Magazine Advert Analysis

5 Seconds of Summer

The first magazine advert I have looked at is for the Australian band 5 Seconds of Summer which was featured on the back of Rocksound issue for Summer 2014. The main image of this advert is an image of the band together, there is no clear sign of who is the lead singer of the band or the main star of the group. The image of the band is in a studio, this could possibly be an idea that I use later on for my own magazine advert. Over the band and the background has been spray painted an 'X' possibly to give the effect of them being crossed out or as a reference to a song that is on the album. The band is seen to be wearing outfits to make them look 'punk' or edgy, this could be used to indicate the type f music that they play or the type of audience they are trying to gravitate towards. Although their is no specific indication of the title of the album it is possible that it is a self titled album. The bands name is written in a label writer style and the bands logo is located directly underneath it,  this is done to draw attention to them and to make it known who the band is. The style of the font that is used for the extra text on the advert is done as if it was written in a marker pen, the release date of the album is put next to it indicating that the album is out now for people to buy, this is next to the logo of the band as it is important information for people who are going to buy the album. At the bottom of the advert is the website of the band in the same style as the bands name and the logo for Capitol Records.

Bury Tomorrow

The advertisement for Bury Tomorrow's new album was featured on the back of the Rocksound issue for July 2014. The main image features the band with the members looking towards the camera, even though it isn't entirely clear the member that is in the foreground is likely to be the main singer as he is seen to be the main focus of the photo. Overlaid on the  image of the band is the album artwork and on top of that is the full album art that will feature on the digipak. The size of the font alternates, the most important parts of the advert are in a large, bold font, these are 'Bury Tomorrow' the name of the album 'Runes' and when the album will be available 'In Stores May 26th' this is because it is the information that people will need to know if they are going to buy the album. For an advertisement this contains a high amount of text as it shows an official review of the album from Rocksound as well as what platform the album will be available on and when you can meet the band at HMV, this is an odd occurrence for album advertisements but HMV is promoting the sale of the album at the stores so it would mean more if this was featured on the advertisement. On the bottom panel it features the logo for their record label and where you can contact the record label for example their social media accounts are listed.

Websites Analysis

lorde.co.nz

I have also looked at Lorde's website as this is the artist that I am considering doing a music video for one of Lorde's songs. Her website features her name at the top of the screen in block capitals similar to how she had stylised it for her debut album, underneath her name features the name of her debut album 'Pure Heroine'. The background of the website is a close up shot of Lorde herself looking down. In total there are six hotspots at the bottom of the page, these are symbols for the links that they are for. There is an apple logo that will redirect you to the itunes store to buy her album, a Twitter symbol that will link you to her Twitter page (@LORDEMUSIC), a Tumblr symbol that will link you to her Tumblr page (lordemusic.tumblr.com), a Facebook symbol for her Facebook page, an Instagram symbol for her Instagram account and a letter symbol to link you subscribe to her mailing list to find out about possible tours and single releases. Overall this page is incredibly plain with few features apart from links to social media, iTunes and a mailing list.

twentyonepilots.com

I also looked at the website for music groupd Twenty One Pilots. The front page of their website includes their band logo featured in the colour scheme of the entire website which is black, white and red. A portrait of the band is featured at the top of the webpage in a red hue. The hotspots  are featured at the top right of the page in a red, lowercase font similar to the rest of the page, these are links redirecting the user to news about the group, music, about, photos, videos, tour and store. when redirected the each page features similar colour scheme to the homepage. The homepage also features a youtube link to their latest music video release as well as a sidebar where you can play their full album on spottily. There are more hotspots located at the side linking to a external page to sign up for their mailing list and hotspots located at the bottom of their page linking viewers to their social media sites and terms of service on the site.

Magazine Advert Analysis

Royal Blood

The first magazine advert I am going to analyse is the advert for the debut album of British band Royal Blood, the album is called Royal Blood. The main colour scheme of the advert is black and white as the background where the main image and text is placed is white with the bar below being black. The image which is the centre of the advert is a portrait styled image of a woman. The main text is advertising the band and the name of the album, the text is stylised to look faded in a faded black colour. The bottom bar is black with white text, the font of the text is similar to the font used, the text at the top of the black bar says 'debut album'. Underneath in a much smaller font are three reviews from music magazines, these are only about a few words to get to the point and to make the album sound as good as possible to help increase sales of the album. At the very bottom of the advert you can see the date that the album is being released, this is in a large white font to draw attention of the people who read the magazine and will see this advert, having the release date at the bottom in a large font will ensure that people know when to buy the album. Small logos are included in the bottom left and bottom right hand corners, one for HMV to advertise where you can purchase the album and the record label that the band is signed to.

Twin Atlantic

I have also looked at the magazine advert for 'Great Divide' by Twin Atlantic. The entire background of the advert is white. The top of the advert features four flags with the Twin Atlantic logo embellished onto the flag, the flags are supposed to represent the four members of Twin Atlantic. Twin Atlantic is written below the main image, the font is of a medium size with the 'W' and 'N' being overlapped. As the importance of the text lowers the size of the font will get smaller, the name of the album is in quite a large font in a similar style fitting the rest of the advert. All of the text is black so it is visible for the white background. Underneath the release date you can see what features on the album for example showing what songs are going to be on the album, these are usually incredibly popular songs release to build hype for the initial album release. It also features text advertising what platform you can buy the album on and when the band is going on tour. The bottom of the advert shows the logos for the band, their record label and for HMV. It also features the website for the band to find out more information about the new album as well as the band and the website for their record label which you could buy the album from and find out about similar bands.

