Analysis of magazine adverts (Jason Mraz, Live U2)

I am looking at Jason Mraz's concert advert which he used for 'the meadow, gardens by the bay'. The advert uses a range of techniques and styles which appeal to the target audience. The advertisement uses colour, wording and positioning to make the promotion attract audience and increase sales of tickets.

The artist is represented in the style of being at a concert which suggests that the audience will be able to see this physically and not just on an advertisement if they attend. Also, the picture includes a stereotypical mise-en-scene of a guitar which suggests to the person looking at the advert that he is a mainstream artist. Additionally, the background image illustrates an outline of the United States of America of which is where the concert is located. This implies that Jason is a artist which appeals to a large population in a number of geographical areas which are different. Finally, the artist uses a similar positioning of his body as the leading singer in the U2 concert, of which they are both alternative artists which have become mainstream in the music industry internationally.

Typography which is used with minimal amount with only the selected important wording used. The top of the poster includes 'tour is a four letter word' this is affective because it also links the album 'LOVE' due to it also being used and is 4 letters long. The wording all using the same style of font this is because it makes it simple for the audience to read the advertisement rapidly, with the importance of the lettering being due to the size with the price of the tickets being of the smallest amount because this might reduce the amount of the target audience which might want to go and see the artist. The artists name is in red and is of the biggest font to imply that it attracts the audience to the artist. Style of language which is used is very simple english which are used to make it easy for the audience to read the advertisement easily. This illustrates that the wording can easily read by all people speaking the language and not just of highly educated people of society.

The colours of the advertisement is very dull and plain but is very affective because it is an alternative poster which connotes the music genre, with the 4 different primary colours to stand out. This means that the audience read the writing in red 'jason mraz' and  look at the image due to the border being in two colours which stand out to the audience. The colours link in the poster with the album of which the artist will be singing songs to build a strong link and fan bases to both to potentially increase sales of the concert tickets and album sales. This is especially as he uses cross promotion synergy of having an image of the album art on the poster. The image is in black and white dullness due to the alternative music video genre typically using this technique which increasing the relationship between the two types of media forms promotion.

The design and layout of the poster is very basic and successful; because it only includes the essential information of the name of the artist and the details of the event which he will be attending. The images which are used are links to both other media forms (music video and CD Album)  to show that the artist will be the same mainstream artist in personal then just the media forms. This image is used to draw instantly the attention of the  viewer to the artist to show that he is popular and successful artist. The second image if of the CD album art of which shows the audience that if they like to listen to the artist then they will like his concert music. The advert promotes the artist as a very alternative and mainstream artist, which is very successful to potential increase sales. This implies that to the artists that the artist is very popular in America which promotes the music genre because it is very alternative and unique compared to other music genre artists such as Calvin Harris. This attracts to the target audience because it is of the same style as Jason Mraz's CD album. Overall, this concert poster is very simple and affective to the success of the design and high sales of tour tickets. This means that the artist is included with all the typical techniques which the alternative music genre use to appeal to the target audience.

T
he second concert poster from the alternative music genre of which I have decided to analysis was U2 at Wembley Stadium at the peak of their success as a music genre artist and as a mainstream international music industry success. The representation of the music artist is of a dark punk rock alternative music genre artists, this is due to the black image of the artists to show depression and anger. This is also suggested by the facial expression of the members with the way that they are standing. This illustrates the way that they are united as a strong unit which support each other through life events and in their music. The colours in the concert poster is very few similar to the Jason Mraz because the U2 poster only includes 3 colours. Firstly, the main colour is black used as the background for the whole poster and the image, this suggests that the artists are punk alternative artists due to the black conveying that the artists sing songs about their lifestyle or events in their personal life which have caused they to be depressed or angry.

The design and layout of the U2 poster is similiar to Jason Mraz's advertisement because the artists name is at the top being a different colour. Also, the image of the artist being in the middle with the other less important information being at the bottom. This implies that the layout and structure of the poster is a sterotype of the alternative music genre. This also implies that if the artist is mainstream then they will use this structure to increase sales in the concert tickets. However, the design of the poster is different to Jason Mraz because it appeals to the target audience of punk rock alternative music genre due to the black and white, suggesting the music is of anger and depression.


The choice of image is important in the concert poster because it is the only single image of the advertisement, this means that it has to be appealing to the target audience of rebellion and individuality. This was important when the band advertised this event due to the target audience of the 1987 Wembley Stadium concert being very rebellions and against the ideas and traditions of their previous generation from the old traditions of the 'status quo' and classicial music which was strongly dominate in the 1950's and 'Rock n' Roll' music of the 1960's. This was in comparison to the very aggressive and violent punk rock alternative music of the 1970's-1990's.

The typography of the advertisement is very complex but makes the poster unique compared to other alternative posters. Firstly, the bottom half of the poster is very different compared to Jason Mraz's poster due to it having a large number of different types of font with a large list of not essential information of ticket agents for the 21st Century. However, due to the lack of technolgy and the internet it was harder to gain international and domestic sales without having the world wide web. This means that we will not need to include this in our groups poster. Additionally, the 'WEMBLEY STADIUM' title of where the concert is located is a small font size, this is different compared to the previously viewed advertisement. This suggests that due to the different sub genre of the alternative genre and decade of the advertisemtn that concert posters can rapidly chnage so they need to appeal to the modern target audience and not be out of date.


The style of langauge is very simple but affective because the band want to appeal their music to all types of people therefore they use simple and basic English so that all people can understand and dont use interlectural grammer which might decrease ticket sales. This suggests that our advertisement needs to be simple and basic English so that all ages can understand the poster and make it effective.


The advertisement promotes the artist as a very rebellious band of the late 1980's because they appeal to the punk rock sub genre of anger and violence which was very popular in the music industry mainly Europe and the United States of America during this time. The poster promotes the music genre as a very alternative and different band to the sterotypical mainstream outlay of the artists. This attracts to the target audience because they are appealed to the darkness and anger which is portray in the poster. Overall, this makes the msuic genre advertistment sucessful because it can appeal to the correct target audience to the alternative audience of the 1980's.


The two magazine advertisements will assit me with planning my own advert because it has given me a good understanding of the genre characteristics and essential information and colours to appeal to the correct target audience of the alternative music genre and the style of Jason Mraz's music. Also, the anaylsis has given me a better understanding to appeal to the target audience which means its will be more likely to be successful in the music industry and increase sales for the CD and views for the music video.