magazine advert & digipak research
kassandra.nwezeMagazine Advert 1
Delilah - From The Roots Up
Artist name
Album Title
Reviews
-Newspapers, magazines
Artist selling themselves
Visual links to music videos- Intertextuality (flower tattoos, white tipped hair
Magazine Advert 2
Delilah - From The Roots Up
Artist name
Album Title
Reviews
-Newspapers, magazines
Artist selling themselves
Exclusives
Where is it available to purchase
Pack shot of single being featured
Magazine advert 3
Name of artist
Name of album
Exclusives
Date of release
Pack shots
Pictures of artist - selling themselves
Beyonce is a female artist who clearly specialises in producing music aimed at females. She represents herself as someone who empowers herself and reaches out to her audience in this way. Over time, she has gone further and further away from the "male gaze" of stereotypical representations of females as sexualised idols. This is shown especially in her song "If I Were A Boy" which was released in 2008, where she sings about how she would be more understanding of females instead of "mistreating" them if she was male. Her songs are mainly based on her personal experiences and how they have made her a stronger person. For example, in her more recent songs such as "Hold Up" and "Sorry" which were written about her disputes with Jay-Z. Both of these portray her as a strong independent woman, and they have an underlying message, as with almost all of her songs, she is telling the audience not to worry about what gets them down because they will always have themselves.
The music magazine features an image of Beyonce as herself, and Beyonce as her alter ego "Sasha Fierce". She clearly adopted this alter ego as a way of empowering herself and helping herself to get over the times of trouble. The second image is very strong and the costume and dark makeup is what draws the audience's attention. The monochrome effect gives off a sense of seriousness and self-confidence.
I think through this advert, the audience can establish a connection with the artist and they will want to be able to experience the same emotions as her. There isn't a better way to do this than to buy the album and listen to her songs.
Magazine advert 4
Pack shot so the audience can see what the album looks like before they buy it
This is phrased in a way that the audience will see that they have easy access to it, and it will be in a local shop or on a shopping site they use regularly
Features the artist - artist selling themselves
digipak 1 - LMFAO
Centre
CD
Inside left cover
Front cover
- The front cover of the digipak is a close up of the duo looking directly at the camera and pressing their faces against a woman's torso. The name of their album "Sorry for Party Rocking" is tattooed on her. This connotes a sexualised type of atmosphere with a hint of punk or hip-hop. LMFAO specialise mostly in the house/electronic dance music genre, so this cover would appear to be a surprise to the audience. As this is a close up shot, they are clearly selling themselves and the name of the album and its location suggests that they don't actually mean to sexualise women, but instead they are showing a rebellious type of attitude. The clothing on the body specifically highlights what genre they are about - the purple and animal print leggings is like a typical 90s disco style outfit. Their logo has their faces incorporated into it, further highlighting the fact that they are promoting themselves. The parental advisory warning is clearly marked on the front cover especially for the younger audiences, so they are clearly aware of the content that might be present in the album.
- The CD has the name of their album brightly printed on it, making it easier to be recognised, as well as branding it. It is similar to an old style record from the 1980s, especially with the typography used.
- The back of the digipak shows someone lying down (probably passed out) with streamers and party props surrounding them. This is a strong typical representation of LMFAO's brand and their genre, as well as giving the audience an insight of the themes featured in their songs - partying, alcohol, dancing, etc. What I find slightly unusual about the back of this digipak is the way the songs are listed. On the top left, "Will.I.Am" is listed as an "Executive Producer" which gives the album a movie-like appearance - very uncharacteristic of them, however, the typography adds to the element of fun and playfulness shown throughout in the rest of the digipak.
Explicit warning
Back cover (and list of songs)
Digipak 2 - lana del rey
Front cover
CD
Back cover
The front cover of the album features the image of Lana Del Rey herself. The colour of the scene is very 1960s style, along with the artist's costume. this connotes that the artist is going back to past times. This also indicates the main theme of the album which is Soul, however the front cover gives off a slight element of country or folk because of the mise en scene - the artist is leaning on a retro vehicle which has "StarLine Tours" on it.
The CD denotes a clear image of the American flag. From this we can see that the artist is clearly patriotic and that the album must revolve around America as a country.
The back cover is very representative of the 1960s with similar reasons as the front cover, but there is more to denote here. The artist is leaning out of a different vehicle - a van - and she is wearing a hat and sunglasses. In the background is a tall palm tree. The colour again is quite soft and mellow, rather than sharp. This therefore connotes a feeling of freedom and I think the artist is hinting that when their audience listens to the songs listed, they should feel relaxed and calm. But with the sunglasses on, the artist is kind of hiding her identity, and we don't know her real expression or how she is feeling, so the audience can only interpret this through the songs.
digipak 3 - rita ora
