This is an advertisement for Florence and the Machine's album 'Lungs.' Normally, adverts for a band's album features the cover of the album as the main image for the advertisement, this is so the audience knows what they're looking out for when they go to buy the album. However, this doesn't, although it does have their logo of lungs as the main image. The fans of Florence and the Machine will be able to recognise this straight away and know who this advertisement is for/what it's for without even reading any of the infomation.
The advert also shows the bands name written at the top for people who perhaps aren't fans, so they can realise who this advert is about. "Florence and the Machine" is written in the typical font they use for all of their album covers/images etc. Again, this is making this logo memorable for the audience, and as a result they'd associate that type of font with Florence and the Machine. All adverts will feature the bands/artists name, usually at the top in a large size, so people instantly know who this advert is about.
Towards the bottom is all the information telling the audience about what this advert is about. This font is usually much smaller, like it is in this particular advert. Although the information is important, it's not what draws the audience to read the advert- it's usually the image/name of the band that draws them in to it. Therefore, this bit can be written in much smaller text and doesn't have to be the same font as the bands name.
The overall image is quite dull (i.e. there isn't much colour), but this reflects the indie-pop genre. This magazine advert is aimed, first and foremost, towards Florence and the Machine's fan-base, which is very large and established. Therefore, it doesn't need to be overly bright, showing images of the band themselves or have lots of text telling the reader all about it, because their fan base will be familiar with Florence and the Machine's image. However, there is a need for the bands name and some information about what they're selling for those who aren't fans and who may be intrigued by the advert.
Kasabian: Empire album advert:
This magazine advert is for Kasabian's "Empire" album. Typically, the large image on the advert is the same image that is used for the album cover. This is a typical feature of magazine adverts, as it helps not only the fans, but those who aren't fans of Kasabian to know what the album cover looks like, so they know what they're looking for when they go out to buy it.
The advert also features the band's logo. 'Kasabian' is written in the same font that is on their album and all of their other albums. Again, this makes their logo memorable. The logo is very prominant and takes up the middle half of the image, this is to make sure that the reader sees this straight away, making them aware of who the advert is about.
It also uses their typical colour scheme. Kasabian are known for using mainly black and red on their images, album covers, videos etc, and this again coinsides with this common convention of not only the bands image, but the image of magazine adverts, as they try and show as much of the bands image as possible to make the reader aware, again, of who this advert is for.
Like the first image I looked at, the information on the album is very small and minimal. It has two positive quotes of what newspapers have said about it and the sentence: "The new album out now" is written in much larger font than the other information at the bottom. All this is to attract the audience into going to buy it, as they're much more likely to get something that has good reviews and something that's out right now, before they miss it etc.
Codes and conventions:
Magazine adverts can either be a full sized page, or a half page advert. Many well known indie-pop bands/artists would get a full page magazine advert, mostly because they or their record company could afford to do so. The two groups I looked at above have a lot of money from being around a while and being very popular with niche and mainstream audiences, which is why their adverts took up a full page. However, if they weren't popular or were signed to an unknown indie label, they'd probably only be able to afford a half page.
This information is taken from http://www.bauermedia.co.uk/ratecard showing just how much it would cost to advertise in any of these music magazines. It's very expensive for a full-page advertising slot, which is why only certain artists/bands could afford it.
They also normally show either the album image on the advert or something associated with them. For example, Kasabian had their album image on their advert, but Florence and the Machine had a logo of theirs on their advert. This image typically takes up the whole of the page and it's the first thing that the reader sees. This is to help the audience know what the band are advertising, and then if they see that image enough time they're able to memorise it and know what they're looking for when they go out to buy it.
Also, normally on magazine adverts, they use very limited, simple or minor sentences, that are usually in declarative or imperative sentence moods. For example, they'll say things like "Out Now!" "Buy it today" etc. They use imperative sentence moods because it's to tell the audience to do something, and declarative moods gives them a statement (like 'out now') to get them to act quickly. The simple and minor sentences is to give the audience the main information like when it's out etc, as to not overpower them with too much information.
Cee Le Green's advert shows a quote written in declarative mood by a respected newspaper; "The greatest male voice in US soul." This shows the audience that this statement isn't just the Sunday Times opinion, it is a fact. It also uses minor and simple sentences to give the information to the audience quickly, and the writing is very limited- only telling the audience what they need to know. It also has "Featuring the No.1 single "Forget You"" written on it, to show the audience that this album features hit singles, which is another common feature of magazine adverts.
