band site analysis - Coldplay

I decided that looking deeper into band sites similar to Snow Patrol is vital if I am to understand what good features make a band site. The following will look at what the website does and does not do well and will analyse why and how.

First impressions show that the website has adhered to the stereotypical dark background for alternative/indie, however the use of albuminous text makes the site stand out strongly over the others. This does not necessarily mean that this is a good choice by coldplay, as the text may stand out, but is not overly clear and due to a heavy use of text it becomes difficult to navigate.

Above is a good example of how ineffective fonts and colours have been used to voice and represent the band on their website. The squiggly blue text does not contrast very well against the black background and considering that the font used above is so different (capital letters and serif) coldplay are clearly relying on their already established audience to spend time attempting to navigate the website.

Although that the colour and fonts used are not the best selection by the site designers the navigation bar options are quite good. The options fans are available to choose from, cover a broad range. The first option being 'news' first appears to be a useful link leading to band updates. However instead it pointlessly leads to world news, which for incidents such as the Japan Tsunami would give the band a good ethical image but may deceive many eager fans who are not interested. The 'Live' link unlike the 'news' tab, does exactly what it should do, and provides a link to live dates for group performances. The archive and time line links also offer additional items such as videos of the band as well as a timeline of events since the band formed back in 1997. However although these tabs provide the information they say they do, they are poorly laid out and are over complicated making them little fun to use. The recordings tab is also a very clever way to advertise the bands recent and past music as well as give other links to videos and audio tracks. The 'exhibition' tab contains band imagery and album art which is relatively entertaining as it contains a quirky system to access the pictures. However by making the title for this link over complicated, the band may be missing out on vital marketing opportunities and will not be maximising its fan base with product association, since the home page lacks any significant imagery to create a visual link. The mailing list option is however well laid out and contains an easy guide to e-mailing the band directly through using simple 'you fill' text boxes.

My conclusion is that the Coldplay fan site contains many flaws. I believe the main issues which are holding it back are the inappropriate text colour and font combinations as well as a lack of a common theme throughout the website. This is clearly visible when the user navigates away from the home page and is faced with an all new layout and design making it tricky to use the site. Although several of the links found on the nav bar to the left of the site are of good quality, the band seem to have created titles which are over complicated, meaning they may be missing out on potential views and commercial publicity. Luckily for Coldplay, they are a well established band and have been around for many years, meaning their main fan base will have already been achieved. This means that their website is a less important tool, and as long as they can clearly display tour dates and merchandise they will ensure a cash inflow and hopefully expand their fan base.