Online, Social and Participatory Media
Studying the Artist’s Online Presence
The Music topic does not stop at the music video. The exam board also requires you to study the corresponding official website of the artist, alongside their use of social and participatory media. This lesson focuses on how Stormzy’s website and social media work, with reference to Taylor Swift’s and Lizzo’s online presence for comparison and context.
All of this online activity is an example of convergence — a website, a YouTube channel, Instagram, Facebook, a streaming platform and a physical tour can all promote the same artist and the same product at once. Understanding convergence helps explain why an artist’s online presence looks the way it does.
Stormzy has over 1.2 million followers on Facebook. His website, stormzy.com, is designed to auto-play his latest music video on the homepage and also hosts other YouTube content, keeping his music the main focus.
Media Language: Building a Brand Online
Stormzy’s website uses a tag-style logo font, which feels personal and creative rather than corporate. The main image on the homepage is dominated by one music video, signalling that music is his central focus. A pop-up advert invites visitors to sign up to a newsletter, which is a simple form of audience interaction that also captures data the artist and label can use for marketing.
The site also uses hyperlinks to merchandise, ticket sales and album pages, so a visitor can move from browsing to buying within a few clicks. This kind of paid, planned promotion is sometimes called above the line marketing, and it works alongside direct address on social media, where Stormzy speaks to fans as if one-to-one.
Taylor Swift’s official website works in the same way. It promotes album releases such as re-recorded ‘Taylor’s Version’ albums, sells merchandise to a global audience and advertises tour dates including The Eras 2023 US Tour. Everything on the site links back to buying, streaming or attending — the website and her social media accounts converge to promote the same releases at the same time.
Convergence also happens through other media. The 2020 Netflix documentary Miss Americana followed Swift over several years and reached a wide audience who might not otherwise engage with her music, promoting her brand through an entirely different platform. This shows how one artist’s persona can be marketed across film, television, streaming and the web all at once.
Representation: Self-Representation Online
Online media is largely about self-representation — the artist controls the image they present. Stormzy aims to appear talented, successful, intelligent and charitable, showing variety in his representation of the Black male image. On social media, he is outspoken about equal rights and about causes he cares about, including his brand #Merky’s pledge to donate money to Black organisations in the UK to fight racial inequality.
However, the factsheet notes a tension: some of the content on Stormzy’s website and social media still falls into typical hip-hop representations, including images and lyrics that sexualise females and glamourise violence. This shows that even carefully managed self-representation can reproduce genre conventions the artist might otherwise seem to challenge.
A parasocial relationship is the one-sided bond a fan feels with a celebrity. Taylor Swift builds this by posting personally — about her cats, or thanking cast members such as Loren Gray by name after The Man was released.
Industries: Commodification and Reaching Audiences
Stormzy’s online presence has been commodified through direct links to album releases, exclusive editions for sale, and partnerships with companies such as Adidas. His links to other artists featured in his songs and photos also help widen his audience reach across different fan bases.
Lizzo’s case shows a different industry pattern. Good as Hell was originally released in 2016 but became a sleeper hit, gaining more success years later after featuring in the film Barbershop: The Next Cut. Her performance at the MTV Music Awards, where the video was also nominated for Best Editing, worked as an opinion leader moment, boosting the song’s profile further.
Stormzy’s website and social media offer opportunities to purchase exclusives and receive direct interaction, such as SMS messages, creating a sense that fans have privileged access. Links to fun videos he uploads on social media add entertainment value beyond the music itself, keeping audiences engaged between releases.
Not every audience member reads this the same way. Some may feel that Stormzy’s online media is entirely a marketing exercise designed to boost profits through commodification, rather than a genuine attempt at connection. This shows that audiences can decode the same online content very differently, depending on how much they trust the artist’s motives.