As a web designer I find it interesting to take a look at the website designs of high profile people in different industries. Big names are big business and big business means big funding. The websites of music artists are very important and server as a gateway between the fan and the music of the artist. The websites are often used to showcase popular tracks, new singles, latest albums and background information on the artist or band. These artists invest a lot in there image and graphic and web design plays a large part in that so lets see if these currently hot musical artists really care about their image by looking at their websites! Who do you think has the best designed, most functional and user friendly website?
Website Designs of 09 of the Top Artists on iTunes
1. Beyoncé | Visit Website
The website of Beyoncé if very clean, classy and neutral colored with a larger header and other elements pushing a new album. I think this is one of the better websites on the list not only because of its design, but because of its effective use of the website as a tool to market her album, the newsletter being one of the elements they push the most.
2. Taylor Swift | Visit Website
The website of Taylor Swift has a lot going on and the journal looking flash website is a style that has been overused a lot for creative people, but it does have a country feel to it and I think that’s rather fitting. The website has plenty of interesting content for fans though which is a big plus as well.
3. Katy Perry | Visit Website
The website design of Katy Perry is very bright and has a youthful appearance. The three main things they push on the website are a phone number you can call for updates, the newest album and an online store where you can buy merchandise. Its not the best design of the bunch, but its simplicity gets the job done and it has the right feel to it in my opinion.
4. Akon | Visit Website
The Akon website has a very focused splash page that almost looked like the main website, if it wasn’t for an “enter Akon online” link which leads to the actual site. The home page has more content, a solid design and uses a lot of powerful imagery.
5. Kanye West | Visit Website
Kanye West has a very cool, very interactive and detailed flash website that is hard to navigate, but its very appealing to the eye. It has all the standard trimmings of a music artist’s website and really gives off a creative vibe, which works well for Kanye who is a very creative person.
6. Nickelback | Visit Website
Nickelback has a pretty interesting design that is very centered and almost looks like a widget surrounded by a cool and dark background image. The branding of the website is very consistent with the album cover and they make great using of social marketing and promote related profiles on sites such as Facebook and YouTube prominently in the footer of the site.
7. Christina Aguilera | Visit Website
Ok, so I think her website wins the worst website design award. I’m not sure if its the giant yellow streak going across the entire site, or the fact that the text on the site sits over a bright pink pattern which makes it impossible to read that makes this site bad, so I will let you decide which feature is the worst. Sorry Christina, time for a re-design!
8. P!nk | Visit Website
I guess I was expecting the website of P!nk to be pink and there was some pink, but a majority of the colors are brown and give of a nature vibe. The header is pretty darn big, so it takes some scrolling to get to the content and the content area is a bit mushed together so it can be hard to find what you are looking for. I also hate ads on websites for artists, ditch those ads P!nk!
9. Rihanna | Visit Website
I think the Rihanna website has one of the best, if not the best designs on this list, but the one thing that bothers me is that image they use of her for the album cover and website. It just looks very unnatural and she looks kind of like a snake in the most awkward of awkward positions.
Hope you all enjoyed looking at the website designs of some the biggest names in the music biz!