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

An artist's website is very important in marketing them as a brand as it acts as a platform where all their relevant information can be found and works on the theories of synergy and cross media marketing as there are links to social media and a consistent image throughout. There are also purchasing opportunities with links to buy the artist's music and merchandise.

I started by researching a range of different artist's websites and making some notes for example:

• Ne-Yo 
• brand image of him being a 'gentleman' seen in url - www.neyothegentleman.com
• quite simplistic website - video takes up most of the page which can be scrolled along to another video
• small icons at the top are inks to mail list, twitter, facebook, instagram, merchandise, video and soundcloud
• Jennifer Hudson
• bright colour scheme - white and purple
• links along the top
• scrolling pictures at the top of main page
• Rita Ora
• focal image of artist on home page - relaxed pose and 'natural' makeup 
• video underneath focal image followed by tour information and social media links at the bottom
• a 'listen' link to hear her new single

Two websites that I really liked and was most inspired by were Rihanna's and Jason Derulo's. 

Home page for Rihanna's website

I really liked how the pictures on the home page are black and white until you hover over them, showing the link to the article it's advertising. I also liked how on the tab along the side there is a diagonal line through the page name that you are on, making navigation even easier and this could be something that we could do.

I really liked how the background photo changes so seamlessly as you scroll down the main page. I was also particularly inspired by the social media section at the bottom of the page and its eye-catching layout which I think we could take and adapt for our own website.

Overall, I found the website research really helpful because it highlighted the conventions we need to include in our own and the range of style options we have.