2. Introduction
• Kasabian are a UK band, featuring music that
belongs to t he indie rock genre.
• The band's original members consisted of
vocalist Tom Meighan, guitarist and vocalist
Sergio Pizzorno, guitarist Chris Karloff, and
bassist Chris Edwards.
3. Record label
• Kasabian has been under the record labels
‘Columbia records’ (which is under ownership
of ‘Sony music entertainment’) and RCA
records. Both are American record labels which
allows for the band to have their music to be
sold more successfully globally. Unfortunately,
these are flagship record labels in the US and
therefore put creative pressure on Kasabian
which limits their creativity and time.
4. ‘Common values’
• Their clothes are black and white dominant, which
conveys a common imagery in Indie rock stars with
lack of colour.
• The facial expressions they use connote emotions of
anger or hostility. This edginess is used regularly to
intensify their indie rock brand identity.
• Most of their photoshoots consist of a blank white
background. This shows that their music is raw and
grounded. Most indie rock bands feature a similar
look to connote a sense of bareness to their visual
identity to say that ‘What you see is what you get’.
5. Richard Dyer’s features
• The Kasabian members are an
image, constructed through
magazines such as ‘NME’ and
music videos.
• They are a commodity
produced and consumed
based on their strengths and
meanings, which in this case
is their edginess and humour.
• Their image is made up of
meanings such as raw and
simple but stark and unique,
which is attracted to the
young average demographic
audience of the indie rock
genre.
6. Richard Dyer’s 2 paradoxes
• PARADOX ONE. The star must be simultaneously ordinary yet extraordinary for the
consumer. In Kasabian's case, They have to have a coherent brand identity so the
audience so that they know what to expect from them but they also have to try
something different such as in their new album “48:13” where they feature pink
instead of white in order to not let the consumer become bored of their look.
• PARADOX 2. The star must be present and absent simultaneously for the
consumer. Kasabian have been present in the media when promoting their
albums. Between albums, when they are in the process of writing new music, they
get very little or no media coverage and so they are absent whilst there is no news
circulating around them but present when there is.
