The purpose of a magazine advert is to promote an artists album, create more marketing and awareness. These adverts help the artist to reach a wider audience and get support from other companies to push sales. The two magazine adverts I will be analysing are Ed Sheeran's and Lana Del Rey's. These two were chosen because I feel that they are very similar as both adverts are used to promote the artist's upcoming album and both artists have a similar music vision, same genre. So I felt that these magazine adverts will really support me and give me conventional ideas when developing a magazine advert for Ed Sheeran.
In this advert Ed Sheeran is represented as a laid back guy. This can be shown through the mise-en-scene, costume and his hair. He is wearing very casual clothing and has unkept looking hair. This portrays Ed Sheeran as a very easy going guy which will make him very relatable to his target audience. This follows the conventions of an indie artist as they tend to look very placid and plain in appearance. In order to keep a non-materialistic look to the audience. Ed Sheeran does not stand out as an artist in this advert and looks almost shy and meek. Through his body language it looks as if he's hiding behind his face. By his facial expressions he looks at peace and happy, giving a smile to the audience. This shows that he is a very self-effacing artist with a good spirit. This will allow the audience to be led to buy his music as they would identify Ed as a happy person which may make them feel obliged to buy his album.
The typography in this magazine advert puts Ed Sheeran's name in larger letters above the other text. This shows the audience that Ed Sheeran as a brand is important and should be memorable. However, by Ed Sheeran's name not being in large lettering can also relate to the idea of Ed being self-effacing. Not wanting to draw too much attention to himelf, but to his music. This will attract Ed fans and attract the right target audience. Which could potentially increase sales for Ed Sheeran's current song. The font of the writing used on the cover looks very natural and looks like the typewriter font. This can display Ed's rawness and realness. This relates to Ed Sheeran's music style, as his music is very real and raw. It conveys this to the audience, allowing them to believe that Ed is genuine and authentic.
The main colour that stands out on the advert is the colour orange. The colour orange radiates warmth and happiness. The color psychology of orange is optimistic and uplifting, rejuvenating our spirit. This portrays Ed as a very warm kind person, who has an uplifting spirit in his music and personality. Orange is also very bright and bold, which stands out to the audience. This colour was a very good one to use for Ed. It creates and draws attention to him as an artist. Also, the colour contrasts with his bright, ginger hair. Which is a key part of Ed's appearance. Allowing the visuals and colours to blend together nicely. Orange was also the theme to Ed's first EP 'The orange room'. The plus album cover had a theme of orange, we can identify that the plus logo on the advert connect with the design used for his album. This will allow theaudiece to immediatley recognise that the advert is for his album before reading further. Further research shows that Ed Sheeran's favourite colour is orange, so this may be why this colour was chosen.
The design of this advert is very simple but bold and effective. A quote is given, explaining why the audience should buy his album. Giving positive feedack to persuade the audience, the quote is kept short and simple. All of text is alligned in the centre, showing that the information on the advert is the key focus of the advert. The advert design looks profesional but amateur at the same time, probably to give a raw effect that indie artists like to give off. As you can identify that the paper is most likely matt and grainy, while the detailing of the graphics and text are quite scruffy when zoomed up on. This again, gives Ed Sheeran a laidback appearance, which relates to the Indie genre.
In this advert it can be identified that Lana's image is the central focus of the advert. By the positioning of the pictures, her being centred in the advert. The postioning of her body and body language/facial expression as she has a serious expression on her face. While standing upright, with her chin tilted upright almost looks like a soldier. This can contrast with her album title 'Born to die' Heightening the meaning of the album title by displaying Lana with the body language for someone going to war. Her serious facial expressions convey her as a serious person, which allows her artistry to be taken more seriously by fans. As most of the advert is taken up by Lana's picture, it keeps alot of attention to her image and style (Taking a twist on the modern day 50s retro look). This allows fans to admire Lana's beauty and style. The conveyance of Lana as serious and bold, can make her an ideal role model for her target audience(mainly young girls). As she looks like a women of power, authority and boldness from her body language.
