Appendix 9: Music Poster AnalysisBy Charlie Rodgers

This tour poster for John Mayer uses quite earthy colours on it which might connote what the music itself may be like, really down to earth and natural not like a lot of the computer generated music we hear these days. The main image on the poster is looking down towards the floor. This could be as he is lost in the music and not realizing that we are even looking at him. It also gives quite a deep emotional feeling to it so this may be a visual representation of his music. The poster is set out in a very standard way with the main masthead at the top, image in the middle and dates at the bottom, this will be for the convenience of the viewer. All though it isn't a real picture of John Mayer you can still make out his style as you can still see key iconic things such as his long hair and sunglasses. This is very stereotypical of his genre and even pulls on the strings of the hippy generation which re-enforces the connotation of his music being real and natural. Also the font is all out of line with scratches and scuffs on it giving it a real authentic handmade feel again this show him staying away from the computer generated look. Also as the text is all askew it makes the artist look very edgy and different

You can see how high key lighting on the mid shot of the artist is used on the front cover. Them main reason for this is so you can see the artist clearly because she's a new artist so she needs to be the main focal point to make her recognisable to the public. The other reason is because she is an attractive person so if you can see her clearly on the front it will enhance the male gaze (Laura Mulvey) making the male population more interested in the album. Also because she is represented in a nice way it will also enhance the ideal self/partner (Carl Rogers) as man will want to be with her and women will want to be her. The Location where the picture is took is very suited as it is outside and the album is called ‘Stay Out’. The fact that is also half white and half rough brick could represent how we all have our good and bad sides just like the artist who might not be as sweet and innocent as first perceived. Her facial expression is very serious. This could connote that this album might be very serious and the songs in it might have a lot of depth and meaning to them and that is why the have chosen a serious expression and location rather than a much more fun and light approach. Also because this is one of her early albums she is the main focus of the front cover. The reason for this is because this will then get her image across to her

demographic and make her much more recognisable to an audience. For this album there isn't anything genre codes that stand out massively apart from her clothing. Her clothing is rather stereotypical in terms of her genre of indie acoustic. She is wearing a baggy alternative look jumper which her audience will be able to see and relate to as this will be the same type of clothing they will wear. This makes the artist seem more inspirational to her target audience as they will view her as being similar to them and a reachable goal. The album name for this one is ‘Stay Out’. The connotations of especially when you combine it with the music video is literally just staying out, like on a night out for example. This will be a very relatable topic for her target audience as they will all be of a similar age to her (18-25) and they will fully endorse the staying out lifestyle and it will have been something they will have done repeatedly in their lives so they will be able to fully relate to the album name and song. For the fonts they have used sans serif fonts that are quite different from normal style fonts you may see. This connotes that the artist is going to be a little bit different and quite quirky compared to normal artist you may come across. But the font is also quite elegant and flowing at the same time, this is to represent the girly side of the artist as well.

The low key lighting, along with the solemn expression, black and white effect and the actual name of the album on the poster all lead down to path of quite a dark and unhappy connotations about the album this poster is advertising. On top of this with song names such as lust and death only reinforces the negativity which surrounds this poster. On top if the the actual photography for the poster is rather reminiscent of a mug shot picture which is taken before you go into jail, just another arrow pointing to the negative connotations of this poster. Juxtaposed to all the darkness on this poster there is a brilliant white bold sans serif font which really stands out. The denotation of this is is bright and eye catching for on lookers but the connotation of this could be that not everything is dark and bad about this there is still some good. Lana also fits in the ideal self/partner category as her female audience will see her and want to be her as she is represented as a strong attractive female and for the same reasons her male audience will see her and want to be with her. Another thing about Lana in the picture would be the indirect mode of address which connotes her being in deep thought which in tern could be representing her music being deep and meaningful.

High key lighting is used on the artist on this poster to make him stand out so as a on looker you know its about him and he should be the main focus but as it s a rather busy poster without the high key light he may have become lost in the background. Also very similar to the John Mayer poster I have already talked about lots of earth browns and sea blues have been used to make up this poster giving strong connotations of his music be natural and down to earth and not digitally processed. The setting of the picture is him on stage with his acoustic guitar and live band. This is very important because for an artist like him because it further reinforces him being a natural artist not auto tuned and computer generated and for his genre and style of music this is their unique selling point which is why is is so reinforced on there posters. His indirect mode of address and body language connotes him being lost in the music and atmosphere at his performance which is a positive thing to try and get across to people as it will make it seem like it’s a brilliant atmosphere and show when you go and see Jason Mraz.

His clothing is very simple of just jeans and a checked shirt which although they are rather stereotypical of people that listen to his genre of music they are very simple and plain. The reason for this is because he doesn't need big showy off outfits unlike artists like Lady GaGa because with him its all about the music not material possessions. Another thing about this poster is he uses great use of iconography by having the acoustic central in the image. The reason for this is because as soon as anyone sees an acoustic guitar irrelevant of whether they know who Jason Mraz is or not they will straight away know the vibe of his music and will be able to tell whether they would be interested in reading the poster in more detail. Also as I mentioned about the John Mayer poster the font has scratches and scuffs on it giving it a real authentic handmade feel again this show him, once again, staying away from the computer generated look.

High key lighting is used once again on the artist to make sure you recognize that he is the main focus of the piece as the poster is for him and his tour dates. Once again very natural colours and even location on this one with him being in a field is used as a visual representation of his music connoting it is natural, pure and unhampered with by computers. The reason we are seeing this a lot is because I am doing music posters for indie acoustic as that is what my artist is going to be so they are all in the same genre and the music being natural is a big emphasis and stereotypical theme seen in this genre. Even the masthead on this poster has gone for a hand drawn natural look as you can still even seen the guidelines on the text as if its still in its raw form like his music. His style is a very alternative one as he has long ginger dreadlocks and a denim shirts. This will appeal to his audience as they will like his style as it is something them would aspire to look like but also they will love his attitude of now caring what anyone else thinks, he’ll look like he wants.