By researching and studying how different bands promote their albums, it will become easy to distinguish how their genre and style affects how their albums and products sell. I would presume that unsigned artists would use more web based, social networking sites to promote themselves as this would be less costly and allow them to gain growing recognition through avid use of web 2.0. On the other hand, it would be more recognisable of a mainstream artist such as Lady GaGa to use different media platforms such as Television, Radio and the Internet in order to promote herself and her albums, due to the fact that she has the support and funds available to her to use these synergetic devices, whilst holding a solid fan base. As part of my research into how artists promote their work, I will produce screenshot images alongside an analysis of their different uses of advertising. These could be from their internet site, images of merchandise or from a magazine. Following this, I will explain how I find each of their promotional tactics useful and how it relates to their genre and target audience, producing a clear analysis of the effectiveness of their advertising.
The first artist i will research is: Kings of Leon
Kings of Leon formed in 1999 in Tennessee, USA, and have fast became one of the most influential bands of the 21st century. The band have produced 5 successful albums and gained worldwide recognition for their 2008 no.1 single 'Sex On Fire'. Although the band have had recent popular chart hits, the Southern American group respect their original genre of Rock and sub genres of Alternative Rock, Southern Rock and Garage Rock. Judging by their raw music which would not be seen as 'pop' music, it would be clear to say that the band's target audiences would be both male and female of all ages interested in a band who play instruments that produce energetic and loud sounding music.
The band's website www.kingsofleon.com/home is a well designed website that enables it's viewers to browse information on the band easily.
The colour scheme and font in the background reflects the band's newly released album 'Come Around Sundown', which is shown in the foreground of the homepage. This placement of the album and clever design is a way of promoting the band's new album. By using a subtle technique such as this, the audience can clearly view what the new album is called and that it is available for purchase. The way the colours and font correspond with each other makes this website effective and easier for the audience to navigate around. It also relates back to the image of the band's sub genre of 'Southern Rock' and allows the viewers to relate to the 'rock' theme they are familiar with associated round the band.
The placing of the Tour Dates for Kings of Leon on the left hand side of the home page is a clear and easy way for the audience to view when and where they are able to see the band. The live shows also relate back to the 'rock' genre and live instrument playing that the group's fans follow them for.
I feel that the way this artist have promoted themselves has been highly successful. They have made clear use of web 2.0, which enables them to create an interactive website, from which their target audience can benefit through consuming vast amounts of information quite easily.
Below is another image of a previous Kings of Leon album cover. I believe this album cover to link to that of their new one as the rustic colours and simplistic style remain similar. By doing this, it is easy for the artist's target audiences to recognise and be familiar with how the band have presented themselves, making it easy to gain a wider fanbase whilst also remaining more intimate and true to their music.
I believe that Kings of Leon have made excellent use of promotional techniques in order to create a solid fan base whilst giving information to their target audiences. The band have recognised that the younger generation who listen to and purchase their music, are more familiar with the internet than physical CDs in today's modern society. To respond to this, they have created an interactive website from which their audience can access different pieces of information which they desire to see through using the browser at the top of the web page. By using web 2.0, Kings of Leon have enabled themselves to gain more publicity and a wider fanbase through websites such as MySpace and Youtube where those interested can listen to the band's music for free. The artist has accepted that in order to successfully and fully promote themselves, it is wiser to give the audience what they want by almost giving them the music to sample, rather than the audience making more effort to find out what they want to know
If I were to promote this band, I believe I would use almost the same techniques but with some helpful additions. The use of web 2.0 is most certainly the most powerful aspect of promoting this artist, as it offers the audience many opportunities surrounding the band, i.e. tour dates and gigs, merchandise and a photo gallery. However, the new website 'Vevo' which cleverly powers itself through YouTube is an excellent way to display the band and ensure their music is heard. Vevo offers audiences to listen to an artist's music but due to copywright, ensures they cannot illegally download the song they are sampling. By promoting Kings of Leon through this, they may attract wider audiences from different people visiting the site, but are still making a profit if those who enjoy the songs chose to search elsewhere to purchase the tracks legally.
