Lesson 9 Music Video websites.

1. AIM: Understand the purpose and conventions of
band websites
STARTER: You are managing this unsigned band called ‘The
Dreadful Flowers’. You are trying to convince them that they
need a band website to help promote the band. They’re not
interested as they say they are ‘too underground’ and it will
‘detract from our art’.
Come up with 5
reasons to
persuade them that
they need a
website.

2. ‘The Dreadful Flowers’
They’ve listened but still aren’t convinced. This
is what Sick Pete, their guitarist thinks…
What’s the point in having
our own website? It’s all
about social media these
days! Let’s get on twitter
and Facebook and forget it!

3. 13 Reasons why a band needs a website
(Source: makeitinmusic.com)

4. Your practice piece tasks
• Create a short music video (about a minute)
• Create a CD digipack
• Create the homepage of a band website
Remember: all of the above are for the same group and song. They should feel like
part of the same package. This means you should aim to have a consistency with the
use of fonts, clothing etc.
Your full A2 task next year

5. For your practice piece (and main
website)
- Use wix.com as a free website builder
- You only have to do the home page for this (and for the
main task)
- Lots of templates and embedded audio/video
- Take lots of photos when shooting the video for the
website/ CD cover
Check out previous group’s websites:
http://callumhind95.wix.com/thekinksa2media
http://mishaarmstrong.wix.com/thekooks

6. 5 things a good band website
homepage should have…
• Be up to date and actively promoting the artist’s
latest release/news
• Not be too text heavy… it is an entertainment
website!
• Have a clear ‘house style’ which corresponds with
videos, album covers etc. It should feel as if it is
all part of the same package
• Have fast links to the points of sale
• Easy navigation to internal links, outside sites and
social media platforms (3 click rule)

7. Research: Band website homepage

8. Open Lana Del Rey’s website
www.lanadelrey.com/homepage
1. How does the website represent the artist?
(think about mise-en-scene, camera shots etc)
2. What is there for the ‘first time’ fan who may
never have heard of her?
3. What is there for the fan who wants to find out
more about the artist than just her latest
album?
4. How does the website make use of multi-media
and demonstrate technological and cross media
convergence?

9. Textual analysis of band website
There is a clear style relationship between
the launch of the artist’s new album and the
cultivation of her image. Low key lighting is
used and a black and white palette perhaps
representing the artist as a modern artist
that is heavily influenced by music from the
past. Something that is evident in her music.
The website goes for an easily navigable
‘soft sell’ approach with links to various
online stores evident in the centre of the
homepage. The ‘soft sell’ may suggest she
is already a well established artist or
suggests that her audience would not
appreciate a more flagrant commercial
approach.

10. Your task (Research)
Complete a textual analysis of a band
(of your choosing’s) website homepage.
NOTE: By now you should be thinking about which
artist/song you are going to do for your practice piece.
You may wish to do an analysis of the same band you
covered in your CD cover analysis to compare the ‘house
style’ and cultivation of the band’s image.
EXTENSION: Useful extra reading: Media Know All
Apply this to your textual analysis of a CD, Music Video or band website