RESEARCH - Research for the Advert

Researching Adverts for Albums

Magazine advertisement is very effective when promoting an album for an artist. Our group researched some Album adverts in magazines before we embarked on making out own. I found that it was mainly Music Magazines that supplied these adverts obviously as the target audience for these magazines are music lovers who are more likely to see the advert and want to but the album. Adding to this I also found that music magazines of a certain Genre e.g Kerrang magazine that is a rock music magazine feature album adverts of mainly that genre of music as they are the biggest fans. Here are some adverts that I found from Kerrang or Q magazines which are both rock/metal based magazines, and all these adverts of for this type of music. I didn't find many instances of music adverts in many other types of magazine.



1) This Advert uses the image of the album cover (the x-ray) on the advert to make people recognize it. Album Cover: Also it states that the album features the songs "Not meant to be" "bad girlfriend" and "hate my life" these songs have been released and therefore if people like these songs and realise they are on the album they may want to buy the album. It also states on the advert that you can buy this on Amazon for £6.98, which seems to be cheaper than buying it elsewhere which could make it more desirable to some people. It also has on it the band's websites at the bottom, this could be for people to find more about the band, but also on the website Myspace bands upload there music so people can listen to the songs on there and then maybe want to buy the album if they like the music. It also states the album is already out to buy.



2) This second advert takes up a whole page which definitely makes it stand out as it can't be missed when turning the page of the magazine. Also the image on this advert is the album cover which makes it easy to identify. Album Cover:There is a headline at the top which states " An unforgettable album" which makes it stand out. Also the band name is very bold. This advert also states that not only is it released as an album but also as an LP Vinyl and it many other aspects like a dvd also. Also states it is out as Deluxe editions etc. This includes the release date of the album and also includes the website for the band to give them more exposure.




3) This advert states that it is an Acoustic album and uses the album image, the matchstick, on the advert. Album Cover:This advert also contains information of an upcoming tour date as well as the album info. It also includes websites where you can find out more about the band etc. This one also includes a release date of the album and good reviews by radio stations because people might trust these reviews as good judgment.





4) This advertisement is different as it is predominantly advertising a new single released, however on the side it mentions that this song is "taken from the forthcoming album" and so it is suggesting that if you like the song you may want to buy the album.






5) This advert also includes a release date, reviews and websites for the band. It also includes a picture of the album and states it is their 'debut'. Also it states that the album includes a song that has been released.




6) This advert contains the same font that the band name is written in, on the album, to make it more familiar. Album Cover:It also states what songs that the album includes and bonus tracks to help it look more desirable. It also includes promotion websites and it also says it's available at HMV to buy.



7) This advert contains an image on the album and also contains websites where you can find out more about the band. States it's out now and that it can be downloaded and bought on 7" and 12".




8) This advert includes a font that is on the album cover to make it more familiar. Album Cover:

It also includes a good review of the album from NME, which people may take note of as it's associated with music. States that it includes certain songs and has websites for the band.







9) This advert contains the same design as the album cover so they audience can recognize the album when they see it. Album Cover: It contains very good reviews from well known music magazine MOJO, which may mean people would trust it as it's related to music. Contains a release date. It also states that it is a re-release of a previous album as it states it's a "new black version" of the album. Also states it has bonus disks.








10) This advert uses the same font for the band name as is on the album. Album Cover:

It states that a limited edition is available and states the forms it can be bought in, Vinyl or download it. Also mentions a tour that's happening. So it uses the album also to promote the tour as well as the album!




I found during my research for the Magazine Advertisement that:

1) Most of these adverts mention the fact that the CD includes songs that have been released off the album as to say that if you like a released song the person may like the album.

2) It usually also contains a few short reviews by sources such as magazines/newspapers and radio stations, this could be because the audience trust reviews from these sources to say whether the album is worth buying.

3) It usually contains an image of the album cover OR an image from the album cover OR a familiar font from the album cover/well known from the band is used in the advert to familiarize the audience to what it looks like and make it more recognizable so the audience will immediately know the band because they may remember the font or the image on the album. This is a very effect way of promoting the album.

4) Also usually a website or social networking site of the band is included so people can find out more about the band, and also usually on these websites the band put a few songs of theirs up so people can listen for free and then they may buy the album.

