Magazine Advert Analysis By Alessia Carofalo

On the next slide I’ll be analysing a magazine advert that’s advertising Marina and the Diamonds “Electra

Heart”. Marina and the Diamonds are of the same genre in which I have chosen, therefore my music video will be of the

synthpop genre. Within this presentation I’ll be looking further into the synthpop genre, target audience, colours used,

conventions as well as connotation and denotation and the effect it has on the

advert.

Straight away, our attention is directed to the large and bold white text that’s stating the artists name. The text is not only bold but its also very large in scale, this is done so that the audience can clearly identify the artists name. The artists name is supported by a females presence which could indicate that she is a solo artist however due to the small text of ‘&’ present in the artists name could indicate the artist as a bad. The text used for the artists name could be seen as quiet delicate or in contrast, edgy which could link to the type of music the artist will produce as its in the synthpop genre and can be very versatile with the music they produce.

The contrast of colour with the use of black and white with the background and text, is very eye catching to an audience as it stands out. The colours would of cleverly been used as they connote different meanings for the artists genre, moreover black is a dark colour and connotes mystery, wickedness, dark times where as white connotes innocence, purity or even something new. All these connotations of the colours used will lead the target audience to feel a number of different ways which would overall draw them in which is beneficial as it would allow the audience to look into buying the album as it draws them in and makes them feel a certain way, which is the overall purpose of an advert like is one.

On the right hand side of the advert be have a well known and used ticket selling company who sells tickets for promotors, festivals across the country. By having ticketfly’s company logo on the advert it not only promotes the company but it will also attract the target audience as they will easily recognise the company as they host big events which will be an attraction to the audience. Overall this will get high attraction rates for the artists which should get them recognition which is the purpose of an advert.

Within this poster the text contains key information that the audience ill need so that they are aware of when the artist is singing her debut album ‘Electra Heart’ ‘live’, as its not stating specific tracks within her album it may attract the target audience as they be excited to discover what tracks the artist will be performing. Due to the poster not denoting any of the specific tracks being played it may draw in more of the target audience as they’ll be intrigued to know the new tracks the artist will play. By containing dates and times of the performance it gives the audience time so they can potentially purchase tickets in time for the event.

As we can see from this artists poster, the image of the female artist has multi-coloured hair and heavy make up on. The artists image could be classed as unique and differs from others therefore, her image could represent diversity which does portray a common convention from this genre, as being unique. Due to the uniqueness of the image and music type makes the genre and artist easily recognisable to the target audience. In addition due to this it makes the advert more easy to identify and could lead to the potential purchase of the artists album.

Here is another magazine advert that I’ve analysed – ‘Lady Gaga’. This artists album ‘The Fame Monster’ is another album in the synthpop genre. Within this advert we see a common convention – white and black as a main colour scheme. Throughout my analysis so far I have discovered that for the synthpop genre, these colours are extremely common and widely used. The colouring is significant for this advert due to the fact that the heavy use of black indicates dark, alternative music that fits with the genre. The use of black is also used when it comes to the image of the artist crying, however her tears are black. This connotes that the artist is one who may not be a role model for a younger individuals therefore making the target audience one of a higher age category. From this advert there are two images of the artist, they’re extremely different and connote the extreme differences that the synthpop genre has to any other genre. Therefore making this artist unique, to not just her genre but also to herself as she challenges common conventions and makes the most of the mysterious, dark and illusive genre.

As we can see in bold capitals, the albums name ‘The Fame Monster’ is stated. The letter ‘t’ in monster, as we can see has been made to be a cross of faith and religion. This is ironic as faith and religion are usually seen in a positive light, however here it may connote a different meaning. Additionally the cross could connote evil and darkness therefore the cross is highlighting the word ‘monster’ to emphasise this. With the use of the cross interlinked with the text makes the image of the albums name more remember-able for the target audience.

The first text the audience is to read is the artists name ‘Lady Gaga’, due to the bold white text in capitals, against the black harsh background, artists name clearly stands out. The contrasting colours make individuals from the target audience notice the advert which should persuade them to purchase the album.

Located on the left hand side of the advert is the artists record label logo. Due to have this specifically located on the advert enables the audience to clearly acknowledge who produced the artists music. If the record label is widely known it may attract individuals to look or purchase the album as they would be aware of the music the record label has produced.

Located in the centre of the advert is text and dates that inform the target audience of when the album is out and ready to purchase. The text also includes a few tracks from the album which include other artists such as ‘Beyoncé’, with including another very famous artist it would attract individuals from outside the target audience. This could lead to them purchasing the album even know its not the genre they’d usually go for which overall increases the target audience for the synthpop genre. As well as this, by the advert denoting track names, it may attract the target audience to purchase the album also as they may recognise the song/s.

Analysis

Due to analysing two magazine adverts from the synthpop genre, I am now able to understand genetic conventions from this specific genre. These include colours used, fonts used, plus the positioning of text and images and hoe they create further meaning for the music the genre obtains. I’ve learnt through my analysis that the common features in an advert like the artists name, the album name, the date in which the album is released are all common and are mostly always used in magazine adverts. Other features that may also be included are when the album is available to buy and the location of where to buy it as well as, the star rating the album was put at. The star rating can also depend on whether the rate of purchase is high or not due to the fact individuals will want to purchases the album if the rating is higher they know the music would be good. My analysis will overall help me in my planning of my own personal magazine advert. A reason for this is necause I now understand the typical and common conventions and features that are seen in a generic magazine advert. I know understand features and conventions from a magazine advert from my chosen genre –synthpop genre.