Research into teen websites

18/09/10

I have decided to analyse the Kerrang! website (http://www.kerrang.com/) next as part of my research. site is a music website focusing on rock music. It has a corresponding magazine and music channel. As many teenagers watch Kerrang! as well as othermusic channels, I thought it a good candidate for research. The colours used are darker than those used in the previous 2 websites, corresponding with the association of the genre of rock music with darkness and the colour black, this would be a convention familiar to fans of this particular genre of music. The navigation, as with the other 2 websites I have researched so far,runs along the top of the page. This seems to be a common feature amongst many websites and I would consider using it in my own website. The navigation on the Kerrang! website is accompanied with number labels, perhaps connoting the labels to tracks on a CD, and therefore appropriate to a website focused on music.
This screenshot shows the bottom of the homepage, which allows the oppurtunity of commercial gain through the merchandise available and the tickets on sale. These are both things which would appeal to the target audience of Kerrang! I like this is it's useful and shows that the designers understand their audience. The links to Twitter etc. would also be very appealing to this audience as it increases the interactivity of the website.
The images used on the website are primarily of musicians and bands, once again focusing on the subject of the site. There is also an image of the latest issue of the magazine next to the logo, similarly to the Bliss website.
The website has many links to music videos and clips of interviews etc. similarly to the the BBC Three website, which also relies heavily on the visual nature of video. It also has links to 'gigs' and tickets, particularly to those of it's own tour.
Unlike the other websites, it also contains aspects of outside advertising. I don't really like this as I think it takes attention away from the website itself, but I can understand how it would be a good method of gaining revenue.