Sia is an Australian singer and songwriter. After starting her career in the 1990s with her own albums, she transitioned to writing songs for other artists. Her 2011 song "Titanium", written for Alicia Keys but featuring Sia's vocals, achieved commercial success. Her 2013 album "1000 Forms of Fear" was also successful. Sia's website and music videos feature her trademark blonde wig and focus on dance performances by Maddie Ziegler, representing Sia's distinctive artistic style that does not show her face.

1. SIA – CROSS MEDIA CASE STUDY

2. BACKGROUND
• Sia Kate Isobelle Furler was born on 18 December 1975 in Adelaide,
South Australia. She attended Adelaide High School, graduating in
1994. Her father, Phil Colson, is a musician, and her mother, Loene
Furler, is an art lecturer. Furler said as a child, she would imitate the
performing style of Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder and Sting, who
she counted as her early influences In the mid-1990s, Sia started a
career as a singer in the local acid jazz band Crisp. Sia collaborated
with the band and contributed vocals to their two albums: Word and
the Deal (1996) and Delerium (1997). Once the band disbanded in
1997, Sia released her debut studio album entitled OnlySee on
Flavoured Records in Australia. The album sold 1,200 copies. She
then chose to move to London where she performed as a
background vocalist for a British band called ‘Jamiroquai’.

3. BACKGROUND
• After the release of her fifth studio album ‘We Are Born’ June 2010 ,
Furler decided to retire from being a recording artist and began start a
career as a songwriter. She wrote the song ‘Titanium’ for singer, Alicia
Keys. However, the song was sent to David Guetta who included Sia’s
original demo vocals on the song, it was released in 2011 and received
commercial success worldwide. Although Sia was not happy with the
success of the single stating she ‘never even knew it was going to
happen’.
In 2013, Sia released, ‘Elastic Heart 'featuring The Weeknd and Diplo for
the Hunger Games: Catching Fire soundtrack in 2013. In July 2014, Sia
returned with her sixth studio album, ‘100 Forms of Fear’- the album was
incredibly successful debuting at number 1 on the US Billboard 200 with the
first week of sales of 52,000 copies.

4. WEBSITE ANALYSIS
The website
immediately
pops up with a
sign in page.
This allows for fans to be
interactive with the website.
The sign in feature allows
fans to access perks like
special ticket offers and
news

5. WEBSITE ANALYSIS
Sia’s trademark blonde wig
is the centre of the
homepage
Homepage image is from
her most recent album
Tabs are located at the bottom of the
screen- this allows the audience to focus
on the main image in the centre
Dark blue background- could
reflect the title of her recent
album ‘100 Forms of Fear’.
Dark blue could connote a
dark, solemn atmosphere Her name is not on the
homepage- by looking at
the wig the audience is
automatically able to tell
who the artist is

6. • On each tab the page
remains the same as only
the left column changes
• The typography used
throughout the website is
jagged and almost child like-
which could reflect Sia’s
use of young dancer Maddie
in her music videos.
• The background image is of
two girls in Sia’s wig- could
possibly suggest her fans are
interactive with the website.
• Access to purchase her
music is noticeable for the
audience once they visit the
tabs

7. • Fans are able to buy or listen to Sia’s
album by clicking on the images which will
take them to music services such as
Google Play, iTunes or Spotify. This could
also suggest Sia’s target audience are
teenagers and young adults.
• The store takes the user to another page
where the header is- again- Sia’s wig with
her name written in a chalk like font which
could resemble a child’s type of writing.

8. • Sia’s 2015 solo version of ‘Elastic Heart’ features child
dancer Maddie Ziegler- who was also previously in Sia’s
last music video ‘Chandlier’ – and actor Shia LeBeouf who
perform an interpretive dance confined in a cage for the
duration of the music video. Dressed in nude coloured
tattered clothing the two performers, it is said the video
represents the struggle of over coming your inner demons.
MUSIC VIDEO ANALYSIS- ELASTIC HEART

9. • It can be suggested the video to
‘Elastic Heart’is similar to the tone
of her previous music video
‘Chandlier’, the colour scheme is
melancholic, keeping to the colours
of different shades of dark greys and
creams, mimicking an industrial vibe.
• The artist of the song, Sia, is once
again not the video instead she uses
the same dancer from ‘Chandlier’.
• There are a lack of close ups of the
artist as she does not appear in the
video. It can be suggested her use of
Maddie in her music videos is her
USP.
• The characters are wearing the
flesh coloured clothing with the child
dancer sporting Sia’s well known
blonde bob wig- which could suggest
the child represents Sia.

10. • The main element of dance is
constant throughout the video.
• Long camera shots are use to
reflect the emotions of the
dancers in both video.
• The music video highlights the
dancing as the main feature,
which helps emphasis the song
as it is a reflection of the
lyrics, through the link that
the dance made with the
visuals.
• The relationship between the
lyrics and the visuals is evident
throughout the video. For
example, when Sia sings
‘won’t close my eyes’ the
visual on screen shows a high
angle of Maddie closing and
opening her eyes as she lays
wearily on the floor.

11. • The video is not edited to the
most prominent beat, which is
clear to audience- this is
consistent through the video.
Yet, this does not look out of
place as it adds to the
emotion of the dancers.
• The main element of dance is
constant throughout the
video.
• Long camera shots are use to
reflect the emotions of the
dancers in both video.
• Towards the end of the video,
the audience can suggest
LeBeouf’s character
struggles to escape his
confinement in the cage due
to his older age however, the
child easily escapes as she
still has her youth- she is able
to overcome her struggles yet
Lebeouf cannot.

12. CROSS MEDIA CONCLUSION
• To conclude, the record company for Sia focuses on
an audience ranging from teenagers to young adults.
This can be seen through her website as she
incorporates social media sites such as Spotify,
iTunes and Google Play.
• Throughout her presence in the music industry, Sia
does not show her face. Instead images of her
trademark blonde wig is shown and images of her
fans in her blonde wig is shown.
• This is further shown in her music videos where Sia
uses dancer, Maddie Ziegler, to possibly represent
her.