Magazine advert analysis - Miss Miller

There are many reasons why artists have an album advertisement inside a popular magazine of the same genre, for one it advertises the album for the artist so if anyone who reads the magazine is a fan of the artist sees the new album then they will start to generate hype and buzz around the albums release date which creates a wider target audience as people are talking about the new album that's been advertised. The magazine advertisement also ties in with other forms of advertisements like posters and tv advertisements, all these different forms of advertising act as a constant reminder for the audience so that they will buy the album the moment it becomes available, this is because they've seen it in various forms of advertisements so they are inclined to believe that it's going to be good because of all the advertising. First I will be analysing the shangri la album magazine advert for Jake Bugg.

Before I begin to analyse this magazine advert I will be talking about the name of the album itself, shangri la is a functional location in a book, it's described as harmonious and peaceful, symbolising paradise in the real world, it could be that Bugg was trying convey this about his music for his audience so that they'd research the words shangri la and find the hidden connotation within the advert, listening to Bugg's music is almost like a paradise is probably what Bugg was attempting to achieve.

The magazine advertisement represents Bugg as a typical and conventional indie artist, this is evident to audiences as he is playing a guitar, it conveys that he writes his own music so it comes across more personally from the artist to the audience. This is effective for Jake Bugg because it means indie audiences that see this advertisement will see the artist is appealing to the indie genre and will become inclined to see if the artists previous album was any good, gaining Bugg more sales from his previous album and getting audiences ready for this album. The other representation that can be noted is that he is alone, this emphasised by the fact you clearly see only his shadow as another entity in the advertisement, this could show hoe personal his new album will be and how he is making this specially for his fans.

The connotation of this advert is that Bugg will be reflecting past actions throughout the songs involved with this new album. This connotation is clearly evoked in the advertisement as the audience can see a perfect reflection of Jake Bugg through the use of shadows in the shot. The shadows represent the past that Bugg has tried to keep secret in his songs, the stuff he has kept behind himself, in the shot, the shadow is clearly behind Bugg so the audience recognise the connotation the advertisement of the new album and associate new songs with this idea when listening to his new album, this further entices the audience to buy the album as they want to know what he'll talk about in the album.

The advertisement cleverly uses the colours to associate the album name "Shangri la" with the colours presented in the magazine advert. The most prominent colour in the advert is gold, gold is normally associated with a high life style, very rich and respected artists in their respective fields. Bugg isn't attempting to come across in such a way. Bugg is wearing all black as this is his style of clothing in most of his videos, his songs sometimes have darker meanings so the colour of the clothes is appropriate, however Bugg trying to present his music and himself as popular but remains wearing black. This is to show his core audience he isn't changing and will attempt to keep up his style of music that came before this album. This is effective for Bugg because it shows he is still willing to stick to his roots, to could connotes he will try new areas but still remain fairly close to his material when it comes to writing his music.

The layout of the advert is also done effectively as it further connotes previous suspicions about what the album will be about. Bugg is standing to the left of the writing while still staying centered in the shot, his shadow connects with writing displaying the necessary information of the albums release date, the artist, the name of the album and a song that will feature in the album. This confirms to the audience that it will be about past actions as the shadow of the artist with the guitar reaching to the advert clearly demonstrates that it will be about Bugg's past as all of the information is behind him but his shadow, caused by himself, is reaching for these memories to create an album that is truly something that he wanted to create. This is conventional to the indie genre because it shows the music is based on serious subject matters involving the artist in some way.

The choices of image clearly portray the conventions of the indie genre that Bugg is trying to achieve. One example of this is key where the audience see where Bugg is positioned in the shot, he is standing away from the writing, away from the important details, the audience also see Bugg holding his preferred instrument when performing. The convention of the indie genre followed here is that Bugg is a loner, he prefers to be away from all the detail and instead wants to just get by doing what he wants to do which is demonstrated in this advert, the guitar is also conventional to the image because most indie artists perform with an instrument as they come across to audiences as more talented.