The font and typography used on this advert has many connotations. Firstly, the title saying Lana Del Rey puts central focus on her name, her identity, making her into brand. Furthermore, the title itself looks very similar to a title of a trendy fashion magazine title. Taking this idea, it could mean that Lana Del Rey is trying to advertise herself and establish a memorable brand through her name and image. The title also uses bold and capitals, again putting the main focus on Lana's name, making it memorable for the audience. So they can spot out Lana's advert from a mile away. The text put around the centre of Lana's chest, shows how much Lana cares about her album. This text is centered around Lana's chest, where the heart is located. This can show that Lana's album is something which is very important to her and from the heart and close to her heart. This can make the album appear to be like a personal gift to her audience, making the music seem more important than just music. The swirly writing detailing the album can display Lana's soft, girly side as the bold lettering is quite boastful and overally confident. The swirly writing can show a different side to Lana's personality. Allowing her audience to understand who Lana really is.
The colours of the advert are mainly pastel and neutral colours displaying Lana as a calm individual. The colour blue and white are the main colours on the advert. These two colours are associate with kindness and peacefulness, the colours of the sky (the sky is used as the background to the advert) which transmits calmness to audience. This then portrays Lana as a calm and soothing person, which is identifiable through her sound and lyrics. The red lipstick can display Lana as feminine but bold, again showing two aspects of her personality. Red is an alarming colour, usually used to show danger, love and strength. To use this colour for her lipstick contrasts with the advert, making her mouth stand out. This could be used to emphasise how her mouth is her talent(singing) and how her mouth carried love, danger and strength. To conclude, this research has allowed me to understand what is conventional for an advert in the indie genre and what effectively appeals to the audience. It will help me to be knowledgable of what elements are put on an advert for example, the record label, website, album name, positive critic opinions and more. So It will deem successful when it comes to me creating my own advert for my music artist and video.
Artist representation is essential in a music video as it helps the audience build a relationship with the artist. Which will lead to the artist having a brand image and fan base. It is critical to portray a positive image to your audience so you maintain those fans and gain sales which will lead to profitability.
As a group we aim to follow the indie conventions as much as we can. It is very conventional for an indie artist to appear scruffy, unkept and natural looking. So no make up will be added and hair will appear unkept, as this is what appeals to the indie genre. It alows the artist to look very normal and self-effacing. As it will show that the artist is not conceited and looks like a typical person and not a star. Which will make the artist appear relatable and common which will allow the audience to feel like the artist is more like them. The artist will be represented as common to show how the artist is no different to the audience.
Furthermore, the clothing the artist will wear would be simple and plain clothing like a black top, jeans and tatterred shoes. This simplicity will cause the audience to not focus on the artists appeareance but focus on the song itself and its meaning. This gives the artist more depth and focuses more on the artits look rather than material possesions the musician has. The plain clothing will also mean that the artist does not feel that the star is above them in anway and will not idolise them. But get to know them on a person and individual. This is good as it could potentially increase sales as audience will feel like the artist is relatable. Lastly, the artist will appear wearing a cap going on backwards. This is not conventional to the indie genre but is typical in hip hop culture. It will make the audience be represented as cool and hip which will cause the audience to see the artist as a role model and someone of high status. The edginess of an artist appeals to the audience and may even start trends.
Through this costume and hair the audience will feel similar to the artist and see them as relatable and could cause an increase in the artists music sales. It could give the artist the representation of edgy and cool which could make the artist appeal to the audience better and appear as a fashion icon and role model.
The music genre that has been chosen for my music video is indie pop. Indie pop a sub genre of alternative rock which usually features vocals, drums, guitar and bass. I really appreciate this genre as it's alternative, originated in the UK and has unique creative features that are combined into the music. Delivering a very emotional heartfelt song to the audience. I also feel that indie music contains more of the artist's real character, that has not been moulded by the record label/management. Which allows the artist to appear as more real and relatable.
Music analysis
John Mayer - Your body is a wonderland
The target audience in this music video is 18-25. I feel that this is the age range because of the youthful feel to the song. As it talks about a new love this can be identified from where he sing's 'Discover me, discoverin' you' Showing the audience that he's in an exciting fun relationship. I believe the song's target audience are the same as the age range shown in the music video. This video is more relatable to younger people as it talks about a new, exciting love.
