Nickole Caballero

ENC 1101

Ms. Humphries

February 10, 2015

Inside Scoop On Music Festivals

People from all over the world love listening to music that comes in all different

forms and genres. Music is something so complex that is made from instrumental sound

or vocal sounds. Sometimes, different sounds may even be combined to produce music

that take the shape of beautiful harmonies that express different emotions. People

interpret music in many different kind of ways. For example, the Band The Beatles.

Many people worship them immensely and would do anything humanly possible to be

able to attend one of their concerts or buy one of their CD’s that are almost selling out in

stores. On the other hand, there are a good amount of people who do not enjoy or can

care less for The Beatles at all. The reason is people listen to music for many different

reasons. Some people listen to music because it is soothing and it calms them down and

enjoy the background melody that is coming out of the radio. Other people just like to

read the lyrics because they feel it speaks to them in a way that can relate to his or her

life. Music is not something that is concrete and that is the true meaning of beauty. Ultra

Music Festival is an EDM concert that occurs every year in the month of March in

Miami. There are many different views in relation to this music festival that will always

spur up controversial thoughts and ideas.

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This music festival does a great job of getting their word out to the public as much

as possible. They created an official website that is viewed from all places around the

world and is very well designed and detailed. There are many controversial ideas in

relation to this concert. The website is composed of many vibrant colors and pop up

images that make the people on the website excited to want to participate. The website

also has videos and mini clips into what they might be seeing live at the concert. The text

and visuals mix very well in the sense that they both give an easy understanding on the

concert. The use of words are all happy vocabulary and the words are bold and some in

bigger font than others. This goes to show the excitement of the person who created the

website. People looking at this website will not find small font or dark colors. Everything

is “in your face” which at times can be overwhelming but at the same time will make the

audience want to read everything possible on the website. The visuals are also very

ecstatic looking. The website incorporates pictures and clips of people live at the concert

in previous years. What better way to picture yourself at a concert than by watching a live

video and imagining yourself front row on someone’s shoulders soaking up all of the

energy. All of this positive energy that is put forward into this website goes to show the

amount of energy that would be at the actual concert. It is a very good representation of

what Ultra Music Festival is all about.

For many people, this online website is a very neat creation and a great way to

figure out what you would be getting yourself into if you were to go to this concert. On

the other hand, there are many negative looks on this type of music festival. When people

hear Ultra they automatically associate it with drugs and alcohol. This is the wrong

mentality for this type of concert. This creates a huge false stereotype that people who go

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to this concert are people who enjoy the use of drugs and that the people do not attend the

festival for the music. This website is mainly directed toward a younger age group of

people therefore, many older people may take offense to this. The way people dress can

give of a very bad image of the concert. This is the reason why many elders frown upon

this festival. Imagine elders going on this website for the first time and seeing videos of

previous years. In this video, people are able to see the provocative clothing that

attendees decide to wear. This is not a very good first impression that should be given of

the public. This goes against the views of the website and leads to many controversial

ideas of this concert. The way people dress and act do let other viewers know what kinds

of crowds attend these kinds of concerts; but every coin has two sides. These visuals can

lead to negative views by the public but unless you actually experience it first hand,

nobody will ever understand how amazing and thrilling Ultra Music Festival really is.

Depending on the type of person who examines this website, will make judgment based

on their thoughts and opinions. It is all relative to the person when it all comes down to

the root of the problem.

In relation back to the website where people could find more information on this

concert, it may give of the wrong message to viewers. The way Ultra website is currently

designed might send the wrong information to viewers which in turn will cause a major

set back when people are undecided on whether or not they want to attend. The message

that first stands out to the public is all of the bright colors and under dressed girls and

boys. Automatically, negative thoughts go through the viewer’s head because that is the

normal reaction of one to think when they see something for the first time. What the

viewers are missing is the hidden message that they would never catch until you are

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personally there in the flesh. Many people argue to change the way the layout and other

forms of advertisement are being displayed. Well, the website designer created these

visuals to send a strong message. According to KISSmetrics, “Color wields enormous

sway over our attitudes and emotions. When our eyes take in a color, they communicate

with a region of the brain known as the hypothalamus, which in turn sends a cascade of

signals to the pituitary gland, on to the endocrine system, and then to the thyroid glands.

The thyroid glands signal the release of hormones, which cause fluctuation in mood,

emotion, and resulting behavior.” This kind of behavior is a very good strategy that the

creator chose to put out to the public and even risk his career. According to HelpScout,

“The study Exciting Red and Competent Blue also confirms that purchasing intent is

greatly affected by colors due to the impact they have on how a brand is perceived. This

means that colors influence how consumers view the "personality" of the brand.” With

these statistics being presented, goes to show that the creator had very good intentions.

