CD covers

This album cover belongs to Katy Perry, the name of the album is 'One of the Boys'.

The house colours in this album cover are pink, blue and green. This array of colours makes the picture look very cluttered also there is limited white space so the audiences attention may be drawn elsewhere. The picture of her in the middle of the album cover could be seen as voyeurism, as she is sat in a sexy way as if she is a 'pin-up' model. with little clothes on. This could attract both male and female audiences, with the male audiences seeing her as a sex object and the female audiences seeing her as a role model. Also the shot used on the picture is a medium shot, this gives the audience the whole view of her and her surroundings, the props used in the surroundings give the impression that she is a 'girly' girl with flowers all around her and her accessories in pink and her record player in pink as well.
The typography used on the album looks as if it is hand written which could indicate her as being individual and not like anyone else. The fact that the writing of her name is in big font compared to the album name in smaller font, seems as if she is selling her album as an artist from her self and noone else, also she has kept her real name which makes her even more individual which could attract a huge target audience.
Overall i dont think this album cover is very attractive, it would put me off buying it as there is too much clutter, it is also not very clear where she is meant to be and why that has anything to do with the album and the album name.

CD covers

This CD cover belongs to Enrique Iglesias. The album is called escape, the album name makes you think what he wants to escape from and where he is going. It makes the audience want to buy the album and know where he wants to go.

The house colours in this album cover is green, blue and black, these are quite neutral colours and don't stand out too much, the picture of him looks very casual, which could give the impression that his songs are very natural and slow, maybe only with acoustics.
The picture of him is in the middle of the album cover, this draws your attention to his face, next to his face is the name of album and the artist. This is in a very good place as it is not hard to find or not easy to see, if i would change anything to this it would be to make the typography in a bigger font and in bold, this would draw attention more to the name of the album rather than the picture.
The camera shot is a extreme close up of his face, this attracts people to the album and makes people more interested in what the album has to offer.
Overall i like this album cover it is interesting and does not have to much going on in the picture, it is not clutered and the way the picture is taken gives the right amount of white space.

CD covers

This album cover is by Red Hot Chili Peppers, the name of this album is Mother's Milk. You can see in the top right hand corner the album name, this typography that it is in looks like it is hand written, also it is quite small and not very eye catching. Also in the bottom right hand corner there is the Red Hot Chili Peppers logo, their star motif! This could be recognised from Red Hot Chili Pepper fans. It is quite small but noticeable as it has colour on it unlike the picture itself.

The house colours are black white and red, this makes it very simple and the red stands out on top of the black and white, they may have used red to stand out because of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, this makes it stand out even more and could make it more noticeable to audiences.

The picture used on the album cover is of a women naked with the band in her arms, this could be a connotation towards the album name 'Mother's Milk', the woman in the picture could be seen as a mother and the band as her children. The picture itself stands out because it is quite large, there is no direct address, then woman is looking at the band and the band is looking at her, it makes you want to know more about the album and why there is a connection between this woman and the band and who she is.

The camera angle used for the photo is a medium close up as you can see the top half of her body. This draws the audiences attention becuase she is naked and could attract a male audience.

Over all i like this album cover as it is different to other album covers i have seen, if i saw it in a shop i would want to buy it because it looks like it has a story behind it and i want to know the story.

CD covers

The name of this album 'Dangerously in Love' links in with a track on the album. This draws the audiences attention and to Beyonce fans because knowing her songs they would know that they appear on this album. However people who are unfamiliar with Beyonce would not know about the album name and why it has connotation.
The house colours of this album are blue, silver and white these are good colours to use as they go together well and it doesn't make the image look to cluttered. These colours also featured in her music videos and on her website, this all links together to make a good selling point, this will make her noticed and well known as well.
The typography on this album is very simple, the artists name 'Beyonce' looks like it is in a digital type of font, this could mean that her songs are edited in a digital way or her music video's use digital FX.
The image on the album cover is in the middle of the cover and is of the artist, this draws attention to her and makes the audience intrigued to know more, it grabs attention to the image and then the album cover name and the artist it slightly to the side making it easy for the audience to find out what it is called. The camera angle is simple with a medium close up do the top half of her body is in the shot, she is also giving direct address which draws the audiences attention as well. The image of her is quite sexy which could attract a male audience, a sexy image is typical of a RnB artist.
There is a lot of white space on the album cover with only the image being the main attention, this is good as it is not cluttered and the audiences are not put off with it being too clutered.
Over all i think this album cover is good, it would attract me because it is simple and not cluttered and the colours are simple and not too bright, i think it really makes beyonce the main focus which draws audiences attention.