Mise-en-scene There are three main scenes and settings shown throughout this music video, which are, the concert, apartment and downtown outdoors. The apartment shows the artists life behind walls which is still very simple and just plain romantic. It gives the artist a warm, soft side. However, when John Mayer and his love interest go downtown to a park. We see John Mayer's exciting, adventurous side - taking photos, exploring town etc. Then lastly from the concerts and live performance it shows John Mayer's talent, fan base and celebrity life, but in a casual way. Overall, the setting's reflect John Mayer's personality and give off a very calm perspective of John. Showing that he's humble, sweet and adventurous.
Apartment, concert (live performance) and outdoor settings
Cinematography
In this music video there are close ups taken of the guitar. These close ups show how important the guitar is for John and the song. And also shows off John's talent as a guitarist. There is also panning of his name, 'John Mayer' this puts more focus on John Mayer and allows his name to stay in the audiences mind and to not be forgotten. Which is great for sales and promoting a fan base. It allow's John Mayer's name to be remembered as a brand rather than just an individual.
A midshot is shown of the two main characters. This puts more emphasis on the relationship that the two of them have. By the positioning of the camera and two of them in the frame. This portrays the couple as equal and as 'one' showing how much they love each other and how close they are. Lastly, there are close ups shown of the love interest's feet and face. This shows how much John Mayer loves this character and that he loves every part of her, from her head to her feet. It also relates to the title of the song being 'your body is a wonderland' Showing that he adores her body and find's beauty in her body and appearance. Furthermore, we can later see panning of where john Mayer strokes her arm. Which shows his affection for her and how much he admires her.
Editing techniques There were not many editing techniques shown in the music video. But a few were bright yellow lighting being shun on the handwritten lyrics. The bright light shining on the lyrics show how important the lyrics are to John and how they are so 'bright' and have so much meaning and power. The flashing yellow light also add warmth to the song.
Another editing technique was a straight cut. The shots transition smoothly and slowly from different scenes. But it add's consistency to the song and gives the audience a very clear understanding and concept of the music video.
Codes and conventions In this music video there are a few codes and conventions that are typically displayed in the indie genre. We can identify the use of a guitar through most of the song. The guitar displays the artists other talents and also helps to build the artists image. The guitar helps to produce a natural sound to the song and making the song more real and romantic. Furthermore, in the indie genre the wardrobe/costume of the artists are very casual. This is sometimes done so that the audience focus more on the artists music rather than a distracting appearance. The causal appearance may have also be done to allow the audience to not focus on their material possessions, but on the message of the song and their musical talents.
Finally, the live performance. Live performances are common to be seen in the indie genre. This adds to the feel of the song, giving it a lively, fun atmosphere. Which will probably make the audience want to go and watch the artist at one of their concerts. Which will help promote the artist and generate sells for the artist. But, live performances are mainly done for the entertainment factor. Which portrays a live, fun atmosphere. Artist representation The artist is represented as a very common individual, who doesn't look like a typical star. But is portrayed as a very casual looking guy who enjoys writing music for his love interest. As we see a close up of lyrics he is writing for this song. Also, his casual appearance is shown through his very basic clothing, plain t-shirt and trousers. Which portrays him as a very typical/average guy. Music video style The style of the music video is very relaxed and peaceful. With the slow song setting the mood for the entire music video, which is a soft, sweet and puts the audience in a light-hearted mood. It also does this through the simplicity of the music video and calmness through John mayer's voice. It really gives a positive mood to the audience making them feel relaxed and at peace. Goodwin's theory By using Goodwin's theory we can identify a relationship between visuals and lyrics, visuals and music and intertextual references. There is a relationship between visuals and lyrics when John sings 'i'll use my hands' at 2.32 we can see John mayer touching the girls hands and arms. This amplifies the lyrics and produces a connection between the two. Giving the audience a visual side to the song and allowing them to see how John treats his love interest, which is by touching her in a sweet and gentle way and not treating her as a sexual object as many other genres tend to do to females.
