Magazine Advert Analysis

For a section of my coursework, I am required to produce a magazine advert to promote my music video as a product. In order to successfully complete this task to a professional standard, I have studied some existing adverts. From these adverts, I have noticed that most promotions for CD releases share similar features. This is reminiscent of the DVD covers.

The first similarity I have observed is the use of the artist’s name. This is normally in the font which appears on the artist’s albums, which like the DVD covers is done to be easily recognisable to the target audience.

The second feature that seems to be included in most of the adverts I have studied is a master shot of the band. Usually this image has been manipulated using editing software. Once more, this is incorporated to try to tempt their target audience to acquire the product being advertised.

I began my research by examining an advert used to promote the already released album, ‘Sick’ by Duff McKagan’s Loaded. This advert adheres to the two concepts I have previously mentioned. On top of that, quotes complimenting the release have been printed down the side of the advert. Although these are from anonymous sources, they do include names of heavily influential artists associated with the genre of the CD being advertised, such as Alice Cooper, Motörhead and Iggy Pop. Towards the bottom of the advert, the band’s web address is included alongside information about a festival appearance and a European tour. By including such information, it means that they are not only gaining attention for their new release, but are also benefiting financially, in the sense that they don’t need to spend more money to promote these up and coming band events separately. Once more, this is targeting a particular audience.

I then compared the Duff McKagan’s Loaded advert to an advertisement for the new Megadeth CD ‘Endgame’. Despite the fact that there were some similar features used, The Megadeth advert featuring their singer/guitarist, Dave Mustaine, appears as a totally unique promotional device. One reason for this is the camera angle used for the image, which in contrast to the master shot used for the ‘Sick’ advert is a low angle shot. This suggests that Mustaine plays an integral part in the new album. A further reason to why he is used is that he is recognised by the fanbase as the most popular member of the group. Due to the fact that the album had not been released at the time, there is also an in-store release date. Obviously this is incorporated to the advert to let the audience know when they can purchase it. There is also a promotional discount offered on this advert for pre-ordering the product. I think is a clever way to increase the chance of selling more units.

Again a different style of advert is used for Judas Priest’s ‘A Touch of Evil Live’ album. This time, the main body of the advert is just the album cover from the CD with added text. By using the same image for both the advertisement and the album cover it will make it instantly recognisable in the shops. Another advert I have come across, that uses this same method is the one for the re-release of Venom’s ‘Black Metal’ album. In contrast to the Judas Priest advert however, the Venom advert has an extensive section of text. This is dedicated to the new content on the album, which would appeal to Venom’s existing audience.

After researching this area, I now have the understanding that to produce an effective advertisement for my product, I will need to employ recognised conventions of advertising as it relates to this area of the music industry. My analysis shows that this could include combining recognised motifs and imagery synonymous with the band, promotional offers and subsidiary advertising of related events or merchandise, positive quotations and endorsements, and information relevant to the target audiences such as release dates and band websites.