Niche

Lily Allen has a niche market, this is because she was one of the first of her kind. Her 'pop' songs have a humour background, with her video's having a clever twist. In her songs she jumps between singing the song and rhythmically talking. No other female artist had done this before Lily Allen. She tackles real issues in her songs like drugs, absent fathers, hypocritical politicians, friends who are users. This is a good way to target audiences as they may be able to relate to her songs. She also made a niche image when she first arrived on the music scene, she wore 'pretty, girly' dresses with not so girly trainers, this caught on with the fashion market and not so long after, girls everywhere could be seen wearing dresses and trainers.
Lily Allen video's and lyrics all contain an element of comedy. In her song 'The Fear' Lily exposes the empty headed world of the modern day 'princess', all blamed on the x-factor generation. You can see Allen wrapped up in bows with endless presents around her in a mansion with butlers and maids. In the lyrics 'I want loads of clothes and f*** loads of diamonds... I heard people die from trying to find them. The audience is meant to laugh at Allen's view of a spoilt brat and her misguided ambitions. What she is saying in The Fear is quite meaningless. Lily is a a strong role model for what is arguably a lost generation one that values fame over talent.

On this website, there is links at the top that can take you to different parts of the website you see this often on a lot of artists websites.

The colour of the website doesn't stand out a lot but the effect of bricks and graffiti makes it look individual also the typography used in 'Amy Winehouse' is seen all over her albums.

I think the website is easy to use but it doesn't stand out enough and doesn't grab your attention.

This website is quite different to other artists websites, it has a dark background and not many links to different parts of the website.

The colour of the website makes it look boring and doesn't look appealing to audiences.

I don't think the website is very successful, it needs more colour and more information.

This picture is seen in the video to one of his songs, the website is set out like other websites but it has more colour and looks easier to use.

The picture makes the website stand out and the typography of 'Eminem' is on all of his album covers.

I think that the picture takes up too much room at the top and you have to scroll down quite a way to see the actual website base.

This website is different to all the other websites that i have looked at, on the home page of the website it doesn't show any of the band, and from just looking at the website you would not guess that it belongs to the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

I think the background picture works but its a bit dark and doesn't grab audiences attention. The only way that you could probably tell that this website belongs to them is the star image motif in the top left hand corner.

I think the website is easy to use and the links on the side of the page are easy to see and self explanatory.

This website stands out more compared to the other websites, it has a lot more information about the artist.

The website is really colourful and looks interesting, it draws the audiences attention.

I think overall the website is successful and makes me want to know more about it.

Goodwin's theory- examples in videos

Coldplay's- The Scientist

Genre Characteristics- In nearly all of Coldplay's video's Chris Martin uses direct address looking at the camera, in most of their video's there is a narrative behind the video.

The Relationship between lyrics and visual- when Chris Martin sings 'oh take me back to the start' the video shows him walking backwards as if he wants to go back to where he started. This is a good effect when making a music video as it makes it more interesting for the audience to watch.

The Relationship between music and visuals- when the music speeds, the video looks as if things are going faster around him but still going backwards, this also makes it more interesting for the audience to watch.

Demands of the record label- the record label that have signed coldplay may have said that in the music video's Chris Martin has to be looking directly into the camera and that it has to be close up to him.

Voyeurism- voyeurism isn't really used in coldplays video's, if they did use it i don't think it would fit in to the type of music that they produce.

Star Motifs- Coldplay used Chris Marting as a star motif as he is always in their music video's.

Intertexuality

Intertextuality is when a music video makes reference to film, TV, video games, cinema, fashion and photography.

An example of a music video making reference to film is Madonna's 'Material Girl' this music video makes reference to Marylin Monroe's 'Diamonds are a Girls Best Friend'.

An example of TV is the Beastie Boys 'Sabotage' this makes reference to TV programs such as Starsky and Hutch, the video is like a spoof police show.

An example of a video game is Robbie Williams' 'Let Love Be Your Energy', this video is made to look like it is a video game.

Goodwin's Priciples

Andrew Goodwin has 6 principles in his theory these are:

• Genre Characteristic's- this is when the genre of the artist or band corresponds to what the music video will be like for example in a rock bands video you would expect them to be performing and have the camera on them as a band at all times.


• The relationship between lyrics and visuals- Goodwin suggested that all lyrics in a song will make a constant reference to the visuals in the video, this reinforces what they lyrics mean, an example of this is Plan B's 'She Said' the lyrics, 'so now up in the courts pleading my case from the witness box', In the video you see the character in the video, in a witness box pleading his innocence.


• The relationship between music and visuals- this is when the music in the video speeds up with lyrics/artists singing, an example of this is The Doves 'There goes the fear' the music speeds up and the visuals speed up in fast motion.


• Demands of the Record Label- Record labels have control over how their artists are represented and how they look, they can control what they look like in their music videos. There’s a demand on the part of the record company for lots of close – ups of the main artist/vocalist.
  
  
• Voyeurism often plays a major part- There is likely to be voyeurism, particularly in the treatment of women.
  
  
• Music genres have their own music video style and iconography