There is also a relationship between the visuals and music. The pace of the shots moves to the beat of the music, strings plucking on the guitar (From 0.12-0.18). The beat of the song moves to a similar pace of the shots. Which heightens the relationship between the visuals and lyrics and makes it more entertaining and engaging for the audience. Lastly, there is an intertextual reference identified in this music video. Which is the shot of the newspapers. These newspapers show media in music. The positioning of the newspapers in the camera, laying on the floor piled up. Portray the view of media to the artist as irrelevant and not important. Showing that John lives his life by not caring about the media. Which also relates to John being in a very alternative music genre.
Lana Del Rey - Video games
The target audience for this music video is 18-30. I feel that the age range for this music video is older due to the somber tone of the song which is relatable to a more mature audience, who have definitely experienced life in a very negative light. The lyrics also say 'open up a beer' in America you have to be 21 or over to drink alcohol. And 'watching me get undressed' suggests a sexual relationship. From these two quotes we can infer that the target audience are more mature.
Mise-en-scene
Through out the video Lana Del rey is shown on a white or neutral background. With the rest of the video being clips/edited videos combined into her music video, which are set in a range of places. The white background portrays Lana Del Rey as being a level headed, pure person as white signifies purity. It gives the scene a more airy feel to it.
The costume/make-up that Lana Del Rey has on in the music video is very retro, very 60s. This is her style as an artist, combining old with a new twist. We can see this theme by her having a quiff in her hair which was a popular look to have in the 60s. She is also shown by wearing alternative vintage looking clothing (necklace and tshirt). The style that Lana has matches her authentic voice. Her make up is kept natural and allows her to be seen as more honest and real. I feel that honesty is shown throughout the music video, by her staying true to herself and expressing her creativity. Lana del rey insists that her style is not influenced by anyone but her style has a 60s feel. And in this music video she looks alot like Jean Shrimpton.
Lana Del rey white background and Jean Shrimpton
Cinematography
There are many shots used in this music video. Firstly there were many close ups taken of Lana Del Rey's face. As she was a new artist at this time this may have been done to draw attention to her face. And cause the audience to remember who she is and that she is the artist. Due to alot of editing, Lana has very little camera time. So these short close-ups allow her to be remembered by the audience.
I feel that close ups were also used to display Lana's sad emotions. Through her body language and facial expressions we can identify that Lana has a very serious look in her eyes. Giving the song more depth and meaning. As the song is based on an experience of love.
There is the use of establishing shots through the music video so that we can identify where Lana is located. As the location is quite hidden and mysterious. An establishing shot is used here to set her scene and to notify the audience where she is. This location looks very pristine and serene by the house being white but it also looks very drab. Which can be related to how Lana is feeling, the house looks dead, empty and desolate. But this scene also allows the audience to be at peace by the serene quiet environment.
Lastly, a jerky handheld camera is used (3:41-43) to act as If it's Lana walking around the house. This handheld camera shows that Lana is not thinking straight, as she can't walk straight. And let' s the audience know that she's unstable and that she's finding it hard to cope with the situation that she's going through. I think the situation is about a guy who doesn't care for her much - she's trying to get him to love her. Trying to convince him to love her "They say that the world was built for two, Only worth living if somebody is loving you".
Trying to persuade him with perfumes, big kisses, getting undressed, pretending to be a 'bad girl'. But he keeps playing the video games...
She even tries to like the video games too, but I think she knows that the guy doesn't really like her. He is ignoring her.
(The video game could be a reference to something distracting her lover from paying her the attention she craves).
Music video style
Lana Del Rey's music video style has a very cinematic sound and references to various aspects of pop culture in the 50s to 60s. This can be heard at (0:14-0:15, 1:53-55) where the orchestra sound sounds very similar to the opening of a film. And the sound sounds very cinematic. This cinematic sound is produced by using harps, timpani and a certain edge to her voice. Which makes the song into movie music which could be suitable for a Jame's bond type of film. The style of the music video is very cinematic due to Lana Del Rey's contralto vocal range which is captivating and emotive with influences from Frank Sinatra and Amy Winehouse. Her voice produces the style for the music video.
Goodwins theory In this music video we can see a contrast between the music and visuals, visuals and lyrics and can identify that the music video is mainly narrative based.
