Research; Album Cover 2

Album Cover; Ultrabeat - 'Discolights the
album' (2009)




















The main colour scheme used within this album cover is blue. This connotes a clam feeling. It is also seen as more of a neutral or even a male colour instead of female dominant upbeat colours as seem on other album covers. The use of blue and white creates a calm atmosphere and doesn’t follow the code and conventions of dance music, as calm is not usually and emotion or atmosphere related to this genre. However the use of the blue rays of lighting, across the album cover, on the contrast of the black create the feel of disco lights or nightclubs which do relate to dance and therefore the dance genre.

A medium two shot is used to show the two male artists on the album cover. The fact that apart from copy they are the only things within the frame connotes the importance of the characters and shows the audience that these are the artists of the album. The characters are dressed in casual clothes which again breaks the codes and conventions as you would expect to see characters dressed up as if they are on a night out or look sexy and seductive. Furthermore lighting on the characters face allows us to clearly see their expressions; these expressions seem quite serious which again breaks the codes and conventions as the dance genre is seen as fun and upbeat.

The gesture of character on the right of the frame suggests he’s bored or fed up creating quite a negative atmosphere. It also makes the artists seem uninterested and hard to relate to by the audience. It also make the album seem quite confusing to the audience as they are not the kind of things you would expect to see on the album cover of this genre.

The copy on the album cover is a large font and is placed in the middle lower frame to connote its importance and attract audience’s attention. The artists name ‘Ultrabeat’ is a larger font size than the album name it’s self suggesting the album to be of a commercial value and increase the knowledge and therefore brand of the artists as the text size is likely to catch audiences eyes as they are also more likely to recognise artists names.

The colours used from the text fade from a blue into a bright white this again connotes calmness and purity which are not seen as things related with this genre. However it also gives the feel of a spot light, which can relate to nightclubs and the dance genre. Also the use of the slight reflection of the text suggests a mirror or a dance floor which again links to the dance genre.

The target audience of this album is the male audience due to the colour scheme and codes and conventions used, breaking the dominant ideology of women being the dominant target audience. Also the male characters are not portrayed as very attractive or sexual and are dressed in casual clothes this means they are unlikely to attract the female audience but that the male audience may be able to relate to them slightly.

This album cover does not seem to follow the typical codes and conventions of the dance genre, as the colour scheme create the wrong type of atmosphere and doesn’t include happy upbeat colours. As well as the typical convention of attractive or sexual models are not used on the front of the cover, as expected in this genre.