Album Adverts in Magazines

JANELLE MONAE

What information needs to be on the advert?

You need to be able to derive something about the artist from it. Most adverts use an image of the artist so that you can see what they look like/how they present themselves and therefore get an idea of what the music will sound like. 

How does the design appeal to the audience?

The design appeals to the audience because it looks quite glamorous and exciting. You can tell that the music will be quite upbeat and fun to listen to because of the styling and bright colours, but may also have an interesting/intellectual edge.

What are the connotations of the design and how do they link to the artist and genre?

The design is very interesting as it is quite politically suggestive -  a group of black women are posing in 1960s outfits – they would have been the most underrepresented and oppressed group of people at the time.

PJ HARVEY

What information needs to be on the advert?

This advert does not include anything like the artists face or much about the album – this is probably because PJ Harvey is already a well established artist. It does however include the name of the album and release date, along with reviews from music magazines.

How does the design appeal to the audience?

the design doesn't give very much away - creates mystery that makes the audience want to buy the album and find out what its about/if it's different to older work.

What are the connotations of the design and how do they link to the artist and genre?

THE CLASH

What information needs to be on the advert?

from this advert (32 iconic tracks..."you can see that this is a "greatest hits" album.

like the PJ Harvey poster,this album doesn't really include an image of any of the artists, but again this is a very well established band, so the advertising can afford to be more conceptual.

How does the design appeal to the audience?

What are the connotations of the design and how do they link to the artist and genre?

The Clash are a punk band and this is emphasised by the design of the poster (kicking stuff).

How do these texts synergise with each other?

both the PJ Harvey poster and The Clash poster don't include actual images of the artist because everyone already knows who they are so they have more freedom with advertising. Janelle Monae, however, is a relatively unknown, newly-emerging artist and so it was a good idea for her to put an image of herself on the album and the poster to make her more identifiable and also attract new listeners.