R+P Post 11: Artists websites that have inspired and influenced my ideas

A website is very important for an artists as it acts a hub for all of their information. These sites create a feeling of connectivity as they include links to all of an artist's other platforms such as social media. They also give other important details such as the dates of a singer's tour and allow you to buy tickets via the site.

Rihanna's website inspired me by how interactive it was. For example, when the pictures above were hovered over, a link to an article giving more details about the picture would appear (as circled). To the right is the article concerning the circled picture above. I though that this element of the website was very effective as it allows anyone who uses the website to engage with Rihanna more by finding out all of the events that she participates in. I would also like to include this element within my own artist's website as I think that it is an effective way of giving information about the artist in an interactive and tidy manner.  

Another website that has influenced my ideas is the website for the singer MNEK. I was first draw to this website by its bold colour scheme. I think that this was extremely effective as its simple layout is aesthetically pleasing and means that information is clearly presented on the site. For example, all social media accounts for the artist are put together in the bottom corner of the page. This makes it very easy for anyone using the site to find any information. I thought that this was a very good example of a website acting as a hub for different elements of an artist's online presence and is something that I would like to include on my own website.  

Drake's website stood out to me due to its use of cross media convergence. As soon as the website is clicked on, a video advertising Drake's latest album plays automatically. I thought that this was an innovative way of advertising as this ensures that everyone who clicks on the website will see the video, maximising its reach. It also makes his website very interactive as anyone using the site is immediately presented with different media texts. 

Katy B's website was also influential to me due to its incorporation of live tweets (as circled). By doing this, the audience is able to get up to date information about the artists that they love. It creates another element of interaction for the fans and allows them to stay in the loop of what events may be going on. This simultaneously advertises the artist's social media site, making audience more likely to follow the artist. This is very important for an artist in order to make their fan base grow. Because of this, I would also like to make my artist's tweets and statuses available through their website. 

Justin Bieber's website inspired me due to the large array of activities available...

These are just 3 of the activity options on the home page. Users have the option to watch the music video for the song 'I'll show you', download the album 'Purpose' and play the 'Purpose Pro' game and more. By offering different types of activities, the website is able to appeal to different areas of the artist's TA. For example, the video game would appeal to the younger part of Justin Bieber's TA, whilst the link to buy his album on Itunes would appeal more to the elder end of his TA who are more likely to have money to spend on luxuries such as music. Although I would not necessarily include a video game on my own artist's website as I do not think that this would be appropriate for my TA, I would like to create different media texts for the user to explore such as behind the scene videos and links to music videos.