At 0:15-0:16 we can identify a cartoon of an orchestra. Once this is shown the orchestra (string instruments) from the song start to play. This amplifies the song, making it reflect the cartoon and connect better with the audience. As the video flows better when the music and visuals match. The movement of the cartoon is also at the same pace as the music which allows the audience to feel more entertained by the music video as the song has references to different things at once.
The relationship between the visuals and lyrics are also amplified when Lana Del Rey sings 'They say that the world was built for two' She holds up two fingers to the camera. This really simplifies the meaning of the song and shows the audience that the guy she loves is no longer with her. As she has to use her fingers to represent them as a couple. It also shows how simple she views love as she uses her fingers to represent them.
Lana Del Rey holding up two fingers
Artist representation Lana Del Rey is represented as a very honest and true person. This is shown through the rawness of her lyrics - 'It's you, it's you, it's all for Everything I do I tell you all the timeHeaven is a place on earth with you'. It shows the audience that she has experienced love like them, despite her stardom and fame she's going through a difficult relationship. This makes her more relatable to the audience, due to relationship experiences. These lyrics also show Lana as a person who is very loving and very in love with a man who she almost idolises, by saying everything I do it's all for you, portraying Lana as somewhat hypnotised. This gives her fans an insight of the type of love life she has/had and allows the audience to feel more connected with the artist, as they will feel like Lana is open and doesn't hide her true self from them. From further research I found out tha this music video was infact made by Lana Del Rey from windows movie maker. When Lana initially first started making her music videos they were collections of vintage clips of exotic places that Lana Del Rey found beautiful and inspiring. Then started editing those clips into her own music videos. She mixed in old and new shots and sliced in shots of herself in her music video. This represents her as a lover of the old and the new stuff. Lana Del Rey created this video based on what she loved, colour schemes, memories and her own intuition. This portrays Lana Del Rey as a true artist as she makes her music videos personal to herself. Not just to the music genre.
Editing techniques
In this music video it is all based on editing, the editing doesn't connect with the meaning of the lyrics too well. But it gives us a range of ideas of what Lana Del Rey does mean and allows us to understand her creativity. Some of the editing used in this music video is fast paced editing, themes - colour change and an old pixelated theme. The rapid editing matches the tempo of the music and the shot changes depending on the beat. The range of fast shots allows the audience to want to continue watching and not miss anything going on in the video. This keeps the audience interested and entertained. It also gives the song more depth as it allow the audience to look deeply in to the fast shots and watch it over and over again to make sure nothing was missed, so they may understand the sincere song more clearly. Secondly, the theme colour changes a few times when there are close ups of Lana Del Rey. This colour change in brightness and saturation shows the change in her mood from happy(bright lighting) to sad (dull lighting). Which can relate to the song showing that she was once happy and now she appears to look disconnected by her ultimate focus being her love interest and trying to get his attention.
Lana Del Rey - Colour theme changes
Lastly, there is editing done in the music video to give it an olden feel to it by the shots being edited to look more grainy. This can be used to portray an old memory that Lana Del Rey is holding, which has significance.By the camera being more low quality it makes the video more relatable to the audience and makes it feel more homemade, which adds to the honesty of the music video.
Grainy shot
Codes and conventions
In this music video there are a lot of conventions used which follow the indie genre such as, it being low budget, having a retro look, being mainly narrative based and many close up shots of the artist. The video is shown to be very low budget, from research Lana Del Rey began releasing self-made videos featuring noir cinema clips interlaced with her own videos, made on her Apple computer, in mid-2010. She posted Video Games to her Youtube channel on August 19, 2011. The song and video immediately began to garner attention from music critics, who hailed the fragility of her voice and the songs production, and she was signed to Stranger Records the next month. Low-quality videos/access to cheap or no cost settings are often shown in the indie genre to display mystery to the audience. As it creates a sense of realism for the audience. Lana Del Rey also has a very retro look in this music video. With her hair styled like she were in the 60s with a retro, authentic wardrobe. Portrays Lana as a unique person who has a love for the past. It also gives her individuality as an artist. But shows how her style dwells on the past. This is common to be seen in the indie genre as artists want to differentiate themselves.
