DYM MYSPACE FEEDBACK

Solid Myspace research, Amelia, but your pertinent notes pale into insignificance when compared to your detailed costume research. There are further guidance questions on the main MV blog, and you should also provide a summary of the main Myspace conventions somewhere on your blog.

Band Websites

Girls Aloud

http://www.girlsaloud.co.uk/site.php

The girls aloud website is really informative giving the fans loads of information about songs and what the band is up to. On the home page there is a MS picture of the band and a video message of their most current album and their tour. There are articles about their tour and how it went, as well as info about the 'year out' that they're taking and Cheryl's solo career. There isn't a colour scheme as such but the overall style is simple, grey with the flash of colour being their outfits. You can easily tell their genre is pop from the outfits they wear and the 'fun' theme of the website.

The links at the top to other pages read: Home, The Girls, gallery, diary, GA style, chat, music and videos, GA Club, shop, mobile, GA Games, sign up. If you sign up to the GA club you're gven exclusive access to images and other things.

Duffy

Her website is very plain and sophisticated looking with one simple MCU image of her in white contrasting on a black background. The black shows she is aiming at an older audience which fits with her old-school jazzy songs. Not only is it really stylised its really informative giving all gig dates, news; which includes website updates and anything that Duffy has been up to.

There is also a forum where fans can have discussions about her latest songs and what fans think. There is institutional info at the bottom which tells us she is on the universal label, as well as rough trade. There is an audio player at the top of every page so you can listen to her music, with a different song being played on every page.

Mika

http://www.mikasounds.com/

The website goes with his flamboyant personality. It's very bright and purple with a oclourful graphic at the top. The graphic is like a theme park or like out of space. The blue arch at the top stands out and draws you in toall the links hich give you extra info about Mika. you can spin it arount to see all the links which makes the website seem more fun and interactive. It kind of reminds me of a crazy pinball machine. There is a link to his facebook and twitter to make the fans feel connected.

The 4 P's!!

1. Summarising in your own words what the 4Ps of music marketing are. Use the following categories:

a) What band/artist related products can audiences buy?

CD's, merchandise, Posters, T-Shirts

b) Where can audiences buy/listen to music/merchandise/hardware?

Shops (HMV etc), Online (Amazon, play.com etc), Downloads (Itunes etc). Merchandise can often be purchased from HMv and other music stores, or stands withing other shops e.g. topshop often have band t-shirts in a seperate section of the shop.

c) Give 2 or 3 examples of paid-for/subscription based and free products.

Free Products:

• free music downloads (often as a taster before the album)
• free episodes to watch online
• free tickets to a gig when you pre order a CD.

Paid for/subscription Products:

• CD'S
• Downloads
• music magazines (paid for and often subscription)
• Merchandise
• Subscriptions to band websites (updates via email)

d) List between 5 and 10 examples of creative music marketing strategies (including at least 3 internet based examples).

• Lily Allen’s single The Fear is being promoted via a viral music game. The instant gratification of this type of game makes it inherently viral. They are potentially reaching a new audience who are not listening to the radio or reading the music press.
• Adidas are using the famous artists and sports stars to promote their product to specific audience by showing adverts on television which has a large audience, getting more coverage of both the product and the stars. Yes, on TV between the correct shows to reach the correct audiences.
• Jamie Cullum launched ‘The Advent Cullumdar’ on 1st December which houses £20,000 worth of Christmas gifts behind its virtual windows, including AC/DC tickets, John Legend concert tickets, 10 CDs from Universal and a Nokia Comes With Music phone.
• Samsung: Bebo and Samsung are teaming up to promote their new Beat phone over the internet in a online series. It will be interactive and allow the audience to interact through blogs, upload track reviews, share music news and win chances to appear in episodes. They will also be trying to find a co-presenter for the show and are also offering live performances from White Lies and The Maccabees to promote the series
• Lenka's song The Show was the iTunes free download of the week in September 2008, which promoted her whole self-titled album, pushing up sales

2. Who is frukt uk and what is their mission statement/company ethos?

Frukt UK is an agency specialising in music marketin.

"We’re all about music and are really very fond of it. Music colours people’s everyday lives. It’s found in the mundane and the exalted. It moves us all. And it’s thriving. We help brands access the passion and the communities, the lifestyle and the artists. Music is a vast cultural space - it's flexible, it's multi-channel, it's live and digital, it unites gender, race and age and it defines the spirit of generations.You just need to know how to use it. "

"We bring communication ideas to life through music and aim to produce work that is creatively bold and distinct. Either we develop the central idea ourselves and bring it to life with our team of on and offline activation specialists, or work collaboratively with other agencies, using music to make their ideas shine."

Lily Allen

1. Summarise the changing image of the band/artist as it has developed over time. It might also be useful to summarise the music genre also.
When Lily Allen first came on the scene, her image was quite unique for the time. She usually wore "urban" clothes such as trainers and gold bling, mixed with long pretty (prom-like) dresses; an unusual mix. Over the years she has experimented with her style trying at times to seem more sophisticated, or more elaborate and creative, perhaps to fit in with newer artists who are extremely visual with their look such as Lady Gaga or Katie Perry. However her signature hairstyle has barely changed from long straight black hair with a straight fringe. She went blonde for a bit, even pink for a while, and cut her hair into a classy bob, but she went back to her original look for familiarity because it is part of her brand image. Part of her brand image is the fact that she is able to satirise herself, making her seem likeable. She dresses in funny costumes, showing her audience that she isn't serious. The main genre of her music is pop, however that can be broken down into "urban-pop", "ska", "electro pop" and "pop rock".

2. Who are the fans? Do you have any sense of how the music companies have segmented the audiences? To what extent has the branding of a band been linked to target audience?

With her first album, "Alright Still" her songs were happy and upbeat, with "smile" being her first hit. Her audience was mainly made up of young fans, appealing to a certain group of people by using London as part of her brand image. This not only appealed to Londoners, but also to people who want to visit London. Her most recent album, "It's Not Me, It's You", is more sex-orientated, showing that the record label want to expand their target audience to older people. She is trying to draw on her life experiences that aren't always happy, shown by the song "The Fear".

3. What marketing strategies can you identify? What kinds of strategies can you list? (above/below-the line? unexpected promo stunts? etc). List any examples of the use of synergy with other industries to promote other media/products in connection with a band/artist.

Lily Allen uses the myspace music facility to target young tech-savvy fans, and other social-networkers, as well as tweeting on Twitter, keeping her fans updated by an informal personal connection. She has got her own jewellery collection coming out later this year, which she says is based on Chanel jewellery. This links with her connection to Karl Lagerfeld and the fact that she was in a Chanel advert earlier this year. Lily Allen has been signed up as the new brand ambassador to promote the new Braun Satin Hair range of styling products. She is promoting Braun’s new satinliner, satinstyler and satinpro products. As part of her role as brand ambassador, Allen is performing a special gig to celebrate the launch. No advertising campaigns are planned as yet. Allen said: “I love playing around with different looks and hairstyles and that’s why I wanted to get involved with Braun.” She partnered with fashion retailer New Look earlier this year to launch the ‘Lily Loves’ clothing range. Lily Allen's single "The Fear" is being promoted via a viral music game.

4. Add any relevant links to your blog, especially Myspace page/music vids/official websites etc. A couple of illustrations (e.g key web design graphics/album cover photography) would also be useful to add to your blogs.

Her Website

Her MySpace