short dresses are quite suggestive, though she is the heroine of the video and the saviour of the black people, which means that she certainly has importance and is in one of the top steps of the hierarchy in this fictional piece. The symbols of femininity and passion are the red roses lying around in the church, while the burning crosses can be interpreted as an offense to the church. However, Madonna is probably not criticising religion itslef, but how people use it as an excuse to hate and isolate minorities. She believes in a more liberal approach and this point is made clear by the choice of her obsession with a black Christ. 

Her star image is obviously constructed by herself. She has control over her representation towards her audience; this can be seen by the lyrics of the music and the way in which she immerses herself in the narrative of the video, confidently leading the storyline. She relies on a loyal fanbase who appreciate her enough to accept her views and consider them seriously without getting offended. The people who follow her are aware of the fact that part of her attractive is her exposure to the world and her honesty when it comes to social or political issues. 

                                      

Madonna's target audience, apart from her established fandom, is centred on minorities (mixed-race, black race, gay), young people who have the same rebellious instict as her and just any man or woman who could feel sensually drawn towards her as she takes advantage of her attractive appearance without using it to achieve success. Madonna is a unique artist who can conceal talent and good looks while transmitting an empowering message to the masses.

Star Image: Arctic Monkeys

Arctic Monkeys is band created in 2002 originally from Sheffield, England, which became internationally famous especially since the release of their last album: AM (2013). The band is formed by the lead vocalist, guitar and piano player who also writes the songs, Alex Turner, the guitarist Jamie Cook, the bassist Nick O' Malley and the drums player Matt Helders. Their music style is indie rock, garage and revival-punk in some tracks, while they aim for a more psychedelic turn in others.

Their image has always been quite organic. They started off as independent, naive and certainly shy young musicians who created their own music. Alex Turner's parents have a background in English Literature and Poetry and the lyrics of his songs have a touch of poetry as a consequence.

As they gradually became famous, their image started changing dramatically. Instead of wearing ordinary clothes that anyone's young neighbours could have, they transitioned to leather outfits and a sexier, more extreme rock touch in terms of styling. Alex Turner began applying grease to his hair and cut it in a modern version of what could remind us of Elvis' toupée.

Due to the popularity of the album, Arctic Monkeys' representative probably realised that they had to cater for an image which would attract more viewers without a doubt. So he went to a more suggestive, mysterious and professional manner of marketing them.

In the beginning, the band was probably self-sufficient and relied only on their music. Of course, they were quickly spotted and Alex Turner was turned into an innocent teenager stereotype that had to be cared for, and his talent moved the masses. This talent and the potential of the different member of Arctic Monkeys, who are not the typical boy band for the youngest audiences but their looks and type of music could attract a range of people aged 13-35, or even older because their music is influenced by legendary "classic" bands such as The Smiths, Queens of the Stone Age or even The Beatles, dating back to the 60s.

Since the release of AM, new fans have appeared in the scene, mostly younger as the album is a modernised reinvention of the band, with tracks more orientated towards electronic music. The change, triggered by the realisation that the industry has changed over the years, is also supported by the aesthetic choices of their music videos. While, in the beginning, the only videos available were mostly from performances in British festivals, going through a period of indie, quite traditional videos with clear narratives. for AM the band aimed for a more updated look. If we analyse the video for "Do I Wanna Know?", the designers behind it have chosen a black and white colour scheme, elegant and sleek like the new image of the band. The video is based of graphic work; the concept is simple but effective.

Also, there has been a very clear use of synergy as the main visual of the video is the frequency which also appears in the cover of the album as well as in the merchandise. In live performances, this frequency has been used to decorated the most important part of the stage.

During interviews, the band members have always been careful with their words, many times coming across as insecure, though this is probably part of the image they want to give off. There is an aim for perfection that has not disappeared from the beginning. 

Arctic Monkeys is just an example among many other bands which have grown thanks to the decision of slightly changing their music —mostly modernising it— and, consequently, their looks and the overall image they show to the world. Obviously, they have lost some older fans because of this transition, but most of the people who followed them from the beginning are too loyal already to be bothered about changes to such extent. I am not a fan of their last album, but I still believe it's better than so many other tracks that different bands would offer me. And, surely, there is a certain emotional attatchment to this Sheffield band who defined part of my childhood. 