The typography or font is conventional to the indie genre for several reasons in this magazine advertisement. One is that the writing is easily readable, it's plain and simple but it's easy to read but gives off an impression that the artist doesn't want to go for any outlandish effects for the writing of an advert, this is a convention of the indie genre as the writing is always just simple to read writing rather writing that conveys something about the artist, the colour also stands out form the background as it's much darker than the gold light. One more point to mention is the actual style of the language for the advert, for example the phrase "me and you" is colloquial language. The style of the font conveys that the artist stands out from the regular indie genre music bands because of the font, it is read because it stands out, this could have an implied meaning that Bugg's music is naturally enjoyable because it stands out from the regular indie music. As for the language of the advert, it's supposed to be informal language as the artist literally means "me and you", this is to further illustrate the meaning that the album is personal from him to his core target audience.

The advert promotes the music genre because it's saying that Bugg will reinvent the industry, this will get indie genre fans excited for the release of the album as they want to know why the release of someones new album will change their preferred industry as they know it. The poster applies to indie fans as it shows the artist is talented with the guitar in the middle of the frame, this also applies to the indie genre convention of having the artists play an instrument best suited to them. The poster promotes the artist through the use of the gold colouring, the light comes from the front of Bugg in the advertisement, which could suggest that Bugg has a prominent career ahead of him that will lead to him becoming very successful in the industry.

The next artist i'll be referring to in terms of magazine adverts is Ed Sheeran's debut album advert, as before the artist has been represented in a certain in a very certain way for the audience to understand. One demonstration of this representation is the fact that the artist's face takes up half the advert picture, this shows that he talks about personal experiences from his past before he became so famous, however the picture is half filled with orange or in this case darkness, this conveys that he will be releasing some songs that may be dark in lyrical content that he went through earlier in his life. This is conventional as artists of the indie genre do tend to talk about experiences that have happened in their lives as it builds up more of a relationship between the artist and the target audience.

Connotations are quite difficult to grasp as there isn't a great amount of detail but there are some connotations. A connotation of this advert is that his music will stand out from the regularity from the indie genre as the artist himself is standing out from the darkness which, as said previously, is orange. This is clearly trying to connote that Ed Sheeran will stand out in the music industry and will change it significantly, the interpretation of this comes from the fact that Ed Sheeran's face is brightly standing out against the darkness in the image, this is trying to suggest that Ed Sheeran is the music industry's hope for new material as well as showing that he will change the music industry, his target audience will understand the hidden meaning and will try to support him on his journey of achieving massive amounts of success.

The colours are very limited but as said previously, there is still plenty to talk about that suggest different meanings involving the artist. The artist is presented in a way that makes his target audience think that he can heal their wounds in emotional terms and that his music will help them through their current turmoil. This is evident through the use of white in the advert, 4 things are deliberately white, this includes Sheeran's face so the audience identify with him, the name "Ed Sheeran" so they draw the connection that the face belongs to this name, a cross which i'll get back to and a buy now advert from whenever you browse certain sites. The use of white is to show connections of all these 4 things, the cross ties in with the idea of healing someones emotional wounds because a cross that is in the poster is mostly used when referring to the red cross medical services, further implying that Ed Sheeran can heal your wounds emotionally and not the literal sense of physically healing you.

The design of the poster is conventional to the indie genre as it's simple. The audience are presented with an image of the artist that has created all this music, firstly the design choice of orange is unconventional but does work as a form of darkness for the artist in the advert, the layout is very simple to follow, the information about purchasing and release is in black while the artist the name and the icon (cross) are in white which creates a particular style for the artist. The design has been chosen to be this vague with some information because it makes audiences feel inclined to buy the album to find out more about the artist and why the design and layout has been the vague, it further connotes that mysterious darker side to himself implied by the advert colours. The target audience understand this deeper meaning behind the design and buy the album due to it's vagueness as well as the fact that the artist is presented in a personal way for the audience.

Though there is only one image it does convey a lot about Ed Sheeran. The colours are used effectively in the image because it connotes that there is darkness but there is light in Ed Sheeran's life, the image also conveys how personal the album is to the artist because the audience only see the artist face but is shows he is serious, his facial expressions seem stern, this conveys that Ed Sheeran really wants to become famous and that he is dedicated to become successful in the music industry. The target audience relate to the artist because they build a relationship with Sheeran due to the fact that they know what he looks like and that he is serious about becoming famous and are willing to support him through this time of his.

