Magazine Anaylisis

This section of my blog is devoted to exploring the range of music adverts being used in the media to help to increase the artsists image and improve the sales of any upcomming music events or album releases



This advert for Wretchrospective meets many of the typical conventions of hip/hop styled adverts due to the use of a large photograpgh of the artist central in the shot which is a advertising ploy to help increase the artist image in the music society.The use of dark colours like black and blue is used alot in the industry mainly due to the lyrics and dark motifs which are normally portrayed in rap and hip/hop songs.Wretchrospective album is aimed at a young target audience who listens to rap and hip/hop,they are generally quite edgey and fashionable and like a range of music styles.





This magazine advert was made for jay-z's advert for Blueprint 3,This advert dosent follow the conventions fo other music magazine adverts.Stereotypically hip hop advberts will feature the main artist central in the shot to help improve the artists image.This type of magazine advert is more like the Indie genre due to its art aspect which is demonstarted by the use of mise en scene like the painted instruments for instance.

•  The font used for presented this album is used in two colours: white and golden yellow. The use of the two colours seem to be of making the words stand out, mainly because each of them get a different attribute. For instance, the golden yellow is used in order to present the artist while the white colour is used to present the content of the artist’s album. The font that is presenting the name of the album is also hand written, which hints us that the album is directed towards a female audience. The rest of the writing seems to be formed by capital letters, which is used to give standard information about the album. In terms of advertising, the advert uses the hit songs as a way to attract customers. As this is a debut album, this element is particularly useful as it promises people the same music sound used for the top hits. Therefore, it announces that the sound would be similar, this way assuring that customers wont be disappointed.
•  The image used is the same one from the packaging of the album. This not only connects the product to the magazine advert but it also makes it more familiar to the viewer. This aspect is very important mostly because this is a debut album and therefore, the customer should know what to look for. In this picture, the artist is shown in a pose that mimics the opening of a window. Thus could be also linked to the fact that it is the first album of the artist, and therefore signifies “an open window” to her success. The fact that she is entirely dressed in black also denotes class and makes her seem more sophisticated and glamorous. The fact that she has her eyes fixed towards who is watching the picture as well as her mouth being opened also makes her seem as if she addresses the viewer, this technique making her connect to her potential listeners/fans.

Inspiration jay-z video

This video here is very similar to the image i am going for,i particually like the picture montage at the start of the video and this is something i would like to be replicated in the start of my video.This music video is also formed in black and white which i feel really works for this type of music video.

LOCATIONS

After anaylisng the stereotypical locations used in current hip/hop and rap music videos i have created a list of locations which i am going to use to create a good representation of this music genre.The locations i would like to use in this music video include:

-Dark woods
Dark Woods arent stereotypically used in this genre of music video,yet i want to use this setting to help it stand out from a conventional music video.

-Urban setting(probably in reading)
Urban settings are very stereotypical of rap/hip hop music videos therefore following these conventions i will have a large proportion of urban scenes helping to reinforce the song and the lyrics.Many scenes that are filmed in these settings are filmed in black and white helping to create a large amount of contrast of tones in the video.

-Roadside setting

Weather conditions

Many stereotypical hip hop music videos are filmed in dark locations mainly to help represent the dark and emotional lyrics which are represented in the song,therefore being i am filming my music video in the darker months weather is not so much of a issue as i am not relying on a sunny day for instance.

Digipaks

DIGIPAKS

In this next section i will be anaylising a range of digipaks to help understand the conventions of current digipaks for my specific genre.I will be anaylisng the text,colors,images(types of shot)and any hidden meanings which the image may provoke.

Lupe Fiasco "Lasers



This album cover is very diffrent to the sterotypical digipak cover due to it not featuring the artists image on the front.Many modern hip/hop artists depend souly on there image and are mainly recognisable by this which is why many hip/hop album covers will feature a large image of the artist on the front.This album cover though is very recognisable and direct by clearly showing what album it is and the artist.The contrast between the black and red helps make the red text stand out on the black background and making it easier to read.This Cover is also very simple in its approach just having text showing who the artist is and the artist .

This album cover is another cover from Lupe Fiasco yet this is following the conventions of a hip/hop album cover a lot closer.I particually like this album cover mainly due to the color combinations used creating a pop art like effect yet still featuring the main artist.The birght colours used in this album covber helps make the artist and the cover stand out which may be not only a marketing technique but to improve the artists image.

