Mood Board - Album Covers

The mood board below shows how I have developed my previous ideas from my group into my own. Because my artist is now a female who sings soul music I want her to look appealing to the audience but also dark and edgy to relate to the song I have chosen for my artist.

The style of clothing that artists wear from pop and soul music is usually modern and on trend to connect with the audience because this may be how they dress. I want to emulate this but make it slightly more edgy. The jewellery I want my artist to wear looks more edgy than elegant because artists similar to mine usually have their own unique style to others in the industry that follow the conventions of pop. I want my artist to wear heels on the album cover because although she has her unique style she is still mainstream and needs to connect with the audience and appeal to them in order for her to gain recognition.

I want my artist’s hairstyle to be quirky and not perfect looking, this will help to show the individuality of my artist and I also believe that it will draw attention to my artist.

I want my album cover to be set in an open area such as a bridge or in a room. These locations seem more fitting for my artist as other artists similar to mine have done so.



Richard Dyer's Theory - Album Covers

Does the promotional material construct an image rather than reveal a ‘real’ person whereby you know about their likes/dislikes, family, background, education, problems etc.?

I believe that the promotional material helps to construct Britney Spears’s image however I do believe that some of her promotional material give an insight to the audience of what goes on in her personal life, such as being featured in a magazine with her children and by interacting with the world through social networks like twitter. With this being said the term to best describe Britney Spears is semi-mythological. This is because her image never really tells factual truths about her or lets the audience know what happens when she is not in the limelight. An example of this is her endorsement deal with Pepsi, we as an audience don’t actually know if she likes to drink Pepsi, she has been paid to perceive to the audience that she likes Pepsi in order for it to sell. Throughout the majority of Britney Spears’s work signify that she is an entertainer, we see this through her various albums. Even though we don’t know her personally it builds a relationship between her and the audience for them to get to know her more. We see Britney get morphed into a more rebellious person as she gets older, dressing in more revealing and seductive clothing which shows her youthfulness but likewise sexual magnetism which draws attention to her and makes the audience aspire to know more about the image.   

Britney Spears is known to the rest of the world as a star because of her fame, music, products and endorsement deals all which are within the media. An example of this is her feature in cosmopolitan magazine, the headline states “How a broken Britney bounced back”. It tells the readers how she regained her fame after her down fall but doesn’t inform the readers of what she went through during her ordeal. This is the main characteristic that shows stars are commodities advertising nothing but their power that lead to the audience consuming more of their products.

Stars need the media to build up their image and to appeal to their target audience through promotions, films, music and so on. Making the image a semi-mythological individual.

I plan to use some of the same techniques Britney Spears has used to form my artist’s image as this would help my artist be more aspiring to their audience and generate more sales.



Andrew Goodwin's theory - Album Covers

Genre: Soulful R&B Funk

Amerie

Because I Love It: Amerie is a soulful R&B singer who often performs on stage and in her music videos. Her first album cover shows the singer posing in three different positions. The way she is posing is laid back and cool which links with the soulful R&B genre.

 The arrangement of the album cover shows her three times. This is also known as a motif, an aspect of Goodwin’s theory. This is to familiarise the audience with the artist as this album cover is from her earlier years within the music industry. Also her name is positioned clear for the audience to see, so they remember her name. This is important because the artist needs recognition in order to sell.

The positioning of her body is quite seductive and endearing, which is inevitable as women in the R&B industry usually have to look sexy as it is known that “sex sells”. The clothing she is wearing covers the majority of her skin but it’s also tight fitted and her leggings are sheer, this is quite sensual and leads more to the imagination. Being dressed and posing in this way will make the audience want to buy her album because she is portraying herself in a conventional way like similar artists as herself. The way she is dressed according to Goodwin’s theory is known as voyeuristic treatment which is the sexualisation of females within the industry wearing clothing that is alluring or acting/posing in a certain way that is sexual.

 

In Love and War: in her more recent album she has broken out into the more funk side of her music. She can do this now as she has grown as an artist by extending her fan base and gaining more recognition.

She is centred on this album cover with her name boldly written in front of her, this is because as an artist they still have to sell themselves. Her image has also adapted from her first album because they are trying to broaden her audience and gain her more fans. The background of her album has an abstract feel to it. Amerie can now do this as she has more recognition as an artist and has more say in how she represents her music.

Amerie isn’t positioned seductively as her first album but she is dressed in less clothing showing more skin. Also her hair is flowing and looks attractive, by dressing in this way she will be seen as attractive to the media as women in the media dress provocatively to gain more attention and to sell their products. This relates back to voyeuristic treatment.

Genre: Hip Hop

Lupe Fiasco

Food and Liquor: Lupe Fiasco’s music is known to be different compared to common hip hop artists; his album cover helps to illustrate his diversity and will attract an audience because it’s not what you would expect to see from a hip hop artist.

We can see that the main object on the album cover is Lupe Fiasco, they did this to familiarise the audience with the artist so he can gain more recognition. The objects around him and the flashing lights help to bring attention to him as he needs to stand out amongst other leading hip hop artists.

On the album cover we can see Lupe Fiasco holding a stereo and other objects floating around him such as a game boy, they incorporated these things because it is probably what interests and influences Lupe Fiasco, by doing this the consumer can learn more about the artist and can see what they have in common and also connect with the artist as they feel they know more about them.

The Cool: this album cover shows Lupe Fiasco’s diversity. He is not featured in the album; this shows that he has gained recognition to an extent that his fans and audience know who he is just by seeing his name.   

Even though he is not featured in the album his name is written for the audience to recognise, this for obvious reasons shows his fans that it is his and also introduces new audiences who may not have heard of him in the past.

As he is now a well known artist he has more control over how he portrays himself in the media. The picture on the album cover isn’t conventional to the genre hip hop, but it shows his unique quality which may attract his audience. 

 

Andrew Goodwin's Theory - Music Videos

Genre: - Alternative Pop Music

Eliza Doolittle – Skinny Genes

·         The environment around her is upbeat and everyone is happy and cheerful.

·         Everyone is dressed old fashioned/quirky.

·         The setting is almost make belief with a bath tub sitting in the middle of the room.

·         When the video ends she sort of clicks her fingers and the screen turns black, it sort of indicates to the audience that it’s a made up world.

Kate Nash – Mouthwash

·         The video is fast paced.

·         It jumps from her real life to her make belief world in her mind.

·         She’s quite still but everything around her is moving fast.

·         It’s set in a theatre/on a stage. This shows that it isn’t real.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqAGXtDCXCk

VV Brown – Crying Blood

·         The artist is energetic.

·         It’s set in a make belief place.

·         Stage lights go out at the end which shows the audience that it wasn’t real, it was make belief.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mk7tzFIYhtI

Summary

·         All artists fashion style is unusual and they mainly dress in the style of the 50’s/60’s era.

·         All videos are set in a dream like world and have a mystical theme to it.

·         All videos have vibrant colours to them.

·         In the videos some of the characters play the beat of the song on objects such as a table and body parts.

·         In all three videos some sort of stage performance/dance routine is incorporated.