5)They are usually simple and not too overcomplicated and can range from being about 10x10cm to a whole a4 page.

6) Usually they state the release date or when it's going to be released

7) Some contain information on where you can get/download the album. And many include what forms the album is sold in (e.g 7" and 12") And some state if you can buy special versions.

8) Some use the advert to promote a tour as well as the album.

We will take all these things into account when making our advert as these things are all good at promoting the band and it's album.

RESEARCH - Research for the CD Album Cover

Looking at existing CD Covers

As we chose to make an album cover as part of the songs release along side our music video we have decided that we should do some research into existing covers of the soft rock/pop genre as we have chosen as this genre of song. In order to make a CD cover that will effectively promote the song and video we are looking at what techniques are used in order to market the artist and their song best.

A lot of CD covers that I have looked at by established artists often include a continuous font across their range of singles or albums that they produce. This could be because it makes the artist more recognizable immediately. I have included a picture of the back of the album as we are also going to make this. both the back and front match as the black and white is continuous, so it gives the same mood. Also the use of black and white is related to emotion. The album artwork does reflect the songs on it as the images are quite emotion evoking due to the expressions of the faces on the covers. They are also very reminiscent of the video's as both of these video's have black and white parts in them so they relate.

I found that some CD artwork relates to the song title. For example this song by Florence and the Machine (which is the band of which we took our song) the album is named "Lungs" and this cover is taking the name of the song literally and translating it onto the cover. The font used to write the bands name has also been used on their album cover. This is useful to us as we would consider using the font on our CD single cover due to it being related to the band. The album cover also uses literal elements, due to the album being named 'Lungs' it also features lungs. These album covers are very colorful which does attract attention. The back of the album also keeps to the same themes as it has lungs on it also. Typical qualities of the backs of albums are often simple and just have track listings and an image on them.

I have also found that animated CD covers are quite effective and are used. This is quite different to other CD artwork I have seen but this could be beneficial due to the fact that it stands out as it is like no others. These are both singles from the singer Kate Nash which also use the same font on both singles to show consistency. Also her album 'Made of Bricks' contains an animated element and looks like it has been put together with editing software on a computer and also the picture of the house relates to the album title rreferring to the bricks. As I own this album I have also noticed that usually the album artwork fits with the songs on the album, for example the songs on her album are quite fun which fits with the album cover, which also fits with the Beyonce cover as many of the songs are sad and slow songs which fits with the somber tone of the black and white cover.





Here is another that i have looked at. This album cover by the artist Lily Allen is also very edited like many others are. I found found that the album covers often do feature the artist which is usually quite common. This album cover is very animated and contains very fun elements to it. by looking at this album cover you could probably tell that this album is going to be a quite upbeat one. Even the fonts of the name and title of the album seem very fun. As I own this album I know that some of the pictures on the front relate to the songs for example the police helmet and the bike are mentioned in one of the songs. This album cover is very effective when creating a mood.








Another album cover that I looked at is 'Spirit' by Leona Lewis. As this is a close-up of the artists face it can be seen as quite an emotional front cover. This is quite typical of this sort of music as it reflects what music is on the album. This is quite a simple album cover as it does not use animations just a simple picture of the artist which helps market the artist more as it helps them because more familiarized. Her facial expression I believe is the key aspect of this album cover as it helps portray emotions.







Another album cover I looked at is 'Riot' by Paramore. This album cover does not feature the artist. It stands out quite a lot as it's a very different album cover to others that are usually seen. The use of the color orange makes the album title stand out. It can be seen that this album cover reflects the music as the genre of music is rock and it's quite fast paces music so suits the music rather than having the artist on the front cover like on Leona Lewis's album.









This is an album I looked at by the artist 'Taylor Swift'. As the album is "soft pop" music, the album cover fits this very well as it shows a very feminine, soft cover that fits the mood of the music on the album. The picture is very simply just of her looking nice and the facial expression shows emotion. The font is also very soft and matches the picture. The back of this album is consistent with the front as it album has a similar font as was on the font

This is the album cover for "Three Words" by Cheryl Cole. As the album is quite emotional the use of a black and white image is a good choice. In this picture she looks very feminine due to the flowers and make-up which reflects stereotypical representations of women. The font of the title is a good choice as it fits with the image as it's a soft font. The back of the album fits well with the front as it also uses black and white. The simplicity works really well as the message is clear, and the genre of the album is established very well just by looking at the cover and image.

