website analysis for media blog

1. The images that Sara Bareilles
shares on Instagram are not
‘selfies’ but instead colourful,
cute and quirky – this shows
that she is an organic artist
because more synthetic
artists would post pictures of
themselves and of their tour
dates, merchandise, events,
announcements etc. They
share more constructed
images of what they want the
public to see rather than
these images which are more
personal to her life.
The background of the front page of
her website is a picturesque landscape
of a city skyline which further reflects
her organic artist status because
instead of having pictures of herself
she only has pictures of things she has
an interest in, showing that her music
is more important than her image.
Further, the fact that she uses
Instagram images on her home page
appeals to her target audience of
teenagers and young people who like
pop music, because they are the
people most likely to use social media.
I have noticed that all
the headings are
related to her as a
musician rather than
an artist. For example
there is no section for
‘photos’ which
portrays how her
image is not important
and she would rather
people liked her for
her music and herself
rather than a
superficial image.
Bareilles has a ‘social’ page in order to
maintain connections with her fans
and also to advertise her music. These
social media sites also suit her target
audience of young people because
they will know how to connect and
communicate with each other via
these social media sites.
The font she has used for her home
page is very simple and there are no
gimmicks or symbols on her name to
further highlight her simplicity and the
fact that she does not need
unnecessary font accessories.

2. Sara Bareilles’ ‘store’ page
has an eye catching, vibrant
banner with a fun picture of
Bareilles in a little black
dress surrounded by rays of
colour, symbolising her as a
colourful and quirky
character who sets trends
rather than follows them,
and portrays her creativity
as an artist. Further, it
represents how she is a pop
star and therefore the
colours and font have to
reflect her genre of music.
Her pose is not over dramatic,
artificial or contrived, which
portrays her simplicity as an
artist and how she isn’t
sexualising herself as a female
artist. Further, her clothing is
completely modest and not
revealing, while still looking
young, fresh and attractive. She
looks simple and sophisticated,
which shows how she doesn’t
try to fit in or follow the latest
trends. She also doesn’t have to
over sexualise herself by wearing
little clothing in order to be
noticed as an artist.
Her pose is not over dramatic,
artificial or contrived, which
portrays her simplicity as an
artist and how she isn’t
sexualising herself as a female
artist. Further, her clothing is
completely modest and not
revealing, while still looking
young, fresh and attractive. She
looks simple and sophisticated,
which shows how she doesn’t
try to fit in or follow the latest
trends. She also doesn’t have to
over sexualise herself by
wearing little clothing in order
to be noticed as an artist.
Her tour is called the ‘Little Black
Dress Tour’ which highlights how
every girl needs a little black dress
and therefore everyone needs her
music in their lives. Further, this
represents how she is an organic
artist because she isn’t trying to
appeal to the public because of
her looks but rather trying to
capture the public’s attention with
her clever title. Also, the banner
for her tour looks similar to a
magazine’s font to reflect how she
is trying to create her own
headlines for herself and her
music.

3. Sara Bareilles’ ‘store’ page has a variety of
merchandise for her fans to purchase. This t-shirt
has lyrics from one of her songs titles ‘Brave’ in
order to reflect the importance of her music and
the meaningful lyrics within her songs. This
particular lyrics also acts as a motto for its wearer,
as it reminds them of the message of her song
which is to be brave. This reflects Bareilles as an
organic artist because she wants to have a positive
affect on her fans rather than bombard them with
superficial, constructed photos or meaningless
words.
The prices of her merchandise seem to be
reasonable and affordable as she doesn’t want her
fans spending ridiculous amounts of money on her
products, however, synthetic artists such as One
Direction have a much bigger range of products,
such as bicycles, toothbrushes , bed sheets and
games. This shows how the audience of synthetic
artists are more interested in merchandise and the
image of the artist than the music itself, which is
why synthetic artists try to promote themselves
with products.
When I first saw that Bareilles’ merchandise has
swear words on it, I was quite surprised. However,
after thinking about the reasoning behind it – I
think it proves how she, as an organic artist,
doesn’t care about impressing anyone or
maintaining a certain image, which is why she is
reflecting this in her word choice. Further, the fact
that there is an asterisk to replace the ‘U’ to keep it
censored and not too explicit for her audience. Her
merchandise is bright and colourful in order to
reflect her genre of music, which is pop. This
therefore, will mean that her udience will most
likely want to buy her products.