My Music

Thinking about the music video I will soon be planning and filming, I have started asking myself key questions to approach the task. 

What is my favourite genre of music?

I have very varied tastes of music as and absolute music lover. I guess that my favourite genre of all time is rock, though I always appreciate good indie, jazz bands and soundtracks both from movies and musicals. Ballads are sometimes very nice. 

Who are my favourite artists/bands?

I mainly listen to British bands from the past and present. Some examples of the artists I most listen to are Muse, Arctic Monkeys, Kasabian, The Beatles, The Kinks and Belle & Sebastian. However, I also enjoy Spanish —Alaska, Loquillo, Mecano—, Italian —Renato Carosone, Toto Cutugno— and French —Edith Piaf, The Wriggles, Carla Bruni—music from time to time, I absolutely love Russian American singer and songwriter Regina Spektor.

I own most of the albums of all of these artists, even their vinyls, because of my shared passion with my dad, who is a collector.

What do I like about them?

I love the energy they transmit me. Among them I can find exactly what I need depending on my mood, in terms of instruments, rythm and the tone of the song. Nevertheless, I most appreciate the individuality of all the artists I praise —that's way some of the mentioned ones have lost part of their appeal to me over the years as they have become massively industrialised—.

How did I find about them?

To be honest, most of the artists I know of have been introduced to me by my dad due to our similar taste. However, I discover many new songs every day thanks to Shazam and I am constantly exploring to find new alternatives.

Have I ever seen them live?

The problem with my music taste is that the majority of the artists I love are dead. As a consequence, I have only had the opportunity to see Muse live, which was good enough. However, I still feel that there's nothing like listening to music on one's own, with the ability to think properly.

What are my thoughts about their music videos? And webpage?

I am not a big fan of watching music videos or browsing the official pages of my favourite bands because I believe that their music is good enough; it doesn't need any additives. Also, I usually don't appreciate them much because their image is a bit outdated in most cases. Electronic music artists, rappers and the rest of truly contemporary musicians usually handle social media and audiovisual approaches so much better because this is part of their generation and comes hand in hand with the type of music and the culture around it.

What do I think about the ideology of my artists?

Most of my artists don't have any political or philosophical purposes, they just make music because they feel the need and I take this as a life lesson. Doing things in the moment just for our enjoyment and being able to share them with others and make them happy as well is an objective that works for me. I am also a natural writer and I write about life, about people, just like all of these musicians.

Let me leave you with a couple of my favourite songs... You'll see that most of them don't even have music videos, but just listen to them.

This last one will hopefully make your day better.

Hello Again (new school year)

After a brief break, here we are again. I feel ready for another year of Media Studies, though the difficulty will undoubtedly increase throughout the next few months. I am aware of the fact that I will have to review last year's theory and acquire lots of new knowledge in order to thrive, but some rewards are in the way, like the filming of a music video to which I am particularly looking forward to. 

Apart from the actual shooting process, which will be much more complex and industry-orientated than the opening sequence, me and my future group will use what we know about marketing campaigns, cross-media convergence and synergy to conduct an effective music campaign including a website and an LP for our "artists" and their "debut album". Of course, we will use other students as performers, who will lipsync a song of our choice which has to be fairly known but not too popular. If it was, people would immediately identify that they are not the real singers. Moreover, we would be in higher risk of having our clip taken down of Youtube due to copyright.

I am excited to start to think about possible artists and songs to utilise for this huge project which will definately be one of the highlights of the course. I am confident that I will be prolific and I will use everything I have learned this year to improve.

My blog has taught me to be organised and disciplined, and I have realised that creativity is key to attract visitors and potentially achieve good marks. I feel like I could have taken more audiovisual initiatives, though overall I know that I have worked very hard to get everything done and document all my journey. Recording all the practical work is very useful to review and internalise the knowledge acquired; that is probably the main advantage of keeping a blog.

For next year, my objective is simply to keep working as hard as before and be consistent with my writing and the inclusion of interesting clips and images to accompany it in the most compelling way. I just want to be a clear communicator both for myself and for the rest of the people.