This album "19" by Adele is also a very simple album cover. The lighting is very effective in this. The front and the back of this album work very well together as the theme is continuous, and simple which works very well as the genre is established very quickly.










Throughout this research I did find that the album covers often are a reflection of the music that they contain. For example Leona Lewis's album 'Spirit' is mostly soft love songs which she is known for. The album cover is a close up of her face and is quite emotional. Also Beyonce's album "I Am Sasha Fierce" is mostly containing soulful love songs and the black and white front cover evokes the emotions of the songs. Usually the genres with are slow and love song type genres, the covers are usually very simple as it's easy to evoke emotions with just one striking image. However, both Kate Nash and Lily Allen's albums both have quite fun/Colorful animated front covers, with more going on in them, which reflects that the songs on the albums are very upbeat pop sounding tracks. My group will take all this into account and as the song we have chosen is quote an emotional love song we will make sure the front cover of our album reflects this and maybe use a quite emotion evoking images. The backs of the albums are very consistent with the front as they are usually using the same colour schemes as the font so they fit together well. All of the back of albums I've seen have had the track listing for the album, and so we are going to follow this convention. As for the inside cover, these are always usually consistent with the front, usually displaying a photo related to the band/a photo of the band, so we will comply with this also.

RESEARCH - Research into existing music video's

CONDUCING RESEARCH INTO EXISTING MUSIC VIDEOS BEFORE THE MAIN TASK.

Before starting this task we have decided to do much research into existing music videos to get ideas and inspiration for our own and to help us choose a song. Our group have made a list of some artists and songs that are of each different genre and have all looked at these music video's. We will then write about what we think of each one and discuss our findings together. I am going to do research into whether music videos from a certain genre contain similar aspects and the differences between music videos from different genres of music. Also I did some research into conventions in music videos. I will researched the narratives in music videos.


First of all I am going to do research into music video's from the genre of 'Rock'.

These are a few shots from the song That Golden Rule by the band Biffy Clyro who's genre of music is heavy rock music. I found that this music video is mainly a performance based video which mainly shows the band performing with their instruments. I also found that lighting and location in this music video are used effectively in determining much of the emotion/feeling. This song is a very fast paced song and the fast editing and range of camera shows compliment this also. There are a lot of different shots and they usually focus on the band as a whole and mainly the front-man.

Here are a few shots from the music video of the song The Pretender by the Foo Fighters. This music video is mainly a performance based video as is the one above. However a little bit of a narrative is added in the form of the riot police throughout the performance. I believe that the location adds to the feeling in this music video. As you can see from these shots there is a wide range of shot choices from extreme close-ups to long shots which change very rapidly and go with the fast-paced beat of the song.

I found during my research of the above songs and other research that in a lot of fast paced and upbeat Rock music video's where the artist's are commonly bands that consist of people that play Drums, Guitars and Bass guitars often have scenes in there music video where they are playing there instruments along to the song. If there is a story-line in the music video's they are usually intertwined with a performance from the band. The editing of these music video's are usually very fast paced and match the song and it's tempo. The band's usually appear in the video playing their own instruments, this could be to show that they are the creators of the music and the main focus.There are usually elements such as location that add to the emotion/passion of the performance.

Target Audience - The target audience for rock videos could be anyone! As they all contain such diverse ideas in each and every video, almost anyone could like them. However, they are probably tailored more towards an older teenage audience, as children don't often like this genre of music and are more into softer pop sounds.

Next I did research into dance music video's:

Here are some shots from the music video from Call On Me by Eric Pridz. This video is basically just a choreographed dance. It has representations of females as being "sexy" due to the dance routine. The dance routine fits with the upbeat song and there are a variety of camera shots used and the editing is very fast and the camera movement is very fast also.

Here are some shots from the music video of the song Raindrops by Sash ft. Stunt. This is a typical dance song and is set in a club which is a typical location this song would be played in. There are shots of a DJ playing and shots of people dancing. However there is a performance element intertwined within this video as there are individual shots of the singer in a different location added in which shows 2 different locations. Also there is a storyline in the video which is the boy meeting the girl. The camera shots are varied and it switches between two different locations here.

