Website Research - Ella Eyre

Content:

• Home Page
• Updates Page - consists of recent events, performances, single releases
• My Life Page - consists of images from Ella's Instagram page
• Watch Page  - has a link to her YouTube/Vevo account. Consists of her music videos, performances, interviews and behind the scenes footage. 
• Listen - has a link to Soundcloud. Consists of sound files of her songs, covers, interviews and DJ remixes.
• Shows - consists of her tour dates and performances with links to 'Songkick' which is an online ticket purchasing website.
• Shop - consists of merchandise that fans can buy
• Sign-up for free download - fans can sign up and receive a song for free.

Purpose:

'A Pretty Good Website' create and maintain Ella's website but the content is provided by Ella herself (e.g. instagram images) and her record label Virgin EMI Records. As Ella is relatively new on the music scene she is still trying to create a loyal fan base and is still developing her star image; for this reason the record label will aim to include close-ups of Ella wherever possible. This is done to get the viewer more familiar with Ella and increase her recognisability. As Ella is quite young they will use images that portray her in a fun, happy, quirky light but still present her as a normal person. Due to her age, her target audience will be people 14-24 years of age; therefore she will be presented in a way that people can identify with and relate to. As she is yet to receive idol status she won't be presented in the same way as Beyonce per say who is viewed as being greater than human. The key emphasis of this website is promotion, not only of her music, or her merchandise but her face and her star image, as that is what draws the initial attention of the viewer.

Information:

The website is updated daily with new images and videos from Ella's Instagram. But also new videos are added from interviews or from performances. As Ella is a new artist she doesn't have the luxury of maintaining a private life; the way to increasing her fan base is to let them into every aspect of her life; that is why it is really important that her website is up-to-date as the events that happen in her life draw attention to her, that attention is then transferred onto her music. The tour page is also updated as they are released. 

Music:

Her fans have access to all her YouTube videos and any interviews or extra videos she might have, which are all available to view for free. By signing up the fan also gets a free song, this is good incentive to please existing fans and encourages other people to listen to her songs. There is also an array of sound files available on her 'Listen' page, this is important as a potential fan may want to get a better scope of Ella's musical abilities before investing in her album. Unlike other established artists, it is important for Ella to give out some of her music for free as that is the only way people will listen to her music, as no one will pay for a single/album on the off chance they might like it. 

Style:

There are a vast number of images used throughout the website, and a header with an image of her and her is visible on every page, this is done to increase the memorability of the artist. The layout is very modern and has a 'instagram' feel to it. This appeals to a younger generation who are more technologically saavy and so they will feel more comfortable using the website as the layout is so familiar to them. There is a main navigation bar underneath the header; all the links are clearly visible. The main colours used are white and red however, as images take up a large proportion of the website essentially it is filled with many different colours. Pictures aside, the colours used a quite simple and regal which match the 'Royal' script used to display her name. 

Navigation:

Navigating around this website is made very simple due to the navigation bar found underneath the header. It has links to all the relevant pages and the 'Shop' link opens in a new tab so the user can purchase any merchandise and continue browsing the website from where they left off. 

Overall, I think it is a very effective website. It tries to promote Ella from every angle and introduce her as a new artist. I like the use of images as projecting the star image is very important with new artists and I will incorporate this into my ancillary task. I also like the idea of the header, I think it is more engaging than just a name at the top of a screen and so I will also try and incorporate this.