The typography is kept to a simple degree again and is made to be read simply. The font and the colour of the font male it stand out easily from the orange background of the advert, the language of the text formal, keeping the audience updated on when they are able to purchase the album for themselves as they're probably very good fans of Ed Sheeran by this point, but there isn't much text to go on for discussion for this advert. The font and the colour of the font are supposed to represent Ed Sheeran by making the text stand out for audiences to see, it's vital they see this because the target audience will only take this information in and would already be excited to purchase the album. This is due to the fact the album is kept a mystery from the audiences so that they're more inclined to purchase it, to find out why the album advert was kept so vague.

The advert promotes the indie genre through the use of lighting in the image, the light suggests that Sheeran will have a bright future in the music industry especially in the indie industry as he is supposed to represent in the advert a bright new beginning as the album is titled "debut album" meaning the artists first album, it shows that the genre is welcoming a new artist which attracts more varied audiences as he was very popular by this time. The advert promotes the artist by showing the audience that this is Sheeran's passion, this is what he aims to do, this is implied by the seriousness of his face in the image because it demonstrates his goals of becoming influential in the industry. The advert attracts an audience as he is presented so that people think he is going to a massive influence on music years to come so audiences are going to see what the fuss is about and buy the album to understand the hype that was surrounding the artist at the time.

In conclusion, this research will help when planning my own magazine advert for our artist as the artist we'll be making belongs to the same genre as the two artists discussed above so it would be good to take some influences here and to use them when it comes to creating our one. One idea I plan on implementing when making the magazine advert is presenting very little detail to the audience as this is a magazine poster and should be kept short with not too much information that may overwhelm the audience.

Digipak Analysis - Miss Miller

Digipaks are 6 sided paperboard or cardboard books that have additional information about an artist and are normally packaged for special edition CD albums. Digipaks also contain higher quality images than the normal edition of the CD, this is so that the digipak may appeal to the artists audience as they will see that the quality of the images are better and think that the overall album is probably better as they've changed the look of the album, which achieves the artist profit. Another addition to a digipak is that the CD may contain a bonus track or a secret track on the album that you can't find on the normal edition, this makes an artists fans want the digipak as they want to listen to the song so that they feel more included into the artists work, which in turn makes them buy the digipak so that they can complete an album by listening to this bonus track. I have chosen to analyse the Jack Johnson digipak for the album "In between dreams" because he is associated with the indie genre and has a digipak that our group would like to take inspiration from.

The artist is represented in a way that makes him come across as peaceful on the digipak. On the digipak, the audience see the artist twice, one image of him and a guitar showing he's part of the indie genre and another image of him touching or picking something from a tree which is to establish a connection to other forms of life. This representation makes him seem like a nice person as he seems to like nature and that his music can be listened to as a way of getting in touch with nature implying that the digipak will make the audience peaceful. This means audiences may buy the digipak because he comes across as a nice person, also audiences who are a fan of the artists music will buy this as it seems relaxing and peaceful because of the images of the digipak.

The hidden meaning or connotation behind the artists digipak is that as said before, Jack Johnson supports all forms of life and is one with life. This connotation is displayed because the colours of the tree and the artist are exactly the same, implying that they are one, they're connected as the artist is touching the tree branch and is at peace with nature. The digipak connotes that the artist's songs are peaceful songs and that he wants to try a different route with his music, this is clear because his guitar almost looks like the front of the digipak as well as the disk, showing that he has changed his style so that it feels more peaceful for the audience but also to advertise a new musical direction that he wants to take. This makes the digipak more marketable towards an audience because he comes across as peaceful to his audience and that he wants to change his style for newer audiences.

The colours are very important for this digipak as they help convey the connotations and the representation of the artist as said before, the black and yellow front cover of the digipak that represents the peaceful nature of the artist as conveyed through his guitar as they are the same colour, this also creates a theme throughout the digipak in the sense that that's how the audience will know how it belongs to Jack Johnson. The white further implies this sense of innocence and peace that the artist represents, the bright colours just convey that he stands out from the others, the disc also conveys that the audience will be presented with the peaceful side and nature of Jack Johnson's music which encourages audiences to buy the digipak because he clearly looks like a nice person who just wants to make peaceful music and the audience because of the recognizable colours on the digipak.

