As this is the advert for the same album I analysed in my digiPak deconstruction there will be some crossover in answers, particularly as the same artwork has been used in both so the techniques and semiotics of which are likely to be the similar if not the same.
The Advert.
Genre
How is the genre of the track/artist evident?
As mentioned before in the digiPak analysis the genre of this band is considered to be alternative rock. This is evident in this advert because of the artwork used which is not a photograph of the band and so can be considered alternative in that sense as they do not need their image to sell products.
The genre is also evident in the sources of the reviews, Q and Uncut are both music magazines with that primarily deal with the rock genre and so their giving this album a positive review helps to determine which sort of audience the band is aiming at as well as reinforcing their genre. The review from the Sunday Times may seem a little out of place as it doesn't necessarily support their genre but it helps to demonstrate that this band has a wide audience and is obviously well known enough for a newspaper like the Sunday Times to be interested in reviewing it, suggesting some of the band's status in contemporary society.
Media Language.
What visual techniques are used?
The right A4 page is a repetition of the album cover so the techniques for that are the same as what is talked about in the previous digiPak analysis post. The use of repeating this image is to familiarise the audience with it and so it is instantly recognisable in the shops. It is also in itself a very eye catching image due to it's use of colour, and so will draw attention to advert particularly because of its large scale.
The left A4 page is predominantly the band name, with the album title, release date and reviews following. The font and colour is the same as that on the album cover for aesthetic reasons and for familiarity so it is again recognisable in shops. The band name is clearly the most important thing in this advert as the belief with this band is that they will sell themselves and that there is no need for images of them and further information, the band name is enough. The size of the font also represents this as the band name is the biggest and so the most important with the text getting smaller as it goes down the page, with the website being of the least importance and so the smallest. The actual design of the band name is something of a logo and is instantly recognisable and is becoming something of a form of iconography for the band.
How is meaning generated through these techniques?
Most of this has been covered in the point above in terms of the left A4 page and the right A4 page the semiotic meanings are already explained in the digiPak analysis post, to save repetition.
However, the use of two A4 pages generates meaning in itself, it clearly shows the importance and status of this band in that they need two pages to be able to show everything. But also that they are mainstream and successful as they can afford two A4 pages in a magazine where other smaller bands may only be able to afford a quarter of one.
What linguistic devices have been used?
This again, will be similar to the previous digiPak analysis in terms of connotations of the album title and affect of the artwork.
However, the size of the advert is quite overwhelming and impacting on the reader of the magazine, again emphasising the importance of the band but also perhaps the scale of this album that it is necessary to have two pages.
The quotations suggest that this is an exceptional band and that they are overwhelming in themselves in terms of their music which is reflected in the advert size and even in the image in the advert and on the album cover, the idea of being overwhelmed and overpowered.
Is there any intertextuality/references to popular culture?
I cannot think of anything that have not already been said about the artwork in the digiPak analysis, only perhaps that the reviewers will have connotations themselves and may be associated with different bands and people for certain readers which may make them then associate this album with that person. But this may not apply to all readers.
The companies responsible for the album such as Warner Bros. and Helium-3 may have certain references to certain readers such as they may associate Warner Bros. with the films they have produced and as a result associate this band with them, but again this may not be the same for everyone and does not necessarily reflect the band or advertising techniques in any way.
Representation
How are the band/artist represented?
Most of what can be mentioned here as either been mentioned above or in the previous digiPak analysis. Things such as the use of two A4 pages showing the band's status and the reviews showing how they are regarded highly by other industry professionals and their importance in contemporary society, which all helps add to their meta-narrative as they are already considered to be a band of great knowledge and held in high esteem, this serves to reinforce that image as well as selling their new product. It also helps to show that the band is only getting better and better with every album they produce emphasised in the reviews and again scale of the advert.
Institution and Audience
How might this print text be consumed?
People reading through the magazine; if a keen and focused reader, one who is really interested in music and the particular magazine will read every page whether it is an article or and advert. Whereas more relaxed ambient readers will read what they want to read and most probably skip over the adverts. That is perhaps why this advert is so big so as to catch even the skimmers attention, but ultimately this text is an advert and so may be ignored by a large majority of consumers. But having said that a fair number of readers will look at this advert and many will be interested in getting this album but as to how many of them actually buy it is something that is questionable.
This is the same as with the digiPak ultimately that people may see this and may be fans of the band but due to the contemporary society they will download it rather than purchasing, so the digiPak is deemed useless but the advert is still of some use because it may be what tempted the consumer in the first place.
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