TASK 2‘How effective is the

combination of our main product and ancillary texts’

STRIO ALBUM DIGIPACK

We challenged a typical star image by only putting a small image of the artist on the cover. We found that with electronic dance music (EDM) artists, the logo was more important than a recognizable face. We based this on other similar artists of the same music genre, such as: Knife Party, Pendulum and Feed Me. Similar to them, we didn’t use a main logo instead of a large picture of an artist, which is a common convention of pop artists such as One Direction and Justin Bieber. Like other similar artists, we kept the colours of the album cover quite basic. The main image is black and white but there is an element of neon colours used, to attract the buyers’ eye and make the cover stand out. There is also a “Parents advisory” sticker on the album cover, clearly demonstrating the age group of our target audience and sets the tone of the music. There are a lot of collaborations with other artists of the same genre of music in the album. This was a common convention of other artists as the 21st century music industry relies heavily on collaborations of artists.

The website is designed in the same way as the album cover. You are immediately greeted with the logo of the star image (which is shown in the same design as on the album cover). There is also an image of the artist playing live. We used a lot of images of the artist at performances because this is a large attraction to fans of the dubstep genre. It sets the scene for the artist and shows him at his ideal environment. For this reason we also designed tour dates for the artist and to get the audience involved we set up a twitter account. There are also “hash tags” on the website, to get the audience involved and encourage them to tweet and upload images of the performances. This is also a similar feature of similar artists such as Swedish House Mafia, as there website is presented to the audience in the same way. The colour scheme of the website is in the same style as the album cover. Mostly black and white but with an element of neon colour, to grab attention. We also added a “store” section on the website, which encourages branding of the star image.

OFFICIAL STRIO WEBSITE

SOCIAL NETWORKING LINKS

Our music video relied heavily on a narrative, however there were also cuts in to a performance element from the artist. This was a common style of other artists of a similar genre. Most dubstep music does not involve lyrics, which limits the amount of performance you can have in the video without it becoming repetitive. This is why a narrative is useful, to keep the audience engaged. Our performance element included a DJ set in the studio, this is a typical convention of this genre of music. Lighting and a smoke machine helped create an energetic atmosphere and the idea of a live performance. We used a lot of wide shots when in the studio with the artist, which clearly established a typical live performance set up. We also used an image of a smiley face a lot in the video. This linked the performance and the narrative together between cuts. This also helped build a logo for the DJ, as it is a common logo on merchandise on the website. Our narrative involved an unlikely hero who was once a victim of bullying but seeks revenge. This heavily involved the idea of superheros. This is a concept that attracts our target audience and is similar to a similar artist, Feed Me’s video. The music video clearly showed the DJ in his element, a live performance.

OUR ‘STRIO’ VIDEO

SIMILAR ARTIST ‘FEED ME’ VIDEO

Richard Dyer's theory believes that the star image is made up of a range of meanings, which are attractive to the target audiences. One paradox of his theory is that the star has to be simultaneously ordinary and extraordinary for their target audience, this is what makes the audiences interested in the star. The 2nd paradox is that the star must be simultaneously present and absent for the consumer. For our artist this still applies. The DJ is ordinary in the sense that he is not that concerned with his appearance, which is clear from the fact he is not the main image on the album cover or website or music video. However many of the images on the website show him playing in front of large crowds, making him seem less normal and more extraordinary. This makes the audience appreciate his talent but at the same time feels like they can aspire to be him. Our artist is present in the form of online media (through twitter, YouTube, his website and on tour) however he is also absent as he is not always available.

TWITTER FEEDYOUTUBE – AUDIENCE FEEDBACK

The website, music video and CD cover accumulate to create a star image for the artist. All attract the audience and clearly explain the type of music and type of artist DJ Strio is. It creates a branding image and a name for the artist in the real world and in the online media. Which can lead to a group of fans, physically and over the internet. The online media attached to the DJ allows us to reach a worldwide audience that otherwise we wouldn’t have been able to communicate with. The research and use of ancillary texts has allowed us to be creative by translating and adapting existing products to make our main product, using social networking to distribute as well as promote our work.