The design of Jack Johnson's digipak is kept rather simple, it conveys exactly what type of artist Jack Johnson is but connoted one of his feelings about the world. The bright yellow is supposed to grab the audiences attention, this makes the audience feel as if this artist stands out from other artists of the same genre because of this bright yellow contrasting against the black of the digipak, the black could represent the colour of the genre the artist Jack Johnson is associated with which is indie. The layout of the digipak is quite effective in terms of the audience he is trying to aim this digipak towards, for example, the artist name and album are kept in the corner of the digipak cover while the connotation of the images stand out the most. This illustrates that Jack Johnson cares more about the idea that he is trying to portray more than the marketing of the digipak, this makes him seem more pure as people would claim he is "selling out" by highlighting the fact that he made this digipak for the audience.

The images of the digipak are important to the representation of the artist as it shows that he, Jack Johnson, is in peace and tranquility, this is emphasized by the image of what the audience assume is Jack Johnson where he is holding a branch of a tree almost as if he is grabbing a hand, this shows that he is affectionate with nature and that he respects them like a fellow person. The other image on the digipak is Jack Johnson sitting down with a guitar in his hand with a plain white background, this image further emphasises that he cares more for the ideas of his music as the white connotes the innocence of the music, the music is portrayed as simple but peaceful to his audiences. This allows audiences to buy into the artists lifestyle because the artist is at peace and cares for trees and other life forms and wants to show his audience this through the digipak because the digipak is special to him.

The typography or the font on the digipak is used for everything, the songs titles, the artist, the name of the album the digipak is for and for the review of the digipak, this creates a regular theme across this digipak as the audience would begin to associate that particular font with Jack Johnson due to the digipak. The typography is extremely simple in a way, the bits of texts that are black stand out, like the name "Jack Johnson" stands out because of the contrast it has with the yellow, however the white is mostly used for "In between dreams" the change of colour is to make sure the audience aren't bored of very limited amounts of colour, however the white blends in with the yellow slightly but stand out from the black, this could all mean the Jack Johnson with this new digipak is trying to create music that is peaceful but still follows the indie genre. Therefore the audience buy into his lifestyle because he has shown how nice and peaceful he is to nature and life and that his music is trying to be different while still maintaining the genre conventions.

The language used on the digipak is very informative for the audience that will buy this, it lets the audience know who the artist of the digipak is as well as the digipaks exclusive content for the audience, for example "Jack Johnson special UK edition album featuring bonus tracks". This language makes the audience want to buy into his lifestyle because he comes across as a very giving to his fans due to the fact he is offering bonus tracks just for his audiences entertainment which can make the audience feel special and further encourage them to buy into the digipak, the language is formal but it conveys useful information about the digipak that the audience may want to know.

This promotes the music genre that Jack Johnson is appealing towards, which is indie, because for one it shows the artist with an acoustic guitar which is a common use of iconography for many indie artists and the look that they want to go for in the music industry. It promotes the artist because it makes him seem out there for indie audiences, the bright shade of yellow used for the digipak makes him stand out, in other words he stands out in the indie genre because of his talent in the music industry, but the digipak conveys Johnson so that he is peaceful and is harmonious with nature through the use of the image with the artist holding a tree branch. As stated before, the digipak attracts an audience because it shows that Johnson is different from what other artist do in the same genre, the colour makes him stand out, the image of the digipak makes him stand out and audiences will respect the fact that he's going for something entirely different form the music genres conventions with this digipak. The digipak is successful of promoting the artist towards his audience because it does convey that he is peaceful but wants to stay at the same genre while also creating a particular theme across his work, this way people are able to recognize anything by the artist due to the colours and the font used in the digipak.

In conclusion, this research into Jack Johnson's digipak will be beneficial when making our own digipak for our artist because we're implementing a digipak belonging to the same genre as this one, this will help because we could take inspiration from this digipak to be used in our own digipak made for our artist, for example, showing the artist with a guitar so that audiences of the indie genre know that it would appeal to them. This was research was beneficial to my planning stage because I was able to take on board many inspirations from this digipak to use in my digipak like the guitar present in the majority of the digipak's slides to show this is a passion and a close up of the artist sitting down with the guitar to show that the music is personal to him and the audience.