Question 2: How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

We felt that the combination of our main product (the music video) and the ancilliary texts (the website and the album cover) were successful in projecting a firm band image. We created a brand identity by carrying over certain elements throughout all three products, such as band members, their individual characteristics, colour scheme, font, record label and music.

The Dropouts as a band

Across our three products we used images of the same four band members, in order to help the audience identify the band. This is especially important for us as our band was supposed to be debuting in the british music scene, and therefore the potential audience cannot be expected to already recognise the individual members. As a result, we spent considerable time on the the webiste creating identities for each member, which reflected in the video and album cover.

In the website bio, Pandora Hart, the lead vocalist, is depicted as a fierce female character, so we also showed this attitude throughout the photos of her on the site. In the music video, the definining characteristic is that she is beating up a male character which strengthens this identity of a strong female figure. Conventionally in rock bands, the lead singer will be given greater focus than the rest of the musicians, so in the video she is given the most screentime, a lot of which is filmed in CU, in order to cement her appearance in the mind of the audience. Because of this, we also used her more prominently on the album cover, as she is the most identifiable band member. The front image of the album cover also refers directly to the events of the song, as it replicates a mugshot, following the music video in which she has supposedly killed her boyfriend, as implied by the presence of a coffin.

We wanted to create an enigma when it came to our bassist, Xen. The text in the website bio explains this, and a lot of the images featured of him are not too clear, building on this mysterious identity. The only shots of him in the video, and the other male members of the band, are performance shots, which ties in with the website representation of them being solely interested in the music. We also featured a video interview of Xen, where we saw his social indifference in action.

As the lead guitarists of rock bands stereotypically have a reputation of being 'ladies men', we enhanced this identity with AJ Vyper, using photos that were slightly more revealing than the other two. The opening shot of 'Goin' Down' is of Vyper playing an electric guitar, which cements the  rock music genre for the band.

On the back cover, Pandora and Vyper are centralised, as conventionally the lead singer and guitarist are the focal points of a rock band.

With our drummer, Johnny Sparks, we used images of him throughout the website holding drumsticks, as it is a little harder to show what his function in within the band, as it's not very useful to take every picture with a drumkit. With all four members, we used similar clothing in the music video, album and website, so that the style of the band is constant - the colour black features prominently as it is a common colour for rock music.

Examples of Synergy

As stated before, the album cover directly ties in with the music video, as the mugshot image is relevant to the murder theme of the song. In some long shots, it is possible to see the skull logo from the inside cover on the bass drum, which heightens band identity. Our band members each have an individual colour scheme of black and gold, silver and blue for Vyper, Xen, and Sparks respectively.

The main page of the website also contains this colour scheme

However the most predominant colour scheme is black and purple, which iswhat Pandora wears in the video, and several of the photographs - this colour was featured on the album cover and the website, and we managed to create the exact colour by using the code #680363. The industry references on the album and website match - we created the fictional 'burning car records', complete with logo, which is presented on both texts. Naturally, our music video track is listed on the album, and is set as the music player on the website.

The Label info on the website. This can also be seen on the back cover of the album

Getting the audience to invest in the band

It is sad but true that bands don't make it unless they bring in a lot of money from the audiences. For this reason, we included a lot of promotional material for the album 'You'll Love Me When I'm Famous' and the single 'Goin' Down', as well as band merchandise. The music video itself is a promotional tool - by streaming it on tv and online, the audience awareness of the band and their music is lifted. The album contains multiple links to web content, which in turn promotes all the music. Our banner at the top of the page to sell the album contains the same image from the back cover of the album, using syngergy to help the audience link the two. On several pages of the site, for example 'Gallery', we have a advert for the album with links to itunes. The shop provides clothes featuring the short and long band logos, so that the audience has the ability to identify themselves as a fan.