indie band website analysis

1. Looking into indie band’s websites to analyse them and to
get ideas on how to design Minor Crisis’ website.

2. I have chosen to look at my chosen song’s band’s website
which is Imagine Dragons. Their website is simply
“imaginedragonsmusic”, the website is easy to use and access.
The first page that opens shows 3 slides, beginning with their
newest album shown “Evolve”, it also lists their 3 most well
known songs on the album to get people interested what other
songs they have. The second slide shows their world tour and
who their support acts are and lastly the third slide is
sponsorship with Tyler Robinson Foundation which shows the
band is linked to the charity and they also have their own
hashtag for social media which is #slaycancerwithdragons, I
believe that this is a nice touch to the front page as it connects
with their audience more and makes it different to just
promoting their newest album and upcoming tour.

3. On the top of the website they have links
to different parts of the site, the following
part was “news”, this sections has tour
dates shown coming up and where they
are held along with a timeline showing
dates of what songs have been released on
certain days and music videos, etc. The
following section is “tour”, this part
includes their merch such as t-shirts, caps
and collections, upcoming dates which you
can still buy tickets to go. The next section
is “about” which explains the bands time
of coming into fame, the background
image is of the band and the description
about the band tells what awards they
have won, the explanations behind songs
and albums, their production team are
also included along with tour information
on how well they are doing.

4. The following section on Imagine Dragons website is
“music”, this part shows the audience their newest
album at the top, showing the album cover, the name
of the album and the track list, it also has an option
to let you buy the music which brings you to another
section which shows how you can buy their music
showing Spotify, Apple Music, etc. Below are the
older albums shown in the same way in a
chronological order of new to old from top to bottom.
“Videos” shows you their newest videos, including
their performance at the AMA’s (American Music
Awards) this year, the performance is a medley of
their song “Thunder” with the song “Young, Dumb
and Broke”, below this video are videos of their
music videos, behind the scenes and remixes of their
songs for their viewers to watch and listen to to get
to know them better. The next section is “photos”
where they have an Instagram look layout to show
off their photos, these photos are a mixture of their
professional photographs of the band and others are
sent in from fans.

5. The following section is called “mosaic”, this
section brings us to another website which
allows fans to get involved with their previous
album “Smoke+Mirrors”, it allows you to post a
photograph that is connected/related to one of
the songs from the album which can be put onto
their mosaic, I believe that this idea is what
brings them and their fans closer as they are
trying to incorporate them with their band and
show they care what their fans think hence
allowing them to be a part of something with
them. The final section is their store which
allows anyone to buy their merch, such as t-
shirts, sweatshirts, CD’s, vinyl’s and even
bundles of items for a smaller price than buying
everything separately. Overall I do really like
Imagine Dragons’ website, this is because it is
very easy to use and access, my favourite parts
about the website where the fact that they did
the mosaic idea which brings their fans closer,
having the band also work with a charity also
shows that the website is not just about them
and the layout was very aesthetically pleasing
to look at and I believe it matches their current

6. The Neighbourhood’s website is very different in comparison to Imagine
Dragons’, the colour scheme is monochrome with even the photographs
used being in the set scheme, I believe that this idea does look a lot more
of a typical indie look personally however I can understand why Imagine
Dragons’ website has more vibrant colours as they also have some more
pop songs which they probably wanted to incorporate too. As soon as we
go onto their website which is simply “thenbhd” it shows photographs of
the band along with their logos for their new song, on the side we also
have a twitter section showing what people are saying about the band
which is also showing Spotify which is where you can find their music.
On the top of the website we see they also have sections but less than the
previous website, their following section is simply “music” in which they
have photographs which you could say “represent” the specific songs,
they also feature Apple Music on this page which is also where you can
listen to their music. The layout on the first two pages is similar, it
reminds me of Polaroid’s placed in a falling down layout. The third
section is sign up where you can sign up to them to hear the latest news
from the band and the fourth is tour which shows us their tour dates,
times and places which also say if they are sold out or whether you can

7. A recent thing that has been updated to the website is
that they have added a new feature which appears as
soon as you go onto their website is an advert for their
latest song “Scary Love” which allows you to listen to
the song on YouTube, below it also shows where else
you can listen to the song such as Amazon Music,
Apple Music, iTunes and Spotify, this shows us that
we can easily access their music. The following section
is their store where you can buy their merch is mainly
based on their latest single at the begging, then
towards the end of the page they have their logo
merch for the whole band, I like the idea of having two
different styles of merch as the first few I can imagine
anyone to buy as they are so simple without it
screaming that it is by the band. There is also another
section which is the “#THENEUETIMES” which
brings us to a twitter page showing us what people are
tweeting about the band.
I do like this website as I believe it suits the genre
more however I do also think it is slightly too simple
as it does not sell the band too much, I like the layout
however I do think that perhaps the fonts of
everything is what makes it too plain and reminds me
more of a newspaper than a band website.

8. This website so far looks very similar to the previous website, this is
due to the colour scheme being similar to The Neighbourhood along
with the simple layout and basic fonts used. Something that is similar
to Imagine Dragons’ website is that they have put up charity work at
the start of their page, AM have said that they have raised over
£400,000 for the Sheffield Children's Hospital Charity, so rather than
their website being about them it is showing what they are doing to
help others which I already like, it also features a YouTube video about
the event that had been taken place in 2016. On the right side of the
website we have their latest album AM featured to allow their fans and
new possible fans about their album, in which they have said how you
can listen to it and has links to purchase the album. Below there is
social media accounts where you can follow or like the band including
how many followers they have and how many like the band on social
media accounts. The charity event is also the front page of their news
section, the following section is “gigs” which does not have an update as
they have not released any new dates. The fourth section is “photos”
showing their latest photographs from their gigs, posters, album covers

9. We next have “videos” which features again their charity
event, along with music videos, etc. The last few sections are
“releases”, “fans forum”, “sign up”, “members” and “store”.
Releases shows all of their songs and album covers, it also
shows brief information about the date that the albums
came out and what record company it was made with. Fans
Forum brings you to another page showing quizzes and polls
related to the band for the fans to get involved in and talk to
each other. Sign Up section is for the latest updates and to
let you onto the fans forum section. “Members” I assumed
would be about the band however it is again another fan
area which I do think the website should have a section
about the bands history as The Neighbourhood did not have
this either. The last section is merch where they sell all of
their albums and EP’s alone, they also have merch such as t-
shirt, sweatshirts and hoodies. Personally I think that
perhaps if the band were currently touring the website could
be better as it clearly has not been updated from last year’s
charity event, their photographs are old, the website is a
little boring from my point of view, I think that the fan
sections should all be put into one section and not in 2/3
separate ones as it is unnecessary and could be used to
create an “about” section instead. The merch could also be
updated as it is a little old now.

10.  From my research I have decided I do want to have a colour scheme for my
website, I like the idea of having social media accounts shown more, same as
YouTube videos as I would like more people to see my music video. I think perhaps
having screenshots of phones on apps such as Apple Music and Spotify showing
the song being played would also be a good idea. I will definitely be having an
“about” section as I believe it is very important to get to know the band and see
perhaps when they got together, what awards they have won, what record label
they are with. The idea of having a news section is also something I am interested
in to show new songs in which I could put my poster on this section along with
tour dates. Merch is something I will try to design quickly as it would be
something I believe that my band’s website should have. A photo section I will also
try to add on to show the behind the scenes of the video being made, even a behind
the scenes video could also be good to add on the website to show a fun and
genuine side to the band.