Conventions of Music Magazine Adverts

Before we make our magazine advert we need to research professional work that is seen in magazines such as Q and NME. We need to discover the key conventions of magazine adverts so that we can bear this in mind when making our own advert.

So firstly the image, the main image is normally a close up of the band/ artist. This is to promote the artist people will see the performer on the front of the advert and  remember the face. If the performer is well known the audience will recognise them and link that advert to a previous song or album that they liked. The gaze of the performer varies, generally the main character is looking at the camera, this is to try and engage them with the customer. People will be more encouraged to buy the album if they feel the artist engages with the audience. The shot of the artist is normally a close up again to involve the audience, the more involved the audience feel the more likely they will buy the album.

The title font is normally large and bold, capital letters are used to catch the eye of the audience. The title font is what the promoters want the audience to see. The colours are generally bright in order to catch the eye of the potential buyer. However if the colour does not fit the house style it will not be used, for example the Myo Oxyloto the colours work because the album is based around colours, the album Every Teardrop uses flowing painting images that link to the album. Rihannas magazine advert uses the colour red for the title font. This colour is picked from Rihannas hair so it links the picture and the image which strengthens the house style. Jessie J's album also uses a bold colour to capture the audience they have used the colour gold for the artists name, however in this the picture dominates half of the page. Our eyes are still drawn to 'Jessie J' the gold colour is also used throughout the advert.

In magazine adverts colours are used to grade the importance of the information. For example 'NO. 1 Album' on an advert would be written in a colour that catches the eye, when someone is browsing through a magazine they will immediatley see this phrase. This is similar with ratings the adverts aim is to get people to buy the album this means they have to show how good the album is. They do this by showing ratings they have recieved and put them in vibrant colours so peoples attention is drawn to it.

Some adverts for example Plan B's and Rihanna's their is a small screen grab of the album. This is so people know what they are looking for in the shops. This is a useful tool to promote the digipak of the artist stregthening the link between the two.