I have chosen to conduct a study on Lady Gaga. This is because I believe her fame and success is due to her finding her niche and standing out, to both record companies and her audience.

Of course, what set Lady Gaga apart from the crowd and got her noticed was her outrageous outfits and personality.

She was signed by Streamline records in 2007 and released her debut album ‘The Fame’ in 2008. Since then, Gaga has become a worldwide star, having sold an estimated 23 million albums and 64 million singles. As well as 5 Grammy awards and 13 MTV Video Music Awards.

Lady Gaga wore this famous dress which was made out of raw meat to the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards.

Her individuality has helped her to increase record sales and her fame.

I plan to create my own niche for my artist and the promotion of my album.

One Direction were finalists of The X Factor 2010, since this they have taken the nation by storm.

They have a range of merchandise aimed at their target audience including; One Direction t-shirts, jumpers, calendars, sunglasses, scarves, CDs, DVDs, bags, jewellery, bed covers, stationary, towels, pillows and even dolls representing each of the band members.

One Direction’s merchandise can be purchased on their website, at HMV and at their tour. These are all suitable places for the products to be sold. This is because fans regularly check the band’s website for updates and new items to purchase.

The merchandise is designed to appeal to the bands target audience of girls aged 10-16 as the majority of the items contain pink and have love hearts etc.

The band have established a strong brand identity through their merchandise and ways of promoting themselves, which appeals to their target audience.

The bands music sales, tour sales and merchandise, have made them an incredible $50 million.

This album attracts the bands target audience of males interested in rock music for numerous reasons. Such as the colour scheme of red and black.

Red has connotations of danger and black has connotations of death. These are stereotypical colours used to promote rock bands.

Sans-serif typography is used here which is stereotypical of albums with a target audience of males.

The image used is a graphic design of a cemetery. This stereotypically appeals to the bands target audience.

Gravestones have connotations of death and gives the album cover a sinister feel.

The typography of the band name is 3D, which is a common feature of rock bands albums.

The typography of the band name has spikes on the ‘m’ and the ‘a’, this has connotations of danger which appeals to the target audience.

Little Mix have a target audience of girls aged 10-16, as they are portrayed as an ‘innocent’ group of females. A bright, colourful colour scheme is used which attracts the bands target audience.

Pink has connotations of femininity which attracts the bands target audience. Light blue has connotations of youth, which applies to the target audience.

The love heart with ‘lm’ inside creates a brand identity for the band, as whenever fans see that specific logo they know that it is representing Little Mix.

The band members are all very glamorous and are wearing a lot of make-up. This attracts their target audience as young girls aspire to be as beautiful and glamorous as the band members.

This artists target audience are young males aged 16-20 who are interested in rap music .

The dominant colour used is black, which has connotations of danger and mystery, which appeals to the artists target audience. The artist has spelt his

last name as ‘Ro$$’, he has used two dollar signs to present himself as rich and powerful, which is what young males aspire to be. The dollar sign also symbolizes being a ‘gangster’ which appeals to his target audience.

The album name ‘God Forgives -I Don’t’ presents Rick Ross as unforgiving and dominant.

He is wearing a large number of gold chains. Gold has connotations of wealth and importance which appeals to the target audience.

Nicki Minaj has a target audience of girls aged 15 – 20. You can tell this due to the content of her music as well as the ‘parental advisory’ label due to ‘explicit content.’

The album cover is very bright and colourful, as well as being predominantly pink. Pink appeal to the target audience as it has connotations of femininity.

The background of the image is splatters of paint which symbolizes Minaj’s playful side.

The different styles of typography could symbolize the artists crazy personality. I think that the way ‘Pink’ is written is very interesting as it has used the ‘Barbie’ brand identity. This appeals to her target audience.

Susan Boyle has a target audience of females aged 45-60 due to her classical style of music and her own age.

A black and white effect is used on the image which gives it a classic look, which appeals to the target audience.

Boyle is posing very innocently, with a smile on her face which portrays her as being very welcoming.

The artist is wearing a sequin top which makes her look very glamorous which juxtaposes how she looked on her first ‘X Factor’ appearance. She is dressed and made up so glamorously to shock the audience and draw them in to look at the CD.

The serif typography looks very classy and is in gold which makes the CD look important and classy.

The Red Hot Chilli Peppers have a target audience of males aged 18-30, interested in rock music.

The band have used their album artwork on their band website, which creates a very simplistic feel.

The art work used is by Damien Hirst who is a very controversial British artist.

The image is of a fly sitting on a pill. This appeals to the target audience as the pill symbolizes drugs and rebellion which appeals to the target audience.

The bands promotional techniques have obviously worked well after winning seven Grammy awards and selling 80 million albums worldwide, as well as being in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Simplistic typography and dominant colours, signify the bands identity of an alternative rock band as it gives the impression they don’t spend much time or care about what their website looks like.

Britney Spears is a pop singer with a target audience of girls aged 13-18, however she has established herself as a sex icon worldwide.

The website contains her latest news, including an advert of her new role on ‘The X Factor’ USA.

She appears to be quite vulnerable in the image as she covers her face. However, the direct address entices her target audience.

The background of the website is an image of the star, which makes it clear that she is extremely important.

I do not think that Britney Spears’ website is very relevant to her target audience, due to the dark colour scheme (except the image) and the fact there isn’t that much appealing to young girls.

Lil Wayne has a target audience of males aged 16-25 interested in rap music.

There is a colour scheme of black, grey and white. With the dominant colour being black. This appeals to the target audience as the colour scheme has connotations of danger and rebellion. As well as being stereotypically ‘masculine’ colours.

The website includes links to buy Lil Wayne’s latest albums, which entices his target audience to buy his music. I believe that his website has had a big impact on his music sales because of its appeal to his target audience and easy methods of buying his material.

Lil Wayne’s live Twitter updates are also shown on the website, which gives fans an insight into his personal life and opinions.