Textual Analysis of Magazine Print Advertisements of CD’s

Rianne Addo

The print advertisement for Gwen Stefani’s ‘Love Angel Music Baby’ is likely to have been printed around November 2004 as this is when the album was released.

I believe that the representation of gender is shown of the artist being an independent powerful female. This would attract a predominantly female audience who are interested in Pop and R&B as they may be able to identify with a woman her age.

The main image is a medium shot of the artist looking forward which connotes confidence. The background images are of a blurred throne and a crown, which ties in well with the old English typography and her regal costume. These elements intertwined give an impression of being royal and superior. As this was an advert for her first solo album after the break-up of her previous band, I believe that the advertisement of this advert is successful and it gives off the impression that with her independence of being a newly solo artist at the time comes power and success.

The album title ‘Love.Angel.Music.Baby’ all link with the perceived concept of her album and the advert. The words ‘Love and Music’ link with her having a passion for her music, whereas ‘Angel and Baby’ suggest the beginning of a cycle, which could represent the beginning of her being a solo artist.

The advertisement includes two of her successful songs from the album to attract the audience to buy the rest of the album, which is indicated through the CD album being on the advert. It also includes her website to invite the audience to listen to the artist instead of just the album.

The indication of her album being of the R&B and Pop genre is indicated through the colours as they are bright, which links with the concept of the artist being confidence, which is a common theme seen in the genres.

The indication of her album being of the Soul and Indie pop genre is shown through the natural notion that comes with the album, which suggests that the album will be with real emotion and passion, which links with the soul and indie theme. Arguably, there is a discrete representation of women, whereby women can be seen as emotional, which is represented by the link between the natural theme and feelings/emotions, which is represented with women. I believe that an audience that purely like indie and soul music would be appealed to this.

The print advertisement for Florence + the Machine’s ‘LUNGS’ is likely to have been printed around July 2009 as this is when the album was released.

The main image is a medium close-up of the leading singer of the band in the centre of the advertisement to reinforce that the advert is about the artist’s CD album.

There are background images of flowers which links with the natural theme of the advertisement, whereby her lungs are showing. This natural theme intertwines with the fact that the artist’s album is called ‘Lungs’, making it an appropriate album title. It also includes different formats of being able to listen to the album and a few of the most successful singles from her audience, which attracts a wider audience and also invites the audience to listen to the album.

The typography is simplistic and in upper case which reinforces the natural theme to the advertisement, as the typography doesn’t use additional fancy typography which give off a sense of being artificial.

The print advertisement for The Marina and the Diamonds’ ‘’The Family Jewels’ is likely to have been printed around February 2010 as this is when the album was released.

The main image is a close-up of the artist laying. This is the artist’s first album, so she may be only showing her head as she may want to reveal her self as she progresses in making new albums.

The implication of the album genre is seen through the colour pink, which links in with Pop genre, and directly coheres with a female audience, as people who like the colour pink are commonly seen as girls who are interested in Popular culture, making the advert very suitable in attracting an audience.

The album title ‘The Family Jewels’ links in with her name ‘Marina and the diamonds’ whereby diamonds and jewels are similar, which may suggest that the first album will be a reflection of herself.

There is a CD album to reinforce the audience to buy the album. This is reinforced by the successful and well-known released singles being put on the advert to attract the audience to buy the album.

The typography looks like it is handwritten, which suggests that the album may be personal and unique to the artist, linking with the fact that is an album reflecting the artist.

The print advertisement for Jessie J’s ‘Who You Are ’ is likely to have been printed around February 2011 as this is when the album was released.

The typography is in gold and white which gives an impression of being successful. The indication of the album genre is seen through the colour scheme’s implications, as success is seen in the Pop genre, which would also attract a audience who like Pop.

The main image is a medium close-up of the artist with her mouth open, giving the concept of the artist being confident, which links with the contemporary representation of women being confident and independent.

The album title ‘Who you are’ gives a concept of revealing yourself, which is a concept that is universal, which would attract a wide audience. It is a suitable debut album title, as it allows the artist to reveal herself through her music to the audience, allowing them to create a first impression.

The ‘#1 International smash’ attracts a wide audience and validates the reason why the album should be bought. It also includes her website to attract the audience to know more about the artist.