Magazine Advertisement Analysis

All of the magazine articles have a large text font of the band name and album they have just released name taking up most of the space of he advert. They also have the date of when the new album is to be released, and on a few of these adverts there is tour dates for the new album. The record labels name is usually present along with an URL for the bands website, also the adverts show a track the album will be featuring with will have usually been released as a single before the album. The album cover will usually be the main picture with text written across the top.

Some album advertisements also show a review of the album as well as where you can buy the current album and in which formats i.e. download, C.D., LP etc.

There are three main ways to categorize the advertisements, which are music genre, whether they have shown the bands photo, and audience. In music genre pop (i.e. the Beatles) the photo is in black and white and showing the entire band for the star image as each member is so recognisable the image is sellable in itself whereas another classic rock & blues act such as Bob Dylan doesn’t have a photo of himself as it is not his image which sells his music. Seasick Steve has a photograph of him as he is better known for being an older ordinary guy, therefore his picture can help sell the album. Although the Gorilaz are really well known for the fictional characters they portray

the album image is used in the advertisement. The audience for the different bands can effect the advertisement for the band for example the Doves are a mature indie band in which there audience are approximately 20-35 and therefore less interested in the bands personal image and this is reflected within the advertisement as it shows the band name, and album name along with details of when its out at what versions are available. This

however is completely opposite to the Stereophonics who are a rock band with many fans interested in the lead singer Kelly Jones, as eye candy.

Magazine Article Analysis (greater depth – Rolling Stones)

The magazine advert I am analysing in greater depth is ‘Rolling Stones “Exile on Main ST”’ The main image used here is also on the back cover of the album, the style is quite distorted as the picture looks a little blurred and old, the colour is also edited to be yellow and orange which is quite unusual in that the colour is originally black and white, in the advert there is also the iconic tongue in the bottom corner as well as an image of the album cover in the bottom left corner. The advertisement also has the same font as the album design, the text is like a scribble and gives a personal effect as it seems hand written. The text and imagery work well together as the picture was originally a postcard, and the handwriting effect works well with this for this reason. The image helps represent the band because the picture is reminiscent of blues music and a southern American feel i.e.

Louisiana, and the album is mainly consistent of blues and rock and roll music. The Rolling Stones tongue in the bottom corner is very small yet still very significant due to the iconography following the image. As the album is a re-release of a past LP the audience is hopefully a younger one than the people who experienced the album first time around, so therefore new fans can get their hands on the music. However older fans will probably also be interested in the re-release.