Magazine Cover

In order to connect with fans, music artists often do interviews and appear on the cover of magazines, particularly music magazines. I have looked at the covers of several different music magazines for indie music as well as general music magazines and designed this cover.

I chose to use this specific image of Jay Harper as it gives the readers a clear picture of what he looks like. Additionally, in this image, he looks quite serious which is a common quality of indie artist as they are focused on their music and take it seriously. I positioned this image in the center of the cover as it makes it the focal point, drawing the reader's attention to it and therefore to the artist. 

     'Jay Harper' is written in bigger font than other wording on the cover as this once again draws attention to it as well as what is written underneath. The quote is from the interview with Harper which will appear inside the magazine. It reads 'it's hard to believe that just three years ago I was busking by my local shopping centre'. This is something that can be used to connect with fans as it gives them a backstory to buy into and something that they may be able to relate to having either witnessed busking themselves or having taken part in it. It also connotes that like an indie artist Harper has worked hard to achieve success rather than just being given it.

Creating Jay Harper's Facebook Page

Mike Masnic speaks about the importance of an artist connecting with fans. Social media is a good way to connect with like-minded people as well as spread the word, so, I created a Facebook page for Jay Harper. Through this, Jay Harper can post updates and other Facebook users can share his page to help build his fanbase, because, as Henry Jenkins states 'if it doesn't spread it's dead' signifying the importance of creating something which can easily spread.
     The cover photo for the page is the image from the front of the digipak as this will re-enforce the image and therefore encourage people to buy the album. It is also something that the target audience may recognise. Additionally, to create the profile picture, I edited a picture of Jay with his guitar to put it onto a wooden background. This was important because the guitar connotes that he is an organic indie artist as well as the use of the wood in the background.
     On the page, there is an 'about' tab which has a biography for Jay, details of his management and bookings as well as a link to the official website. The link to the website is very important because it encourages the audience to connect and interact with Jay using a different site which they can use to explore what he does in more detail as well as sign up for newsletters.

Changes to the Digipak

We put the digipak onto one template to see what it would look like and then we printed it out and put it in a empty CD case to see what the final product could look like. This was beneficial as it allowed us to check the dimensions, and as a result, we saw that some of the sides needed to be made larger so that they would fit properly. Additionally, since our first draft, we realised that we were not making a single, but rather an album so we had added in some more songs on the track list.

   Another change we have made since the last draft of our digipak is related to the font. After conducting more research into different fonts, we decided to change the font again to a more basic one which still had a vintage appearance and therefore connoted Jay's authenticity. The new font also looks a lot more professional and therefore makes our digipak look like a real media product.

Furthermore, we moved the thank you message to the corner of the inside cover as we did not think it needed to be as big. We also looked at other things which should feature on a digipak such as song credits and put these into the inside cover.

     A third thing we added was a picture of Jay with his guitar on the inside cover. This was done to reinforce his authenticity and the fact that he has other talents than just singing. This is was something that we felt was very important in the construction of Jay's organic, indie star image and so was something we wanted to incorporate wherever possible. 

Changing our Font

We have decided to change our font as we now feel that we have found a better one which is more inline with what we have seen used for indie artists like Tom Odell and George Ezra.
     We decided to use it because it had a vintage appeal to it that would therefore connote authenticity and Jay's organic nature. It is also quite simple, something we realised was important after looking at fonts for similar artists. I also feel that this font is recognisable and stands out on all of our products and therefore can be used by the audience to easily link the products.

Mike Masnic - Connect with Fans and Reasons to Buy

Mike Masnic says that it is important for an artist to connect with fans (CwF) and give them a reason to buy (RtB), rather than forcing them to pay. This is similar to Amanda Palmer who asks her fans for help, instead of making it so that her fans had no other choice but to pay. Masnic says that CwF and RtB helps create a new business model for artist in the music industry helping them to bypass it.
     Masnic also talks about there being more content, opportunity and access than ever before and that the music industry is not just the recording industry but rather all other aspects that go into an artist. This is because while people are spending less money of CDs, they are spending more on other aspects such as going to live shows and merchandise. Masnic emphasises that it is still important to CwF and give them a RtB these other products provided for them.
     The fact that there is more content available than ever due to bedroom producing, means that not everyone makes money from the production of music, signifying how important it is to provide the fans with a reason to buy, making them want to buy rather than feel like they are being forced to.

HOW CAN OUR ARTIST CONNECT WITH FANS

Connecting with fans is simple to do with the increasing availability of social media. Jay Harper has a Facebook page, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube account and the links to these are found on his official website.
    Harper will post on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts, talking about what he has been up to and replying to fans. This is important as it means that he is directly connecting with the fans on a personal level, giving them a reason to buy as they have a more personal and intimate connection.
     On his YouTube channel, Jay Harper's latest music videos will be uploaded, however, he will also post vlogs in which he will give the fans an insight into his day to day life. This is something that George Ezra had done with things like 'George Ezra - The Story of the Ezra Express' and like the Vevo Lift Series which gives fans an insight into the life of the artist which may even include a question and answer session.
     Often artists send out a newsletter in order to keep their fans up to date a release official information, and sometimes, they even name the recipient. Jay Harper sends out monthly emails in which he summarises what the has been up to that month.
     Having a fanmail account is another way of connecting with fans as it will allow fans to email Jay Harper directly and therefore create a unique personal connection between that particular fan and Jay, something which will be different for each individual artist.

WHY WILL THIS GIVE THE FANS A REASON TO BUY

This will give Jay's fans a reason to buy because they feel like they have a more personal and intimate connection with him, encouraging them to spend money as they feel like they know the artist.
     Additionally, by giving the fans constant updates, the set pattern of album, tour, break is broken. This is because the internet has allowed for these constant updates. If fans are not updated about what the artist is doing, they have less incentive to buy because they will lose interest. Constantly updating the fans is a way of maintaining the connection with them and therefore maintaining their interest in the artist, giving them a reason to buy.

Group Messages

When working on our website, I used iMessage to talk to another member of my group to discuss the background possibilities. We also spoke about how we could get our artist to connect with his fans and decided that we could make an instagram account as well as Facebook and other social media accounts. I found this a very useful way of speaking to those in my group and making sure we were all on the same page about the next step in the project.

Inside of the Digipak

This is the inside of our digipak. We designed the Thank You message after looking at how this was done on other digipak and used the same image for the disc as the front cover in order to create a sense of continuity.