They normally never include a price when they're new out, as the advert is to entice the audience into buying the album. This way, the audience don't think about whether they can afford it or not, they just go out to buy it and by that time their mind's set on getting the album regardless of price. Ways to tempt the audience into buying it is by featuring awards the artist has won on it or having a sentence saying what hit singles the album will include etc. Also, the language is usually quite informal, as to make it seem conversational and make it relatable for the reader.
Codes and conventions:
Magazine adverts can either be a full sized page, or a half page advert. Many well known indie-pop bands/artists would get a full page magazine advert, mostly because they or their record company could afford to do so. The two groups I looked at above have a lot of money from being around a while and being very popular with niche and mainstream audiences, which is why their adverts took up a full page. However, if they weren't popular or were signed to an unknown indie label, they'd probably only be able to afford a half page.
They also normally show either the album image on the advert or something associated with them. For example, Kasabian had their album image on their advert, but Florence and the Machine had a logo of theirs on their advert. This image typically takes up the whole of the page and it's the first thing that the reader sees. This is to help the audience know what the band are advertising, and then if they see that image enough time they're able to memorise it and know what they're looking for when they go out to buy it.
The "Empire" album cover features on Kasabian's magazine advert.
Also, normally on magazine adverts, they use very limited, simple or minor sentences, that are usually in declarative or imperative sentence moods. For example, they'll say things like "Out Now!" "Buy it today" etc. They use imperative sentence moods because it's to tell the audience to do something, and declarative moods gives them a statement (like 'out now') to get them to act quickly. The simple and minor sentences is to give the audience the main information like when it's out etc, as to not overpower them with too much information.
Cee Le Green's advert shows a quote written in declarative mood by a respected newspaper; "The greatest male voice in US soul." This shows the audience that this statement isn't just the Sunday Times opinion, it is a fact. It also uses minor and simple sentences to give the information to the audience quickly, and the writing is very limited- only telling the audience what they need to know. It also has "Featuring the No.1 single "Forget You"" written on it, to show the audience that this album features hit singles, which is another common feature of magazine adverts.
They normally never include a price when they're new out, as the advert is to entice the audience into buying the album. This way, the audience don't think about whether they can afford it or not, they just go out to buy it and by that time their mind's set on getting the album regardless of price. Ways to tempt the audience into buying it is by featuring awards the artist has won on it or having a sentence saying what hit singles the album will include etc. Also, the language is usually quite informal, as to make it seem conversational and make it relatable for the reader.
Stevie Wonder's "A Time to Love" advert shows "Featuring the single 'So What the Fuss" written towards the bottom. This was the most successful song from the album, therefore, it's written on the advert to show the audience that this popular song is featured within the album to make people want to go and buy it, even if it's just for that song. Janet Jackson's advert on the other hand, uses the technique of showing her award success- "5-Time Grammy Award Winner and Oscar Nominated" showing the audience that she's a respected and successful artist leading them to be more tempted to buy her album because she's been recognized by award shows like the Oscars etc.
The font on a magazine advert tends to be pretty constant and normally the only text written in different font is the bands/artists name/logo if they have one. The artists name is usually the most prominent text and locates typically towards the top of the page or in the middle as these are the places the audiences eyes go to first. The second biggest text is the name of the album they're advertising. Again, they're placed around the same place as the name of the band- attracting them to it straight away. Generally towards the bottom will be the additional information. This tends to be seen as not as important as the artists name/name of the album and as a result is often written in much smaller font.
Jay-Z and The Verve both have their names written in the largest size and it located near the top or in the middle. The audiences eyes are drawn straight to this first, and this is important so they understand who this advert is about straight away and they wont have to search for a name or guess who it's about. The name of the albums are again written in a fairly large font but are much smaller than the artists name. This doesn't make it less important, but it's needed to establish who this advert is for before the audience begin reading anything else. And again at the bottom is the additional information, like quotes on the album, what record company they belong to, when it's out etc.
What I've learnt:
On the whole, I've discovered that album magazine advertisements are relativity simple. They all have the same or similar conventions- for example, they all feature an image which is normally the album cover image, and this takes up pretty much 100% of the page. When we do our own, we will need to make sure this is a feature in our magazine advert because it's a way to establish the image in the audiences mind. Also, other things that we will definitely need to include is our bands name and the name of the album. These are featured on pretty much every advert, otherwise it would be difficult to distinguish who the advert is for. However, what I have also learnt is that magazine adverts don't have a particular colour scheme. The colour/layout of the album is different each time because it reflects the individual band/artist. Therefore, we are pretty open to do what we want in this respect, and can present our band however we think is best.
Well done - a really useful post!
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