Myspace Research

Dredg - www.myspace.com/dredg

The Dredg myspace opens at the top of the page with a picture of their album cover, blended in to become apart of the layout and look of the overall myspace. The branding they have given to their album has become the overall theme for their myspace as this promotes the branding they have created for their album. The release date of the album is clearly shown at the top of the page which is inportant for the reason of letting fans know exactly when they can purchase their album.

If you scroll down the page to the next part of the myspace you can see the traditional layout of having a picture of the band on the left and a playlist of songs on the right. This part of the myspace acts as a portal to a lot of the content, it gives links to more photos, videos, commenting the myspace, adding as a friends and so on. The playlist on the right is something that most if not all band myspaces have on their page and this is due to the fact that people need to listen to their music. If someone who hasn't heard their songs stumbles across their myspace the aim of the page needs to be to make them a fan before they leave. This is done through visually attractive artwork but also giving the person a chance to hear the music they create.

As we scroll down even further we come across the bands releases and tour dates. The band releases section features all albums the band has released aswell as band merchandise such as t-shirts. The tour dates are also important for letting fans know when they can see them live. Amongst other conventional things such as a comments section and a top friends list it is important to have something different on your myspace, maybe something to offer the fans. Dredg has thus allowed fans to get the chance to win a signed guitar in promotion of their new album. This is something our group should take note of as in  our genre of music giving something back to the fans is very important.

Mastodon - www.myspace.com/mastodon

The Mastodon website like the Dredg one immediately opens with the cover and album artwork of their latest release. The artwork is interesting and unusual and straight away I want to know more about it. Connected on to this image is all the traditional parts of a myspace; pictures, video, store, add to friends, and a link to the artists site. One thing that seems common with most band websites are adverts for special offers and chances to win a prize. With Mastodon this is no different as almost straight away we are offered free shipping on orders over $50 until the end of December - perfect for the upcoming Christmas. Mastodon just like the Dredg myspace have a playlist, picture of the band, merchandise and upcoming tour dates. These seem to be some of the essentials on a band myspace as most artists follow convention and have it in. A decision to be made in the group will be: do we want to challenge or conform to this convention? In my opinion I think it would be best to stick with this convention as it makes life easy for the viewers of the myspace as everything is so simply layed out.

Another thing common with both of the myspaces I have looked at so far is that they both have links to the videos of their released songs - something which are group will almost certainly have. The Mastodon also has videos of live performances which is a treat for fans to watch. The Mastodon myspace also has a biography which details when the band was formed and the journey they have had up until now. With our myspace, I think it is important to have this as we are a new band just broken on to the scene and need to let people know something about us so we can build a fanbase and have a real connection to the fans.

Between The Buried And Me - www.myspace.com/betweentheburiedandme

The Between The Buried And Me myspace immediatley follows the conventions of myspace and opens with the image of their new album. It tells us the name of the album and also shows in large the artwork with is the background for the myspace, so it is hard to miss it. Another thing unlike the other two, it opens with a teaser video which promotes their now album and gives fans a chance to hear some of the riffs from it.

When we scroll down just a little bit we come to an advert, just like the other two, offering deals on the new album and merchandise. Once you get down to the main bulk of the myspace you come across the typical things you would expect to find. That being the view pictures/videos, post a comment, add as a friend, online store and a link to itunes to obviously buy their music and support them. It is important to make it easy for the fans to find their music and support them with their money in an age where illegal downloading is a massive issue for the music industry. The band for their picture have a pan/slideshow of images that don't show them as a band but rather the equipment they use. This really brings home the message that its about the music and not the artist. I have been on their myspace a while now and unless I click on the bands pictures links I can't see what they look like. This is in great contrast to other pop band images such as The Saturdays and Beyonce which as soon as you visit their page you are surrounded with images of them as it is all about the image.

The myspace also follows the traditional conventions with a tour guide, playlist of songs, top friends and comments section. It is also common on bands myspace to come across their equipment sponsors.