Chris Brown 

This Album cover symbolises a very conventional digipak due to the main focus on the artist and therefore helping to reinforce the image of the artist.Chris Brown pictured here is centre in the piece and  is your eye is immediately drawn to him and the bright background with diamonds helping to symbolise a sense of "bling" and wealth which is conventional in the hip/hop genre.From a costume point of view the "clean" look of a smart suit is rarely used which may symbolise how Chris Brown consideres himself different to other artists in this specific genre.



Song Choice

After analysing the genre of hip/hop and rap i have decided that i will use "Superstar" from Lupe Fiasco to create a music video which will fit and follow the conventions of other music videos from this genre.I really like this song and find it very melody dominated which is a key characteristic of hip/hop,i also feel that this song will fit the genre very well and has potential to create a very good music video

"Superstar" Lupe Fiasco Lyrics

[Chorus (Matthew Santos):]
If you are what you say you are, a superstar
Then have no fear, the camera is here
And the microphones
And they wanna know oh oh oh oh (the return)
If you are what you say you are, a superstar
Then have no fear, the crowd is here
And the lights are on
And they wanna show oh oh oh oh, yeah

[Verse 1 – Lupe Fiasco]
Yeah, uh
A fresh cool young Lu'
Tryna catch his microphone check 2, 1, 2
Wanna believe my own hype but it's too untrue
The world brought me to my knees, what have you brung you?
Did you improve on the design? Did you do somethin' new?
Well your name ain't on the guest list, who brung you?
You! The more famous person you come through
And the sexy lady next to you, you come too
And then it hit me
Standin' outside of heaven waitin' for god to come and get me
I'm too uncouth
Unschooled to the rules and too gum shoe
Too much of a new comer and too un-cool
Like Shadow and Lavelle, I battle with it well
Tho I need holiday like lady who sung "Blue"
Go back, whatever you did you undo
Heavy as heaven
The devil on me, two ton's too

[Chorus (Matthew Santos):]
If you are what you say you are, a superstar
Then have no fear, the camera is here
And the microphones
And they wanna' know oh oh oh oh, yeah

[Verse 2 – Lupe Fiasco]
And you better wear your shades
The spotlights here can burn holes through the stage
Down to the basement pass the Indian graves
Where the dinosaurs laid
Then out through China, nearly miss the airliners
Magnified times five, 'less it's pointed at the rhymer
Ricochets off the moon and sets the forest ablaze
Now that's important to say
'cause even with all that most of us don't want it to fade
We want it to braid, meaning we want it to grow
Meaning we want it to stay
Like the Governor called and he told him to Wait
Un-strap him from the chair and put him back in his Cage
The audience ain't fazed
And they ain't gonna clap and they ain't gonna praise
They want everything back that they've paid
'cause they've been waitin' since ten to see the lights get dim

[Chorus (Matthew Santos)]

[Verse 3 – Lupe Fiasco]
So chauffeur chauffeur come and take me away
'cause I've been standin' in this line for like five whole days
Me and security ain't getting' along
And when I got to the front, they told me all of the tickets were gone
So just take me home where the mood is mellow
And the roses are grown, M&M's are yellow
And the light bulbs around my mirror don't flicker
Everybody gets a nice autograph picture
One for you and one for your sister
Who had to work tonight but is an avid listener
Every songs her favorite song and mics don't feedback
All the reviewers say "You need to go and see that"
And everybody claps 'cause everybody is pleased
And then they all take the stage and start performin' for me
Like, ha ha ha ha ha
Ha ha ha ha ha, ha

[Chorus (Matthew Santos):]
If you are what you say you are, a superstar
Then have no fear, the camera's is here
And the microphone's
And they wanna know oh oh oh oh
If you are what you say you are, a superstar
Then have no fear, the crowd is here
And the lights are on
And they wanna show oh oh oh oh, yeah

If you are, what you say you are
Then have no fear

Music Video INSPIRATION

Gym Class Heroes: Stereo Hearts ft. Adam Levine

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3E9Wjbq44E

This music video encompasses many of the ideas which i want to use in the production of my video, I particually like the setting of this video mainly because it fits the conventions of my music genre.This video is also very simplistic in its approach and would be relitavely easy to recreate with a limited budget

Target Audience

Target Audience

After speaking to a variety of people of my age range it helped me to identify who my target audience was and the type of music they enjoy.I am going to be focussing my music video at the 16-20 year old's  which is perfect due to me being able to relate to this age range and produce a music video which this target audience would enjoy to watch

Target Audience Profile

Age:16-20 year olds

Interests:
-Listening to new music
-Watching new films
-Using social media (can be used as a method for creating a fan base for a music video and                                         creating hype)