MySpace Analysis

MySpace Analysis – The Black Eyed Peas

The Black Eyed Peas are an American Pop/alternative genre group that have been recording since they were formed in 1995 and are currently as successful as at any point during their tenure at the top of the music industry.

The band do not appear to be using the site as a primary source of advertising because they are from the period just before the MySpace phenomenon kicked off and have already built up a fan base from more traditional methods of distribution. They have however taken advantage of this opportunity to put themselves in this market place too. The first noticeable feature of the page is the picture from the latest album The E.N.D. and the use of the fonts and colours of this album throughout the site. By using the greens and blacks of the album in various places such as the MySpace page they are able to create useful synergy that will build up in the subconscious of people that see it and these colours will be associated with the group.

The layout of the page will be familiar to users of MySpace as a standard layout for artists using the site. By doing it this way and using what are now forms and conventions of the industry in their own right, they are advertising the different facets of the band effectively and not missing any opportunities. Links to purchase the latest album and the individual tracks on it are scattered around the page including on the banner at the top and with the tracks on the music player. They have also, like most artists listed up coming events and their current tour, this has been seen as a further opportunity to sell the tickets for these events by providing direct links to Ticketmaster.

Other key features to the way the band want to promote themselves and be seen by the public are the news and blog sections that give the group a chance to display information about them and their activities exactly as they want them to be seen rather than how they might be shown by the outside media. The images and videos shown link in with the theme of using the current album as a basis for the group’s use of the page. The videos include behind the scenes footage as well as the Videos for the singles from the album and the images are all based around them too, including various shots explicitly aimed at selling the product, or in the case of the banner, the tour.

The fan base they have already achieved before the MySpace generation have not been ignored and the Music player includes some of their back catalogue of singles including UK number one single “Where Is The Love” which was the basis for their first wave of success. Finally there is also importance placed on the individuals within the group as well as the band as a whole. Will.I.Am and Fergie in particular offer the group further opportunities to increase the fan base because of their solo work and collaborations with other artists to further themselves.

In conclusion the Black Eyed Peas did not require a MySpace page to find success unlike some modern groups, but have been shrewd in using the same methods as successful ‘MySpace Acts’ and will continue to use these techniques in their favour whilst they are active. From this research I have been able to learn the important of having cohesion and convergence between your different products and will endeavour to create something of a similar nature to link my Digipack and MySpace pages.