Magazine Advert conventions and codes

For music albums, there are codes that differentiate in order to attract particular types of audiences and attention. There are numerous codes that tend to be followed, such as:

- Name of the artist or band ( Seen here ' Bob Marley- Greatest hits)

-The date of the album release

-Style of artist or group

-Names of featuring songs on the album

-Form of release ( This may be through download online, CD, DVD) ( Seen here Bob Marley CD)

-Artwork imagery or photograph

-Name of record company

-Website of group or artist featured ( This could involve twitter accounts)

-Quotes or ratings of the artist/s

-Colour scheme and font choice

These rules or codes may differ with any genre, however most genres of music tend to follow these conventions in order to sell themselves to the audience. I have chosen to compare two different genres of music magazine adverts, and highlight any differences or essentially similarities. I have decided to compare Mariah Carey's 'E= C2' and Eminem's 'Recovery'

 Referring back to the conventions and codes of a magazine advert:

-Name of artist and font

 Both artists clearly display their names on the front of their music cover advert. Mariah's is slightly clearer and brighter than Eminem's which slightly fades into the background of his cover. This could be due to the fact that Mariah Carey is very confident and has quite a loud personality. This is reinforced with her bright pink lettering of her name, whereas Eminem, a much quiter character, has opted for a black title. Within both the adverts, both artists have chosen to stick with a continuous font throughout the entire advertisement. Similarily, both artists also vary the size of the lettering of the names and titles on the advert.

As you can see on the artists previous artworks, Mariah has changed her font for another album, whereas Eminem has stayed with the same font and the same backwards 'E'. This could be due to the fact that he does not want to disrupt a traditon, whether his life or anything else has changed, his quirky, original style within music has not. I think that is the message that he wants to represent through his art work. Whereas Mariah is showing she is open to change around her and wants to keep up with the current trends and style in order to maintain different types of fans. Moreover, this could suggest that her type of music has evolved over the years.

-Date of album release on advert

On the adverts for their albums, both artists clearly display the date of their album release. This makes it easier to market and sell to fans as they can have intention of purchasing the album. Although, Eminem's album does not display possible retailers for his music, which may restrict the viewer from purchasing the CD instantly or quickly. Mariah on the other hand does display one retailer. However, as Eminem is quite popular, this could be signs of him relying on his loyal fans to go and get the album without being told where to buy it.

-Style of artist on advert

This is where Mariah differs from Eminem. On Eminem's 'Recovery', he is dressed very casually, almost a bit slouchy. This is to show the audience that again, he is not open to change ( as he has stuck to this careless image throughout his entire career), moreover that he hasn't changed and will always be the same person to his fans as they will have heard from some negative press. Also, Eminem's image may show that he is relaxed and does not really care about how he is seen to fans. Finally, his image suggests his slight history of being a gangster due to his slouchy clothing. However, Mariah dramatically differentiates from Eminem's image, as she displays a glamourous image to her fans. This, like Eminem, reinforces her personality to her fans of being sexy, playful and flirty. The advert shows that she is healthy and perhaps wealthy, to demonstrate a strongness perhaps. Unlike Eminem's advert which displays a man who is close to home, Mariah doesn't display any emotions like this.

-Featuring songs on advert

Only Eminem displays featuring songs on his advert. This may be down to the fact that he wants to advertise the stars that he has been working with in order to gain attention, whereas Mariah just relies on her talent and well known-ness

-Form of release

Both artists are releasing their music through the form of CD

-Photography and colour scheme

Both artists share a similarity in the point that both photographs are realistic and are meant to be seen as realistic. However Mariah's appears to have had black and white effects added to enhance her appearance, whereas Eminem represents a simplicity to the audience. Both Mariah and Eminem are both using long shots that display the artist head to toe, however, Mariah is the entire focus of her picture but Eminem is embracing the location he is in by including it in the shot. This perhaps tells us things about the artists personality, Mariah appears to be very comfortable within herself, whereas Eminem appears quite shy. Both shots appear quite natural.

-Record company, website, quotes or ratings

Mariah and Eminem do not include any extra information involving their website, record company or quotes, apart from Mariah inlcuding a rating of the album completed by 'Heat Magazine'. This tells the audience that neither artist wants to go over the top with the advertising and marketing of their music, moreover, it shows that both artists are heavily relying on their large fanbase which could be a downfall.