Colors do attract the public in a positive way. Once they are on the website, they will stay

and read about it. Even if it does not interest them, they will know what the concert is

about and the message will relay to his or her friends and that is how the word gets spread

about this concert. Good or bad sayings, people are talking about this concert, which is

the main goal. Take this scenario for example. Talk and ask someone about the concert

without showing them any pictures. Just have them listen to the music and people yelling

in the background. What would they think? People would think that it is a fun loud

concert filled with people who love the music. This is the perfect message that should be

relayed to the public. Put aside the wardrobe and any other factors that might come up.

People need to focus on the music itself and not the outside factors. Way back when, do

you think people focused on the clothes that people were wearing or the status people

held? It was solely based on the music and that was it. It was more simple back then.

Today, we do have many more obstacles that we have to deal with. Ultra does a great job

of not letting those obstacles get to them and they continue to put on a great show despite

what the public has to say.

First glance at the Ultra Music Festival webpage, thoughts will spark wild in

someone’s head. Many people who have not experienced it firsthand do not know the

inner workings of this festival. When it comes to the opinions of the adults, many think it

is very unsafe. As a matter of fact, the festival itself is very safe. The Music Festival is

very deceiving. The concert is located at Bayfront Park overlooking the beautiful scenery

of the Miami Atlantic Ocean with the massive palm trees surrounding your every move.

All of the stages are in the same vicinity from each other so it easy to maneuver from

place to place. This concert also provides indoor public restrooms for people who need to

freshen up or just need to take a breather. Food is also provided for a very reasonable

price! In order to prevent dehydration because of the hot Miami weather, water stations

are provided to prevent these terrible things from happening. The whole park is

surrounded by a lot of security who are constantly circling the area in order to ensure

safety for the dancers of the event. On March of 2013, Ultra implemented a new rule to

ensure extra safety with the loyal customers. According to AXS, Natalie Wicks states

“While we sincerely value the incredible ongoing support from our younger fans, we

ultimately believe that Ultra Music Festival is a premium event geared towards adults.”

This goes to show that even though the music festival may have lost some loyal paying

customers, safety always comes first. This event is more than what people really think it

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is when first looking at it through the website. People have to give more credit to the

festival than some people are already doing. This is a great way for therapy. Even if

someone does not know the words to the songs, it is a great way to escape from the real

world for the weekend. Even if people get tired of jumping around and want to take a

break on the sidelines, you wont have to worry about missing any of the artists because

the music is so loud that the audience will always be able to hear the music no matter

where you are.

Music was created for the sole purpose of unifying different groups of people

together. In the past, there have been many controversial issues about the concert. Music

was the only concrete thing that would hold the people together from all around the world

ranging from the many different kinds of races. For 3 days, people forget about the

controversies occurring around the world, and all of the racial concerns and quarrels that

are happening in every corner of the world. In these 3 days, people forget about all of the

negative in the world and all focus on one thing: electric dance music. There is no

judgment whatsoever in this concert. Everyone is there for one reason and one reason

only which is to have fun and enjoy the beauty of amazing music that was produced by

very talented people. Imagine people traveling from the opposite side of the country just

to attend this concert. That itself says a whole lot about how incredible it is. The ability to

attract hundreds and thousands of people in one weekend just goes to show that this

music festival isn’t all negative as some people make it out to be. At Ultra, that is the sole

purpose of that concert. The purpose is to get people together from all around the world

and unite them with the beauty of music. The fact that more than one assumption can be

made just goes to show how powerful of an impact music has on people from all around

the world. When you are in the concert, all you can think of is the music and the amount

of energy one DJ can have on the audience. As soon as the artist drops a beat and

everyone starts to sing along, that is when you know that everyone is together and at the

concert for one reason and one reason only. The online visual might give off a negative

connotation of what the concert really is but a person must experience it first hand in

order to really see and experience the outrageous feeling of being at the live concert. No

matter what, assumptions will always be made. There is no way of stopping that from

happening.

When it comes down to it, there will always be infinite amount of pros and cons

to this subject as well as everything in life. People just have to learn how to always be

open to hearing both sides of each story before making any assumptions and judging the

situation. Music is a form of unique art. With unique forms of art, it is known that there

will always be room for controversy. This just means that Ultra Music Festival is

something worth appreciating with an open mind.

Works Cited

Ciotti, Gregory. "The Psychology of Color in Marketing and Branding." The

Psychology of Color in Marketing and Branding. Help Scout, 6 Aug. 2013.

Web. 11 Feb. 2015.

"How to Use the Psychology of Color to Increase Website Conversions." How

to Use the Psychology of Color to Increase Website Conversions.

KISSmetrics, n.d. Web. 25 Feb. 2015.

"Ultra Music Festival." Ultra Music Festival. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Mar. 2015.

Wicks, Natalie. "Ultra Music Festival Announces a Minimum Age Requirement

for 2015." AXS. AXS Contributor, 6 Sept. 2014. Web. 05 Mar. 2015.