During this research and others mainly what I found was a very stereotypical view of women, as a lot of dance music contained women dressed inappropriately dancing. As the music is very upbeat and fast paced, the video's often reflect this by having very fast editing and the lighting it usually very intense (e.g strobe lighting) many dance music video's are set in locations like nightclubs/beaches/parties/dance halls as this reflects where the music is usually played and heard and what sort of audience it attracts, which is usually young adults (18-30 year old) who go out and listen to this music (clubbing etc). There are usually dancers in the video dancing in rhythm to the song, it is usually choreographed, making it look quite professional, and people could learn the dance moves and relate them to the song. Usually there is not a story line to the music video, it's just performance (dancing) and they are usually attractive men and women who dance, who wear bright revealing articles of clothing. They usually do not feature the artist per se as most of the time they mix the track but do not sing on it and aren't the main focus of the video's.

Target Audience - Usually the target audience for Dance Music are older teens as they would be the ones going to clubs and dancing to this sort of music. The videos are often more tailored towards this age as they usually have club scenes in them.

Next I have looked at typical love songs usually in the genre of pop or soft rock:

This is the video for "Decode" by "Paramore" who are a rock band, but this is a softer song of theirs that is above love. The location in this video is very good at creating emotion. The performance being intertwined is a good method. It doesn't really tell much of a story, but it does evoke emotions.

Here are a few shots from the song Warwick Avenue by Duffy. I found this to be very unusual but very effective in portraying the emotion of the song. This music video is just ONE continuous shot and it does not change. I believe this helps with the emotion of the song as it focuses on her face as she sings like song. This is a very simple music video as it is as though she is telling a story. It can be seen that she is portraying a stereotypical view of an "emotional female" as she is crying about a relationship. As this is a gentle slow paced song the fact there there isn't loads of different shots and fast editing adds to the emotion of the song. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhZ5-L9znt8)

Here are some shots from the music video of the song Run by Leona Lewis. This music video is very good at portraying emotions as the location helps with this, by using the forest and also the view of the sky. A variety of shots are used and a lot of close ups of her face to show the emotion. This is also a very simple idea as a music video and it relates to the song as she starts running and the song is called Run. Slow motion is used to capture the movement but in a gentle way. Also fades are used to soften the shots which gives it a graceful feel. There is still a performance element to this song as she is singing along during the video but I believe that the video helps exaggerate the emotion of the lyrics. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0rjfGvwMdE)

Here is the video from the song Break Even by The Script. This video has 2 elements to it as there are 2 locations, one is the performance by the band and the other is a storyline going on between a man and a woman which are both unconnected. I think the use of black&white is very good in showing emotion. The story going on follows the song throughout.

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrJE7jj5Yv0)

Here are some shots from the video of Only Time by Enya. I think this video is very powerful in showing emotion as the whole video is in slow motion. I think that the slow motion effect goes very well with gentle songs as it compliments the peacefulness. Also one of the shots is a layered shot of 2 different pictures; a flower and a close-up of a face which i believe is a very beautiful shot. This video is filmed in different locations and i like this idea. At the time is about time this is incorporated in the video in the form of a giant hourglass and the narrative of this video is that we is walking through time showed by the different seasons. Many of the shots fade into eachother instead of just cutting to the next shot to give it a elegant gentle feel. There is also an element of performance in this video as she is singing the lyrics. (view the video on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jV-R5B9OisA&feature=related)

What I found was that it was a performance that usually evokes emotion or it was a video with a storyline based around the issue in the song e.g love. The editing is not usually as fast paced as rock songs are, as it depicts the emotion of the song and helps towards these emotions. There are usually close-up shots of faces to show emotion as this seems to be the main focus of the videos if they are about subjects like love which slow songs usually are about. If there is a story it usually could focus around one person/ a couple and the singer is usually singing along to the song during or along side the story as it goes on. I also found that the stereotype of the "emotional female" is present in many of these music video's as it shows them upset/emotional or crying like in the Duffy video. However like in most other music video's a variety of shot types are used and different types of editing are used.

Target Audience - The target audience for this sort of music, I feel would be children and teenagers. It could be seen that it's mainly girls that like soft love songs as they relate more towards the song. The videos are often liked by females as usually they contain emotion which females are often stereotypically related to.