Lastly, Indie music videos tend to be narrative based. As it helps to tell story to the audience, a story which they can relate to. The narrative usually links in well with the lyrics to leave room for the imagination. Lana Del Rey does this in her music video by telling a story about her lover which leaves the audience's minds running wild, trying to figure out the storyline. It is also said that narrative based music videos tend to capture the audiences attention better and become more of a memorable music video. Compared to a live performance with very quick meaningless shots. To summarise, this research will be vey beneficial when it comes to planning my own music video. As it has allowed me to find out what conventions are typically popular and identfified in the music genre. And has allowed me to understand the impact these conventions have on the audience. I've gained understanding of what different camera shots, editing & mise-en-scene can simply do to the audience when used for an indie song. It will help me create more ideas and inspire me on how to deliver the song 'runaway - by Ed Sheeran' to my audience in a visual, memorable and entertaining way.
A record label is a brand or trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos.
A major record label is a large company within the music industry that may also own smaller record labels. The four major labels in the UK are Sony Music Entertainment UK, The EMI Group, Warner Music group and Universal Music Group. I will be researching Sony music and EMI. Sony music Entertainment UK manage artists such as, Ke$ha, MGMT, The Tings Tings and The Clash. Sony music entertainment UK own Columbia Records, UKRCA Label Group, Sony CMG, Syco Music, Phonogenic Records and SYRA Music Group. Sony music UK is owned by Sony which also has sony entertainment television UK such as, Flava, scuzz, true movie channels and more.
The EMI Group (Electric & Musical Industries Ltd.) is a British music company. It is the fourth largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry, making it one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group have artists such as, Spice Girls, Kate Bush, The Beatles and Whitesnake. Its record labels included EMI Records, Parlophone, Virgin Records, and Capitol Records. EMI Group also had a major publishing arm, EMI Music Publishing—also based in London with offices globally.
Independent record labels
Music labels that operate one or a few music labels
Independent labels can be just as successful but operate from a smaller company base. They are traditionally known as offering
more ‘organic’ music rather than manufactured mainstream.
Some independent labels XL recordings and Young Turks
are a few examples of independent record labels in the UK. XL
recordings include artists such as, Tyler the creator, M.I.A and
Adele. The label releases albums worldwide and operates across a
range of genres.
Young Turks is another independent music label is a British independent record label which was launched by Caius Pawson as an imprint of XL Recordings in 2006. It has grown into a successful and influential independent label that operates across a range of genres. The label's current roster includes The xx, FKA twigs, SBTRKT, Sampha, Jamie xx and Koreless.
Music Entertainment UK, The EMI Group, Warner Music group and Universal Music Group are the four companies that dominate the the music industry. I think there are not many disadvantages with there domination of the music market, as all those four major labels are all very different already and aimed at a mass market.
For example, the universal music group owned 25.5% of the market in 2005 and in 2013 now owns 36.7% of physical and digital music revenue. UMG also sells more music than any other major label. This shows the growth of UMG this could perhaps cause UMG to have more influence over music tastes and opinions. However, UMG have a range of different music styles from there range of record labels for example, Universal, Island, Interscope and much more. Which are all very different labels which have different genres of music. So it is hard to say that a company like UMG would influence public music tastes and opinions. But It could mean that independent music labels find it harder to compete with them as they are taking a majority of there potential consumers more effectively. As these four major labels can compete due to there large profits, workforce and money to go towards marketing etc. This would mean that independents can only really target a niche market and become more unique and different to gain customers.
In my opinion, I feel that these companies are not producing any harm as they have music in a variety of genres so they are catering to everyones needs on a whole. And Indie labels are also recieving credit for there work being different to the ones of major labels. However, I do believe that this may cause major record label artists to recieve more credit for there work than indie label artists. But someone from an indie label can be just as successful as an artist from a major label. It just depends on how well the artist appeals to the audience and the support the label gives them.
From a music point of view, this market share of the 4 major companies and independent labels allow the audience to be satisfied as these big labels make something for everyone and the indie labels target specific music needs so everyone remains happy. But, it may be hard for a music company to start up and be in the mass market industry as the demand is already being met and they wouldn't be able to compete with them, due to these four companies having much higher profits and a already developed brand image. For example, Warner Music Group made $2.97 billion in 2013.
