The White Noise Website Analysis

Home Page:

The home page for the band features a music video for the bands most popular song ‘Picture Day’. The background of the homepage is the set from the music video, adding a sense of continuity throughout the site. It also acts as an intertextual reference to the music video, which enhances the website. The house is a destroyed wreck and is extremely messy, it is a stereotypical room of a rocker. So, Immediately, the consumer is aware that this band cover the rock genre of music. The destroyed room is also reflective of the aggressive style of music that the band plays, connoting that the music is so aggressive that it can destroy everything around you. Additionally, the band features their newest album on the page, acting as a promotional purpose. The audience is also shown where they will be able to purchase the new album. The band sells their music in various forms including CD, Digital, Vinyl and even Cassette; this indicates that the band is trying to appeal to an older market as they still produce their music on ‘old media’ like Vinyl and cassette. It also adds a collectable element to their music as Vinyl is a collectable and collectors will pay high prices for some vinyl records.

The White Noise is an American post-hardcore group from Dallas, Texas, (but currently in Los Angeles, California) formed in 2009 under the name Set The Sun. Formed by David Southern and Alex Summers, the band has gone through many line-up changes, most notably the departure of every member (other than Southern) in 2013, leaving Southern as the sole founding member. Aren't You Glad? is the third release by The White Noise, and the first under their moniker The White Noise. The EP was released on February 26, 2016, under Fearless Records.

The image from the YouTube video reveals the whole band, establishing who they are, allowing the audience to identify the band’s members whilst conveying their appearances and personas through a still image. It also enables the audience to identify the band and will be able to recognize them in the future. Immediately the audience can listen to their music and explore more of their songs. This will result in the band receiving more money from YouTube advertisement revenue, which in turn will increase their profits when a consumer listens to their sound.

Six hyperlinks are featured along the top of the page making the navigation of the site quick and easy, whilst giving the website a simplistic look. The logo of the band is also featured at the top of the home page which means that the consumers will be able to recognise the artist’s brand. The YouTube video is in the centre of the page indicating that it is the focus point; the connotation subtly implies that the band believes that the most important part about them is their music. All the text is white creating a link to the name of the band and their logo as the colour of their logo is white. This strengthens the continuity throughout the site. The font of their logo is in a spray paint style, which has connotations of vandalism and vandalism is an activity that is associated with rock music and hooligans.

Social Media:

‘The White Noise’ uses hyperlinks to their social media in order to make it easier for their fans to find and follow them. This allows them to stay in contact and feel a connection with the band.

There are a variety of options in-case certain people only use one type of social networking site. ‘The White Noises’ presence is important as an upcoming band because it helps the audience get to know the members a little more personally, which in turn strengthens the bond between the artist and audience. 

Moreover, they can update their following using social media. Through technological convergence these sites have become accessible on most devices making them able to see when are where they upload images or videos. This becomes another effective form of promotion for when he tours.

About:

The about page provides information about the band, including the name of the members and what their role in the band is. The page contains informal language, with multiple spelling and grammar mistakes. This suggests that one of the members typed this themselves and reinforces the stereotype that all rockers are uneducated hooligans that are aggressive and just want to cause trouble. The background image reveals all the members of the band which is important as a photograph of the band allows the audience to know who the different members are. The outfits of the members connote that they are rockers as they are wearing stereotypical clothing that is associated with rock music, i.e. ripped jeans, denim and dark clothing. The colour of the text is white so once again, the continuity is reinforced.

Tour:

There is a hyperlink to all The White Noises’ tour dates on the webpage. This informs all their fans of the venues that the band will be performing at. It also gives them the options to buy tickets and tells them which shows are sold out. The image of the lead singer is taken from a low angle and therefore empowers him as he is presented to be looking down at the audience, in a way to be bettering himself. His action of spitting out water also implies that this individual is a vulgar and aggressive punk, his attitude is reflected in the lyrics and sound of the bands music. Moreover, his shirt denotes that the individual is trashy, impulsive and repulsive as the shirt has offensive and vulgar content on it. Nonetheless, the picture is an action shot and depicts the type of energy and behaviour that occurs at one of the White Noises’ live performances; this in turn may encourage current and new fans to see them live.


Music:

The hyperlink takes the consumer to their albums’ iTunes page where the audience can purchase their album for $6.99 or buy individual songs for $1.29 each. The page depicts all 6 of the tracks featured in the ‘Aren’t You Glad?’ EP. A snippet of the song can be heard for free on the official iTunes web store, so consumers can hear a demo of the song and make an informed decision on whether they like it or not before they purchase it. The page also shows the duration of the songs and customer reviews of the album. There have been 56 reviews of the album so far and the overall rating is five stars, indicating that the album is popular with their fan base.

Videos:

The hyperlink on the page takes the consumer to the Fearless Records YouTube page, which is the band’s label that they are signed to. This ensures that both the band and the record label mutually benefit, as the consumers will be able to explore The White Noises’ music whilst also having the option of exploring other artists that are signed to the label. The mutual benefits come from the consumer watching videos on their channel, as the label will receive Advertisement revenue that will be shared between the Fearless Records and the artist. The amount that they both receive depends on the amount agreed in the contract when the band signed to them.

Store:

The store hyperlink takes the consumer to the store page where they can purchase the band’s music, including their latest album, and their merchandise. There is not much choice of merchandise as the band is relatively new and because they have a relatively small niche audience so potential sales are low. However, as the band increases in popularity they will feature and sell more merchandise. The background image of the store page is the image used on the album cover; this aims to further promote their new album.

Contact:

The contact hyperlink takes the consumer to a page where they can contact the band about various events. The consumer can book a show for an upcoming event of festival or perhaps a small local event. The band mentioned in an interview with AMBY that they might perform at some local house parties, as they believe it would be fun, however, it would also be a really effective form of promotion as their target audience is teenagers aged 15+. The house performances would enable direct interaction with their audience and would instantly create a strong bond between the audience and artists as the people there would be able to interact and talk to the band which creates an idea in the audiences mind that they are friends.