DYM MYSPACE FEEDBACK

Confident Myspace research, Laura.

DYM

http://www.cascada-music.de/


The website is the official website for Cascada, and as she is German, the website can be translated into either English or German. The colour scheme is purple and dark grey, and there are sparkles that follow the cursor on the banner. It has a feminine, luxurious feel to it, which goes with her image. At the top of the website is a CU of Cascada - a beauty shot. There is a music player with the option of playing 4 of her hits, as well as tour dates, her music videos, a poll about which of her songs should be on Clubland Live 3, a members area, a gallery, biography, discography, guestbook and much more. Her genre is a fusion of Europop, Eurotrance, Eurodance, R&B and House, which has similarities to our song with the "pop" and "dance" aspects.

The background to the website has a subtle pattern on the deep purple colour, which looks like the wallpaper to an exclusive club, similarly to the banner, which is black stencil on dark grey; very stylish. At the bottom of the webpage are the sponsors and her record label; Universal Music Group, Zooland Records, Vengeance, which is a conventional feature of the official website.

The website is very interactive, and there are lots of interesting things to click on.








http://www.myspace.com/kanyewest

This is Kanye West's Myspace Music page. It is surprisingly colourful considering R&B/hip-hop artists are usually associated with dark colours like black. The background is a pale duck-egg blue colour, and there are multicoloured dividers betweent he different features on the page. There are links to his official website, his blog, his videos, and the option to add him as a friend. There are music samples, videos, info about his albums and influences, and his record companies: Hip Hop Since 1978/ Def Jam/ Roc-A-Fella/ G.O.O.D.

The main graphic at the top of the page is a broken heart, which links to his album "808s & Heartbreak". Within the myspace layout, he is advertising his album for a Valentine's Day Special. "Valentine's Day is quickly approaching, and love - and heartbreak - is in the air. Not sure what to get the love of your life for Valentine's day? Check out this cool package we have put together just for this special day, featuring a brand NEW 808s and Heartbreak T-shirt!"


Lady Gaga

http://www.ladygaga.com/default.aspx












This is Lady Gaga's official website. IT is predominantly black, which makes her outrageous costumes stand out. There is a picture of what looks like ice/foamy diamonds, giving a luxurious and daring feel. There are links to all the major social networking sites, including her twitter feeds. There are her music videos and videos of her appearances on chat shows and Saturday Night Live. The website is crammed full of colourful boxes, making it seem a bit overcrowded.

At the top there are links to her videos, her biography, photos, tour info, ringtones, music, merchandise, a forum and more. Like the others, her record label is at the bottom, Streamline Records, and Konlive (a sponsor?).

The 4 P's - Sprite Up Your Life

PRODUCT

PLACE

PRICE

PROMOTION

For Sprite soft drink

http://www.brandsbandsfans.com/archives/1204

PRODUCT

WHAT BUY – music, band/artist merchandise

NEEDS SATISFY – individual needs for individual people. Satisfy taste for music

FEATURES – music, artist, lyrics (optional), video, narrative or performance, illustrating, amplifying or disjuncture of lyrics

HOW & WHERE – whenever and wherever with technology nowadays

LOOK LIKE – a music video, look of band

EXPERIENCE – however they want with technology nowadays

CALLED & BRANDED – individual to brand

PLACE

WHERE – music on internet, on television, through word of mouth, in clubs. Promotional product sprite, in shops

PRICE

PRICE SENSITIVE – music targeted mostly and teenagers, 20+, students so can’t cost too much because won’t want to pay it, free downloads to bring in audience

PROMOTION

Music and Coca-cola – synergy. Sprite endorsing new artists to target music fans. Webisodes is interactive which appeals to young market, young new artists – relates

REACH - Web – youtube

WHERE & WHEN – internet, whenever, very interactive and therefore personal

ADVERTISING & PR – organising music reality show and advertising online (frukt.com)

TECHNOLOGY – yes, available on internet, download webisodes available on new technology

BEST TIME TO PROMOTE – start of summer, summer no 1, February – love songs, Christmas – Christmas no 1, just before major music award shows to get coverage and possibility of winning

Trojan condoms and Cobra Starship music video

Promote safe sex along with music

Synergy band featured in condom advert

Controversial with CBS and Fox

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

http://www.lilyallenmusic.com/lily/

http://www.myspace.com/lilymusic

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.

(see above)