Empress AD

This is the magazine advert featured in Rocksound for the debut album of the band Empress AD. The top right of the advertisement features the bands logo in white, this is constrained into a small circle, the text is white so that it is legible on the foreground of the image behind it. The main background image features the album artwork, the artwork is no clear image as it looks to represent a painting. Underneath the album art is a black bar with all of the relevant information for the audience of the magazine. All text on this is of a similar font style alternating between bold text on different lines of the advertisement. The text sizes also alternate depending on importance for example the name of the album *second line (Still Life Moving Fast)* is in a bold, all capitals white text style with the release date of the album being of the same credentials as the album name, this is because it is the most important part of the advertisement, the name of the album and when it will be released, it is also shown to be the most eye catching parts of the advertisement as it is the first thing you look at when you see this advertisement in the magazine. Other parts of text include songs that are featured on the album so that people who enjoyed them songs may be influenced to listen to the entire album as well as what platform the album will be available on for example this particular album will be available on CD, Digital download and Vinyl with download card.

Digipak Analysis

                                          All Time Low - Don't Panic
One digipak I am going to review is from pop punk band All Time Low and their 2012 album 'Don't Panic', this digipak was created by TinmanCreativeStudios. The overall colour of the digipak is a blood orange type red with a cartoon drawing of monsters, zombies and distressed citizens with a cartoonish apocalypse style background. The bands logo is featured at the top of the digipak in a white font. The name of the album in a speech bubble with similar white font that is used for the bands logo. On the back is the full list of songs featured on the record in a black font with a cartoon styled crowd . When you open up the digipak the first two panels follow the cartoon style post-apocolyptic wasteland this time featuring the four members of the band (Alex Gaskarth, Rian Dawson, Zack Merrick and Jack Barakat) who are also in a similar cartoon style. This trend continues into the next panels with the band members doing different everyday activities such as taking pictures and sitting at the beach.

Neck Deep - Wishful Thinking
Another digipak that I have reviewed is also from a pop punk band called Neck Deep. The overall colour theme of the digipak is dark colours such as a dirty golden which is heavily used throughout as well as pale cream, baby blue and dark pink, the background of the front image (which is a Zoltar from the movie BIG) is supposed to resemble a carnival, I have came to this conclusion as you can see fairground rides such as a ferris wheel. The back of the digipak is stylised to resemble a carnival ticket stub or a strip of paper from the fortune machine with the top image being a sketch of the Zoltar fortune machine and the bottom features the track listing for the album. When you open the digipak fully the inside image is a zoomed in picture of Zoltars hands holding the crystal ball, the focus is on the crystal ball as this is in the centre of the panels, the predominate colours of the inside panels are white and cream with dark blue in the visible background. The final back panel is a continuation of the carnival background with a sunset coloured background and black silhouettes.

                                          









We Are The In Crowd - Weird Kids

The final digipak i have reviewed is by another pop punk by, We Are The In Crowd. The overall colour of the digipak is a simple matte black background, this colour scheme runs throughout the entire digipak. The front of the digipak features an image of a sleeveless denim jacket with a patch sown onto the front which is an abriviation of the bands name. The album title is overlaid on the image with the first word 'weird' being stylised in a graffiti style font and a simple lowercase font for 'kids', the font colour on the front is white. On the back of the digipak you see the back of the denim jacket with another patch sown onto it, the track listing is in a small white block capital font. When you open up the digipak the inside the lyrics to 'Attention', their first single from the album, the lyrics are spread out across the three inside panels, the font is the same as the track listing with the same colour white as the rest of the digipak. Overall this is the digipak i am going to take reference from when creating my own.

Website Analysis

www.bringmethehorizon.co.uk:

The first website I have analysed was the webpage for Bring Me The Horizon, a British rock band. The home page for this website includes a banner at the top of the site advertising their newest album 'Sempiternal' and when clicking this it will redirect you to link where you can buy the album. In the centre of the page you have the name of the band and the cover art from their album. The hotspots for this webpage are located at the bottom featuring links to the 'home' page, 'about', 'gigs', 'video', 'music', 'gallery', 'sign up', 'new album' and 'music store' as well as links to the bands Facebook, Twitter, Soundcloud and Vevo pages for fans to feel more connected to them.

www.tonightaliveofficial.com

I have also looked at the official website for Australian rock band Tonight Alive. The main theme for this webpage is black and white with a dark blue colour for the hotspots at the top of the page. The home page includes a photo of the band in black and white. The name of the band is located on the top left which is a large stylisation of the bands logo. There is a transparent banner underneath the top banner on the homepage linking fans to the bands albums on iTunes, their Vevo page, Songl, Google Play and Spotify. The hotspots on the main banner feature links to news about the band, the bands biography, blog, tour, gallery, videos, shop and contact where you can contact the bands managers and for bookings. For a band that is quite famous there are no links to the bands social media accounts featured on the home page which is uncharacteristic of bands in the modern era.

www.alltimelow.com

I have looked at the official website for American rock band All Time Low. The home page is a blood orange colour with small splatters on the main colour. The logo for All Time Low is featured at the top left of the page in a large font placed on the burgundy coloured banner, the hotspots are in a white font similar to font that occurs throughout the website. The hotspots on the banner include news which relocates you to a page about the latest news for All Time Low, music which relocates you to a page of the bands discography and where to buy their music, tour which relocates you to a page which shows you their entire schedule, photos/videos of the band, ATL hustlers which relocates you to the bands fan page (www.alltimelowhustlers.com) and store where you can buy the bands merchandise. The homepage also includes a youtube link to a playlist of All Time Low related videos and a link to buy all time low merchandise.