Analysis Of Existing CD Adverts

What is advertising? A form of communication intended to persuade an

audience (viewers, readers or listeners) to purchase or take some action upon products, ideals, or services.

These messages are viewed via various forms of media. Music artists use advertising in the same way and for the

same reasons.

Why do magazines use advertising?

Magazines use advertising for funding and generally the more adverts in a magazine the more reliant it is on this backing and continual production. Some of the less major magazines for example “The Jazz Rag” have very little funding, only a few pages printed in colour and therefore far more space in the magazine devoted to adverts.

On average 50-80% of magazine funding is done by advertising. Advertising in magazines, as well as all other forms of traditional media, is on the decrease. This is mainly due to the rise in online advertising which is becoming increasing popular with the rise in usage of the internet.

I next looked at a selection of present magazine adverts for new albums that have been recently released by artists.

By doing this I believe that I have found key forms and conventions within my chosen genre that I can use effectively with my own print task.

This magazine advert states clearly what it is advertising; a CD, download, limited edition CD/DVD release, Vinyl and Picture Disc. This shows a very common convention of albums being released in a wide variety of forms and across different media. This is shown by the words “The album out now” then a list of the different versions

The layout for the advert is very simple, black background with band name and release at the top, with the album cover shown. Showing a photo of the album cover is a vital convention of advertisements as it makes it easy for someone who has seen the advert to recognise the product in shops or online.

The only other information given is the band and labels website addresses, record label logo and small print and some small print with the producer and photographer mentioned. By doing this people who like this band may look at the record label and find other bands or artists that also relate to this genre.

The effect created by having all simple font in relatively small letters white on black emphasises the text, despite being small it stands out by being bright in comparison to the rest of the advert. This is amplified by the lack of activity in the photograph, this will make the audience want to read the text to explain the scene.

The font used is that used in the band’s logo. This has been done to push the already established logo into the advert and make it more recognisable to fans.

Gwen Stefani – Love. Angel. Music. Baby

• The advert is a whole page of  ‘Glamour’ magazine. The advert was placed near the middle of the entire magazine, at the end of one of the main articles.

• This is a good idea because when the reader has finished reading the story they would turn over the page and immediately see the advert.

• The advert is a close up of the artist on the cover of the album. The image has been photoshopped to look like a watercolour painting making it more entropic than the actual digipak cover therefore more interesting to the audience.

• An image of the album is also featured on the advert.  The font and colour schemes used are the same that are used on the album cover, keeping with the house theme.

• The advert also tells you what singles are featured in the album and that the album is in stores now. There is also a logo of the record label that she is with and the web address of the artist connoting that the audience can view or engage with the artist on a variety of different medias.

• The artist is also sexualised, fitting in with Laura Mulvey’s theory of the media portraying women only for the male gaze. Yet the fact that she is on a throne and holding a crown connotes that she is in control and has lots of power over people.

• The artist is also looking straight at the camera which connotes a more personal feel to the album and may make the audience feel that they know her on a more personal level.

House Style

Sexualised Female

Crown – connotes power and dominance?

Small picture of CD cover

Music label logo, star web address, songs included, date released

Watercolour effect – entropic and more interesting for audience

Artist name, name of album in big letters

• The advert was half a page in ‘The Sun’ newspaper.• This is a good idea because when the reader has finished reading

the story above, their eyes would immediately look downwards and see the advert.

• An image of the album is also featured on the advert. The font and colour schemes used are the same that are used on the album cover, keeping with the house theme.

• The advert also tells you what singles are featured in the album and that the album is in stores now. There is also a logo of the record label that she is with and the web address of the artist connoting that the audience can view or engage with the artist on a variety of different medias.

• The artist is also sexualised, fitting in with Laura Mulvey’s theory of the media portraying women only for the male gaze.

• The artist is also looking straight at the camera which connotes a more personal feel to the album and may make the audience feel that they know her on a more personal level.

• Fairly plain advert so draws attention to the artist.

Marina and the Diamonds – The Family Jewels

Name of artist and CD name in biggest font

Image of the star taking up most of the page – sexualised

Website of the artist

Simple colour scheme – white, black and a pink/purple colour – links with colours of CD cover

Picture of CD front cover on the advert – relates to the picture and text on the advert

Details at the bottom of the page such as when it’s released, quotes about the CD etc.

•The advert was half a page in the magazine ‘Star’.•This is a good idea because when the reader has finished reading the story above, their eyes would immediately look downwards and see the advert. • An image of the album is also featured on the advert. The font and colour schemes used are the same that are used on the album cover, keeping with the house theme.•The advert also tells you what singles are featured in the album and that the album is in stores now. There is also a logo of the record label that she is with and the web address of the artist connoting that the audience can view or engage with the artist on a variety of different medias.•The reviews that also fill up the other half of the advert show all of the praise for the album, making it seem desirable to the audience and making them want to own a copy.•Fairly plain advert so draws attention to the artist.

La Roux – La Roux

Simple colour scheme – black, red and white– links with colours of CD cover

Name of artist and CD name in biggest font

Details at the bottom of the page such as when it’s released

Reviews that may engage the audience to buy the album

Image of the star taking up most of the page

• An image of the album is also featured on the advert. The font and colour schemes used are the same that are used on the album cover, keeping with the house theme.•The advert also tells you what singles are featured in the album and that the album is in stores now. There is also a logo of the record label that she is with and the web address of the artist connoting that the audience can view or engage with the artist on a variety of different medias.•The artist is also sexualised, fitting in with Laura Mulvey’s theory of the media portraying women only for the male gaze. •The artist is also looking straight at the camera which connotes a more personal feel to the album and may make the audience feel that they know her on a more personal level.•Fairly plain advert so draws attention to the artist.

Miranda Lambert - Kerosone

Name of artist and CD name in biggest font

Image of the star taking up most of the page – sexualised

Website of the artist

Simple colour scheme – brown, white and red – links with colours of CD cover

Picture of CD front cover on the advert – relates to the picture and text on the advertDetails at the bottom of the page such

as when it’s released, quotes about the CD etc.

From this research I have discovered key conventions that I will use for my CD advert;

• An image of the album will be featured on the advert. The font and colour schemes used will be the same that are used on the album cover, keeping with the house theme.

• The advert will tell the audience what singles are featured in the album and that the album is in stores now. There will also be a logo of the record label that she is with and the web address of the artist connoting that the audience can view or engage with the artist on a variety of different medias.

• The artist will only be mildly sexualised, making it more entropic than usual pop CD adverts and digipaks.

• The artist is also looking straight at the camera which connotes a more personal feel to the album and may make the audience feel that they know her on a more personal level.

• Fairly plain advert so draws attention to the artist.• The advert was half a page in the magazine ‘Glamour’ and in other major

newspapers or magazines.• Finally there will also be some reviews that show all of the praise for the

album, making it seem desirable to the audience and making them want to own a copy.