Cd Cover Analysis

This cd cover comes from the latest Rihanna album ‘Loud’ Rihanna relates to our genre of music of dance and pop. In the traditional world of pop, glamour is essential and the exaggerated make up of the artists, this is why lots of pop music videos use close ups .

Rihanna's eyes are closed showing she is really in thought, maybe suggesting that she is really getting into the music and it means a lot to her, also this could be seen as she is dreaming.

Instantly you see Rihanna's bright coloured bold hair and lips, they both match and are bright red. Red was the colour that in our media research our audience thought stood out the most. The use of red shows that it is going to be an energetic album but may also the use of red symbolises sexual connotations, for example the use of bright red lipstick. Lots of her songs use sexual references, which relates to the name of the album and the colour used.

‘LOUD’ is at the bottom of the cover, however this does not stand out much compared to her skin and hair and makeup. This represents how she wants to stand out, and the image of the artists is more important.

The cover is quite simplistic, however the tattoo on the side of her neck quite shows the ‘bad girl’ side in her still which is often represented with Rihanna as she has the ‘swag’ which attracts the audience.

Lady gaga Is usually associated with bright colours so this black and white tone on the album cover is quite a contrast. The use of black white could symbolise her being different again

Pop music is associated with glamour, Lady Gaga’s make up is clearly exaggerated here. Her eyes are defined quite clearly along with her lips. Her hair takes up quite a bit of the picture, though this also contrasts the usual ‘ perfectly styled unique hairstyles’ this hair is a lot more free and wild. This gives an idea of her album and that it will be different. Lady Gaga seems to appear to have

no clothes on, this represents Gaga instantly, she is seen regular wearing little or no clothes so this cover shows there is no different. It also shows there is no ‘little bits added on’ it is all her own work.

The cinematography used is a mid shot, it is at angle where she is looing directly at the audience and over her shoulder.

This cover for Lady Gaga is quite contradicting she is usually full of glamour and make up and bright coloured. This shows her ‘wild’ side, her metal and rock roots. It ensures her fans like all sides of her, and its represents with the name ‘ born this way’ and how she was brought up.

This ‘Example’ Cd cover, it uses contrasting editing techniques to appeal to the audience.

The title “Playing in the Shadows” stands out in this cover, as half of the singer’s face is put in the shadows. What is mysterious about the image is the contrast and the transition between the black and white colours in the background, which relates itself quite well to the title of the album.

The fact that his face is shaded out on the brighter background in white, but his face is perfectly lit up in the darker black area. This add a kind of tension to the front cover, an element of suspense and mystery. Because of the effect, the person viewing the cover can feel as though the singer really is “Playing in the Shadows”.

medium close-up is used in image to show emotion on the singer’s face; with a highly stern and focused look we are able to see a type of emotionless expression on his face, as if we are seeing two sides of him because of the fact that his face is separated in two halves by the shadows and the background.

How the shadow and the backgrounds contrast with each other very effectively is quite noticeable.

Upon analysing CD covers to appeal to the mainstream audience within the pop genre, we have decided to analyse CD covers from different genres that wouldn’t appeal to people who listened to pop, and to see what to avoid. This CD cover is obviously from a much grittier side of the ‘Rock’ genre, and that can instantly be seen in several ways:

The title “Highway To Hell” (as Hell is usually stereotypically associated with Rock), the band’s long hair and choice of clothing, which is stereotypically associated with people who listen to this type of music, and the Devil’s tail and horns connected to the man at the front, which relates to the title of the album.

Even though the background can’t be seen to well, it also appeals itself to the imagery used, as from the bottom of the image an ominous red glow can be seen, maybe implying the fact that they are on their way to Hell, like the album name suggests. The entire theme of the album cover relates to the genre through the use of imagery and colour palettes, thinking of theme of Hell and the Devil.

The cinematography used relates to the genre too, as close-ups aren’t used and instead mid shots are instead. It's not about image in this particular genre, and so this is why this particular type of framing is used.