Website and Album Analysis

In order to ensure that our website and album cover is eye-catching and suitable I have looked into the advertisement and publishing of Beyoncé. I chose a well known artist in order to ensure that I could get all I needed to analyse. 

At first glance the website is eye-catching and interesting. The dark colour scheme makes the website look sophisticated and chic, this attracts the older teens. On the home page there are also icons linking to Facebook, twitter and Instagram, having these icons shows that  Beyoncé is trying to target a younger audience by advertising that she uses these different social networks. The navigation bar at the top of the home page also indicates that she is trying to reach an older audience as there are tabs such as 'charity' and 'news' younger children of the age of 15 and younger wouldn't be tempted by these sorts of pages, it's the older generation that would appreciate the artist doing extra things on top if the music. 

The 'music' page of the website, is set out in a interesting way. The four albums are hyperlinked to take you to a different page and then to the bottom there are images of the albums. This page layout is  quite complicated, it is busy and has a lot going on. I decided to look into the music a bit more and chose to look into the album 4. This is her newest album and when clicking on the page it comes up with all the songs that are on the album, it also allows you to look at the artwork, this includes all the images that she has that advertise this particular album. The images of her in this are sexual, they show Beyoncé in fashionable clothing being a icon that older teens would look up to and aspire to be like. These photos of her also appeal to the male gender as they are sexually posed. Lastly on this page you can look into the lyrics and credits, also there is a tab in order for yours buy the album. 

After looking into the website and analysing what Beyoncé has chosen to put on there, I would say her audience is for the younger teens. As a whole the website is technical and well laid out, it is bit simple and bland so I would also say that it appeals to middle class people. The colour scheme and images that are on the website are also more aimed at this audience as they are interesting, mysterious and sexual. 

I have also decided to look into one if the album covers of Beyoncé in order to see what I need to do to create a successful album cover myself. 

I decided to look at the album cover, 4. This is because it is her latest album it was released in 2011. The front cover to the album has a very simple colour scheme, the background is a off white with dark navy writing, Beyoncé is in the foreground covering part of the lettering, this shows that she is dominant and hold the power. The way the Beyoncé is posed, is sexually this appeals to the male and female audience as for makes it is about the male gaze and wanting her however for females it is about wanting to be her and wanting to have her power and appearance. Beyoncé is central and the largest icon on the cover this also backs up that she is dominate and superior. The fact the colours are so bright and cool, shows that she is calm yet still powerful, the colours also relate to the fashionable chic look she is trying to portray, this attracts the older teens as they feel they want to be listening to more sophisticated music. 

The back cover the the album follows the same theme as the front. The sexual pose is continued, the colours are carried over and Beyoncé is still in the foreground however she is a little smaller within the composition. The back cover includes the track list and the barcode, this is something you don't see on the front. 

By analysing the cd and website I have learnt what I need to include when creating one for my artist. I have also realised that the same image is sold through out the website and cd the target audience is always the same and this is something that me and my group will need to think carefully about when creating our digi-pack.