This building in the image (the cover of their album - Scream Aim and Fire) has been shot in a high angle position this makes its stature a lot more intimidated and more daunting or threatening. The building, which is a cathedral, can work as a semiotic and contains more than one meaning. - however known only to those who understand its genre. The building can represent strength and the unity of the band, or seen as it’s a rather dark and gothic building might be iconic of the bands genre. This adding to the appeal with the metal genre. Its all the small aspects that influence the homepage, to make it what it is.
The ScreamAimFire album. The Homepage with the ScreamAimFire skin.
Although you can change the skin, the pre-set for when you load the webpage is that of their latest album ‘Fever’.
Below the skin feature there are several hyperlinks in white that are backed upon a darker background making them stand out. There is also a ‘Fan count’ just below them informing you how many fans are currently online and an option that allows you to become a fan. There is also a feature that allows you to sign up for a ‘Newsletter’. These features are good because they allow fans to become 'closer' with the band and feel part of something.
To create a background for the menu, they have used the clouded night sky to add mystery and several black birds, which are presumably ravens or crows, which in Celtic beliefs are the 'harbingers of death'. This entwines with the metal genre (Considering the side genre, death-metal) and ads to this homepage scene. According to sources, if a crow lands on your house it is an omen that death is near.
Further down the webpage there is a ‘youtube.com’ video which is pre-set to play the first song from their latest album ‘Fever’ (There is a reason why websites import 'YouTube' videos, and this is because its one of the largest online streaming video sites on the internet and because of this a lot of people already know how to use/play a video from 'YouTube' and this ads to the simplicity in which was a preferred answer in our questionnaire). This video comes with a dropdown menu that has other songs of theirs in which you can choose. On the same section of the homepage is a small midi-player with the common cassette buttons making it easy to use, just below it are two options ‘More Music’ and ‘Play Videos’ which direct you to another area of the site.
Just like the majority of music websites they have a news section on the homepage, which is positioned on the left hand side in its own black box. The text inside the box is in a dark red colour which stands out well as its positioned on black. Other sections include ‘Official Photos’, ‘Latest Activity’ and ‘Tour Dates’. The news section doesn't look exactly big and informing at first glance, but what it gives you is several hyperlinks which are categorised linking you to the news your after such as interviews, commercials and new music videos, this makes the website more compact and it doesn't clutter the homepage.
At the bottom of the homepage there is a small photo album of the band, in which fans are able to comment on. This option seems pretty popular as there are over 178 comments. This comment section is rather a good idea, because fans can also talk to each other, and talk about something that they all share an interest in. In some sense this brings the website together making it both user friendly and entertaining.
You also get another menu at the bottom of the page, which is possibly unnecessary as the page isn't very long, nevertheless it adds room for more sections on the homepage. Beneath this are the sponsors for the band including the popular 'Monster - energy drinks'. Sponsors are a great addition to any website as they promote and show professionalism.
The midi-player that they use is rather simplistic, three control: skip, play and back. They dont back the player into a frame, instead let it free float on top of their background using colours that merge the two. The name of the track your listening too scrolls along the top of the player in a rich white fonts, clearly visible on the blue/grey background. There are two links below the player, these are 'More-music' which takes you to a sepperate site with more of their songs and 'play-videos' which gives you the same song choices. However, are music videos.
This is the top banner to the webpage allowing fans to sign in and/or join the site. By doing this you are able to post on their website and comment on their news and videos. On the left hand side, there are two logo's, one of 'T-Twitter' and 'F-Facebook' by clicking on one of these your able to follow them on your social site accounts. The colours of the banner match that of the rest of the website aswell as the style of the text.
This is a newer section located at the top left of the page near the menu column. It advertises a new application for android phones. This is a good idea because its keeping up with technology and allows the fans to feel even closer - owning an app by their favourite band. The app itsself keeps you upto date with their latest news, new songs, new tours and latest pictures.
These are the sponsors for BFMV's website. Monster, Facebook, Myspace and iLike, which are all well-known/used which will add the the publicity of the band. Sponsors also show success, they will only give money to bands that they feel are good. Once they give the money, the band is now assossiated with their logo which gives the sponsor advertising. The more succesful the band becomes the more advertising these companies will get.
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