Next I looked at music video's from typical pop songs:

This is a few shots from the music video of the song Biology from Girls Aloud. This music video consists of the girls from the band singing the lyrics while dancing to a choreographed routine. The clothes that the girls are wearing (e.g the pink dresses) are stereotypical "girly" clothes. There is no storyline to this music video it is simply a performance.

Here are a few shows from the music video Buttons by the Pussycat Dolls. This is very similar to the above video in the sense that it is a performance video and is of the girls in the band doing a choreographed dance routine. The use of mise-en-scene e.g the chair and the clothing adds to the stereotypical view of females being "sexy".

Here are some shots from the music video of Get Sexy by the Sugababes. The title and lyrics of the song are obviously very relevant to the music video. Like the previous 2 also this is purely a video of the girls from the band singing and dancing to the song which follows conventions of a "sexy" female in revealing outfits etc.There is no real storyline to this video it's a performance mostly. There are many sexual stereotypes of women shown here, especially when she's in the cage which suggests "females as objects".

What I found when looking at these video's and other pop music video's there is usually a stereotypical view of women in many of these pop song music video's portrayed through their actions like dancing and the mise-en-scene such as clothing and also movement. I also found that as these are fast paced pop songs which a fast beat, the editing and camera movement is usually fast and fits with the choreography of the dancers etc. There is also a variety of shots but mainly they are quite long shots as to get shots of the dance routines being performed. These are mostly performance video's and can have elements of a narrative in them throughout but mainly focus of the band/singer.

Target Audience - Target audiences for this type of music are mainly girls as they often idolize the female band members. However, males may appreciate the videos more than females would!

Next I looked at what different narratives the music videos contained.

Story Music Videos

Many music video's incorporate some sort of story line in with the song which is individually different and usually matches the song lyrics and tells the story of the song.

This song Waking Up In Vegas by Katy Perry, is obviously, a song about Las Vegas, and as this story board shows, the music video was shot to look like it was taking place there and follows the song well incorporating the lyrics into the video. This video is very obvious to the song and as well as the singer singing along to the song there is a narrative to the story. For example when she sings "did we get hitched last night?" it goes to a scene where they are getting married. So the music video is very literal to the song.

Another example of a video with a storyline is this song by Taylor Swift called Love Story. In the song lyrics it refers to Romeo and Juliet and as the mise-en-scene such as the costumes etc show the music video was meant to be in this era. This is also very literal as it very obviously shows a love story between two people.

Only Performance

However I also found that music video's don't always have to be stories, they can also just be a straight forward performance video of the band playing the song.

An example of this is Charmer by Kings Of Leon. All this video is, is a performance from the band. To make it more interesting however a range of camera shots/lighting etc are used. But essentially this type of video has no storyline.

I also found that the video can sometimes be no reflection on the song, and can be completely random or even sometimes has a comedic effect.

For example the video of OK Go with Here It Goes Again has a comedic effect to it and it very effective as a music video even though it has no narrative, but has a performance effect to it. The music video has no reflection on the lyrics but this still makes an effective music video due to it's humor and fun-like qualities.

Overall I found that even though some characteristics are present in music video's of the same genre, it is hard to categorize them as they can be absolutely anything, and in a way there are no rules and conventions to a music video! Most music video's however focus around one idea or inspiration (which is usually tailored to fit the pace, lyrics, emotions and genre of the song) and can be filmed in any way at all! For example the song Dog Days by Florence and the Machine was filmed using a simple handheld camera (as below) (view the video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0ZPTFfpO40)

and also the song Just a Day by Feeder ( view the video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGrUVHqt2mE) is many different clips of people singing along to the song edited together. However I did find that representations are quite strong and similar to those seen in films/on TV. Especially in dance music/pop video's, especially of females. A lot of these music video contain idea's of women being "sexy" and also if they are love songs they can show a women being "emotional" so I do believe that in ways there are conventions used in music video's to portray certain stereotypes. It can be said that music video's are a very postmodern form of media due to the way that they incorporate many different elements into them. For example the song Fire by Kasabian includes shots that are meant to look like they were filmed on a CCTV camera (shown below)

Music videos that include stories can sometimes be made to look like scene's out of a film etc. I believe music video's to be a very creative form of video as ideas used can be anything.