Magazine Advert Deconstruction

Magazine Advert Deconstruction

Typical features of magazine adverts-

· Name of band shown in large font that is usually already associated with the band.

· Image of band, album cover, or symbol that relates to the artist/s and the advertisement being shown.

· Date which the album or single is coming out to the public- shown in bigger font than the other information so it is clearly given.

· Website to bands official site, also Facebook page, Twitter page etc.

· Older adverts such as ‘Rolling Stones’, ‘Beatles’ and “Bob Dylan’ do not have a direct web link to the bands website as the Internet is likely not to have been created or as popular when the advertisement was made.

· Colour scheme that is thorough in magazine ad, album cover, CD cover, and sometimes merchandise.

· A lot of the artists have large corporations who sponsor their work, as well as music producers who help to create the album. Symbols or logos for these companies are shown at the bottom of the advertisements in order to promote them or show the audience that they represent this particular artist.

· The magazine ads also have symbols of the stockists where the albums are available to buy or example HMV stores.

· A lot of modern artists have tour dates for themselves at the bottom of album advertisements, in order to promote these events and inform readers on where and when they can see the artist. They often also say which dates are already sold out which shows the adverts are as up to date as possible.

Jay-Z The Blueprint 3

The images used in the cover of Jay-Z’s “The Blueprint 3” cover have several different layers. The background layer shows a corner of a room with white walls so that whatever is in front of it will stand out to the audience. In the middle layer we see a lot of musical instruments such as guitars, bass’s, a drum kit, keyboards, trombones, trumpets and amplifiers. They are all pushed together into the centre of the frame and have a smooth outline all the way around them as though they have been rearranged so that no instruments are sticking up in the air etc. In the foreground of the images there are 3 horizontal stripes displayed which are a blood red colour and totally contrast the images seen so far. The 3 bars of colour represent the number 3 in the album title “The Blueprint 3”, and the bluey-grey haze across the whole of the album cover could signify the “Blueprint” which as known is part of a technical or architectural drawing of a building. The text shown on this advertisement is very limited (17 words) and all we really need to know when looking at it is who the artist is and this is displayed very clearly and boldly in thick black font at the top centre of the page. Other items such as the web address is in very small text at the bottom of the page as it will need to be known by the audience but is not necessary when the audience is looking at the advert. The text contrasts the images as it is a black professional font and the image is white and red in colour and looks thrown together. The band/artist is heavily represented in this advertisement by a number of factors, the “JAY-Z” text which is sort of the artist logo as it is well known and recognized throughout the world. Also the 3 horizontal stripes which represent the album cover, the artist, the meaning of the stripes in Chinese which has been purposefully done, and could also be used on official merchandise as a selling point for Jay-Z clothing etc. The small logo shown at the bottom of the page is also advertising the music producers on behalf of the artist. This type of album looks to be produced by an experienced musician and team of producers rather than a debut record label or musician that tend to go for over the top album covers so that they stand out (colours, images, and a large image of the artist to introduce them). Livenation, the record label for “The Blueprint 3” is a mainstream organization similar to Red One, Rokstarr and Polydor who all work with high rising song artists in the UK, USA, Europe and Asia. Due to the support from a mainstream record label the album itself as well as Jay-Z the artist are given expectations as to what the songs themselves will be like and the majority of the time the album will make it to number 1 in the UK/USA charts. The magazine advert does not automatically indicate who the purpose audience is for this album, however a previous Jay-Z fan, or a lover of rap is bound to be drawn to this type of new album on the high street. Instruments shown in the image could also draw in music lovers or instrument players into listening to the tracks.