The document discusses research conducted on indie artists' websites and album covers in order to inform the marketing of an artist named Cerys. It examines several indie bands' online presence and physical media to understand conventions of the genre. Key findings include the importance of consistency across websites and album covers to build an artist's recognizable identity and the use of websites to share news, music and tour dates to engage fans.

1. Ancillary Research
In order to effectively ‘market’ our artist we need to
look at real artists in the music industry (which we have
already started to do). We have decided to make a
Digipak, website and poster for our artist Cerys. And are
therefore researching indie artists’ websites and
physical album covers in order to familiarize ourselves
with the common conventions of the indie genre. By
doing so we can get a good idea of what makes an
effective Digipak, what we shouldn’t include and how
we need to go about our artist’s image. We want our
artist to fit the common conventions of the indie genre,
but to also have a little ‘quirk’ about her.

2. Promoting and Synergy
In order for an artist to ‘sell’ they need to have a
recognisable and admired identity, they can shape this
through media such as websites and album covers.
Websites are a great platform to inform the audience,
websites can consist of tour dates, current albums
available and upcoming release dates of songs etc.
Websites can help the audience to feel close and up to
date, to find recent music videos and song releases.
Album covers however, help to develop an artist’s image.
If you think an album cover looks ‘cool’ you are probably
more inclined to like the artist as you admire their effort
and image. An artist usually has a consistent look/theme
so that they are recognisable and hold their own identity.

3. The Kooks are an indie rock band and
release quite upbeat/happy songs.
Their target audience is teenage girls.
They keep their website very simple
and easy to navigate which I like. Their website makes it extremely easy to
find links to their twitter, facebook,
instagram and other social media sites.
This is good as it means fans can interact
with them and follow their posts. This can
help devleop their admiration for the band
and therefore help the band build their
fanbase.
There are a lot of tour dates listed,
rare photos of the band and new
music videos linked. This means the
band are informing the audience of
everything that’s going on. Which can
again help to build a loyal fanbase thus
marketing the band well. The Kook’s album covers are also kept very simple
and often don’t include the actual band in shot. The
album Konk depicts the band outside a light up sign
reading ‘Konk’. They definitely use the ‘less is more’
to their advantage and this actually conforms to the
common indie stereotype – carelessness.

4. The Vaccines are a
British indie rock band
who have supported
big bands such as The
Rolling Stones, Arcade
Fire, The Stone Roses
and Arctic Monkeys.
They are an all male
band and come across
as very carefree.
Their site’s typography matches the font on their
album covers which is a simple way to build an image
and create consistency and become identifiable.
Their site lists the
next gigs the
band are playing
which keeps fans
updated.
I like how there is a player at the
bottom of the screen which
allows you to play one of the
bands newest collaborations. The
website is all about them – this
player shows they are constantly
churning out new music.
The site also features a free
link to a documentary of the
band. This allows fans to get
to know the band and
therefore helps the Vaccines
to develop a relationship with
their fan base.
A Spotify box also
appears on the site
which shows they are
eager for fans to listen
to their music. It also
emphasises their
achievements.

5. The Ramona Flowers are a
five-piece from Bristol. They
are hugely new to the scene
so are trying to build a fan
base. One way in which
they do this is through their
website. One thing I liked is
that the band’s site is
overall very simple and
basic. It’s easy to
manoeuvre through unlike
The Vaccine’s which is a
little more complex.
The site has a lot of clear links to
instagram, twitter and facebook.
This shows them attempting to
reach fans and get them involved.
Fans can get more involved
through social media and easily
builds a bigger audience.
Like a lot of the other indie bands The
Ramona Flowers list their upcoming
gigs in a clear list. This not only
informs fans but creates buisness for
the band.
The site also has their
newest music video
available to watch. This
helps people unknown to
the band to get a feel for
their image and sound.
There’s also a lot of links to where
people can purchase their new album.
And a link for a free download of their
newly released song. This freebie
encourages people to purchase the
album as they can get a taster.
Their album cover
sticks to the
simplicity of the
website and also
keeps to the funky
yet clean colour
theme

6. The alternative four piece are signed to
Infectious Records and are quite small in
their fan base. When you initially go to their
website you find a list of gig dates, links to
their sound cloud and a link to the ‘FULL
SITE’. The sound cloud allows new people to
easily listen to the band. And the gig dates
to the side allow those new people who like
their sound to book tickets. When you get to the ‘FULL SITE’ you
enter a Teletext like page, this
emphasises their alternative feel and
you almost get to know the band’s
personality.
I really like the creativity and old school feel of the
site, the design and game option encourages me
to listen to their music. It’s clear they’ve put a lot
of thought and effort into the site which I admire.
There’s also a ‘Fun and Games’ section
where you can play a car game with one of
the band’s songs playing in the background.
You can share your highscore on
facebook/twitter which means they want
you to share your love for the band and to
‘spread the word.’
This part of the site has very
clear links to the band’s social
media and also allows fans to
subscribe to a newsletter of
theirs. Which means they want
to keep their fans updated and
close.
The album cover sticks to the
alternative theme as it is edited to
look ‘trippy’ and fun. This is
continued throughout the website
design.

7. Conclusion
It’s clear from researching my chosen bands that
consistency is key. We need to have something similar
in each of our products (i.e website and album cover)
as this makes our artist identifiable. It helps develop an
artist’s image and makes them recognisable and
creates a theme to stick to. The consistency can be
created through colours, images or typography. And
this will overall help our artist sell and build a fan base.