Fall Out Boy- Website Research

Fall Out Boy are a band that have been producing music since 2001, and have been signed onto multiple record labels such as Uprising and Fueled by Ramen, Island, and DCD2.
Although previously considered to produce music from the genre of rock, Fall Out Boy have gradually altered their music with each album, resulting in their most recent one released January 2018, Mania, being highly electronic as well as having the elements of rock from the older music, so it can be said that their new style of music is electronic rock. This is definitely reflected in their website and music videos, with neon purple being an important colour for them and their new brand image.

The first thing we see on the website is the cover for their new album Mania, with a link to purchase or stream the album, and a button to see upcoming tour dates that were released alongside the album. This front page we can see its all purple, a colour associated with the electropop genre, and the edges of this cube that seems to be in the future are also very brightly lit up, contributing to this neon theme. The photo in the middle is of the ocean but has been colour graded to be purple, so everything in the photo has this purple tint that stands out a lot due to its brightness and sharpness of colour.
This is the home page and we have the banner in the corner leading to other parts of the website, but we can also scroll down on this page where there are other promotions for videos and individual songs.

Below is a video of the website when being scrolled through, and how each photo fills up the whole screen, promoting different aspects associated with the band. I put this in a video to show the scrolling motion and how each photo is revealed and how it looks as though they overlap each other. The sections promote the tour and individual songs that have music videos, so as we can see there are links to watch the video and to go onto another platform to download or stream the song. I think that this is a really creative way to scroll through the website and showcase different features associated with the band.

At the bottom of this page we see a section where fans of the band can show off any merchandise that they have bought from the band using a hashtag on the social media platform Instagram. Underneath there are a few example photos that an individual can scroll through to see other fans showing their merch, and it encourages others to do the same so that they could be featured on the official website.

The next section includes all of the social media links as buttons against a purple background, fitting with the new theme of the band. The social media links include Twitter, Facebook, and even Tumblr; and there are also links to platforms in which their music can be listened to, such as Spotify and Youtube. Finally we have links to amazon, apple store and other platforms where music can also be purchased.
As usual we have logos/links for the record label that the band is signed onto, as well as their official logo at the bottom which can be recognised easily by fans. The record label link directs us to the official website of the label, so this website also promotes other artists if clicked on, as we can see other artists signed onto the same label. There are 3 listed below: Island, Crush Music and DCD2 Records.

If we go back to the top of the home page we see a banner with links to other pages, such as "News" and "Videos". The first link is News, and this page consists of a picture of the band at the top, and then we can scroll down to see updates from the band. The updates are about tour, such as performing in China and Reading Festival, as well as on shows such as "Good Morning America". These updates of course promote the band but can promote the festival and TV show that they will be featuring on. This page is good for fans wanting to receive these updates, especially if they want to see the band on tour, and they can also read general news such as announcing that the band's new album reached Number 1 on the Billboard 200.

The next link in the banner is "Tour", in which the layout is very similar to the news page, as we have a title at the top with a picture of the band as a background for the top banner. This page is like any other tour page, with a list of the dates and venues, then a link to buy tickets from Bands in Town, or instead the button can say "sold out" instead and not have a link to another page once the tickers from a particular show have all been sold. This is a world tour called Mania Tour, so there a lot of dates from which the band can gain profit and there is also more of a choice for the audience if there is another venue that isn't sold out that's still close to them. The banner for the tour also as a list of the support acts that will be joining them on different parts of their tour, so they are promoting these smaller bands before the show so that people can listen to them to see if they like them and can familiarise themselves with the songs when it comes to seeing them live before they see Fall Out Boy.

The "Music" link is next, taking us to a different site altogether with a different layout to the previous two pages. Like with other websites, we have links and logos where the audience can both stream and/or buy the band's music. The "play" buttons are associated with sites in which the music can be simply streamed, like Apple Music, Spotify and YouTube. Other links show where music can be downloaded or bought, from sites such as amazon where both a physical and digital copy can be bought. At the top of the page the band's logo appears again, with the caption "Listen to Fall Out Boy's music".

The video link that is next directs us to the platform of YouTube, specifically the band's channel where multiple types of videos can be viewed, from music to tour videos and even behind the scenes videos showing the making of particular music videos.

The "Sign Up" links leads to a page with the photo of the band as a banner behind the title. The page encourages you to sign up to receive emails from Universal Music Group (UMG), with possible updates from the band such as new tour dates or a single/album. The page asks for a few details before submitting it and in turn agreeing to the UMG privacy policy, which is also a link before the submit button that fans can read in case they want to know before submitting their information.

The last link for "Store" takes us to a different website which has the band's album cover at the top and logo. We can scroll down through the different products, and they have a variety, from a bath bomb (with the purple theme) to even a snow globe. The products can be clicked on to gain information, and also look at more photos associated with them. As well as these unique products, we also have the classic shirts and also the album, in both vinyl and CD format, which can be bought to have stickers come alongside them. At the bottom we again have the option where fans can share photos of them with their merchandise, which is appropriate considering this is the site for merch and where it can purchased. I like the store as it has the conventional merchandise of on artist, but we also have unique ones that can make them stand out from other artists, and these 'quirky' products might be more memorable to fans due to how different they are to the conventional products.

The website overall is well put together and is very organised and easy to navigate, clearly highlighting each section and promoting their music in multiple ways. From the website it can be said that their target audience is of those of a younger demographic, for example teenagers and young adults. Those who were fans of Fall Out Boy in the 2000's can also still be fans of their new music, incorporating individuals of the age 30+. The website is very bright with the purple theme and the music is lively and has its electronic elements, which can appeal to this younger audience. The section where fans can show off their merchandise mainly consists of those of the younger age as well, supporting what I think their target audience is.