My CD cover - First Draft

I had contacted an artist called Vemedy and asked if he was interested in being part of my Media Project.  He had agreed to take part and sent me his song which is called '4 seconds'.  As he is a grime artist I created the following as my first draft Cd cover:

• The plain white background makes the black stand out which is why I chose to do this.  I created a minimalist cover to show he is proud of where he is from and his music supports his area.  I also wanted to portray my artist to show that he is more interested in his music rather than his appearance.
• I did a silhouette of the estates as grime artists are normally from poor/working-class areas.  Grime music videos are also filmed in their hometown (estates) to show that they are proud of where they have come from.
• I chose a street style graffiti font to convey the genre of Grime.
• The silhouette of the estates also suggests that the artists lyrics are going to be about his roots and some controversial issues.  
• The splats of spray paint suggests underground, graffiti which also conveys the genre of Grime.

Album Artwork Analysis - Kano - Home Sweet Home

Another grime artist which I looked at is Kano

• Kano is dressed wearing a hoodie which is normally associated with someone who is from a rough area/estates.  He is not dressed in designer clothing, just inexpensive clothing which connotates that he may be from a working class background.  Therefore an audience from a working class background may be able to relate with his music and him as the artist.
• Behind him we see a projection of a couple of guys leaning against a bricked wall.  This suggests that Kano may be from there and is looking back at where he is from, hence the album's name: Home sweet home.  He is proud of where he is from and will not forget his roots.
• The album cover is quite dark and so is his clothing.  This may suggest that Kano does not care much about appearance but focuses more on his music. 
• The font he has used is quite bold and basic, however the word 'sweet' is written in a curly and handwritten style font.  He may have made it look like he has handwritten this word to show he loves his 'home' - where he has come from.

Album Artwork Analysis - Devlin - 'Bud, Swear & Beers'

As my unsigned artist is a grime MC, I have decided to analyse the album cover of another famous grime MC - Devlin 

• Devlin himself is dressed very simple, and casual.  He may have done this so he can relate to anyone, and not just a particular group of people.  This suggests that his music may target everyone in a particular way.  It also suggests that Devlin may not care so much about his appearance and more about his music as he is dressed very minimal and all in black.
• He is wearing a Fred Perry polo top which is a British brand.  This connotates that Devlin is a British MC
• Him leaning against a brick wall suggests he may be from a poor working-class background.  Therefore a working-class audience may enjoy Devlin's music and be able to relate with it. 
• 'Bud, Sweat & Beers' has been written in a handwritten font.  This looks as if Devlin has written the name of the album himself.  This makes the Cd feel more personal to the purchaser.  It also suggests that Devlin's lyrics may be quite serious and personal to him due to this.

How this research will help me in my campaign for my unsigned artist

After I have conducted a research and asked the public of all different age groups what they look for on a Cd cover, and the amount of people who actual purchase Cd's, I am now aware of what I need to do in order to create an effective Cd cover.  Having this knowledge I can now apply it to my task, therefore increase Cd sales for my unsigned music artist.  

Results of my Questionnaire

I handed out my questionnaire to eight participants, two participants for each age group.  This way I would get varied results.  After I conducted my questionnaire my results showed that:

2/2 people aged 30 and above DO purchase Cd's

1/2 people aged 25-29 DO purchase Cd's

0/2 people aged 20-24 DO NOT purchase Cd's

0/2 people aged 15-19 DO NOT purchase Cd's

My results state that older people aged from 25-30 do purchase Cd's, however the younger generation aged 15-24 do not purchase Cd's.  This may be because the younger generation are now able to easily use the Internet and download music or listen to it on YouTube etc.  Whereas the older generation may not be fluent at using the Internet and being able to do this, therefore they purchase the CD.  The older generation also prefer to have a physical copy of the CD as they like looking at the artwork used.

Research on CD purchasing

I carried out a questionnaire and asked a number of people to see if people purchase CD's and if so, why?

Album Artwork Analysis - Grace Jones - 'Slave to the Rhythm'

- After looking at this album cover I guessed the genre was Punk, this was because of the artists mohawk hairstyle as this was a hairstyle which the subculture of Punks used to have.  However the genre is actually electro, dance.

- The artists mouth is very large mouth (editted), which suggests masculinity and also that she may be singing about social issues which may upset some people.

- Through this album cover, the artist does not conform to the mainstream. As, females are stereotypically known for being pretty and attractive, however Grace Jones has not shown this through her album cover.  Instead she looks masculine through the way she is posing and her mohawk hairstyle.

- The broken glass surrounding her shows forms of aggression, aggresiveness -> yell of rage, power of her voice, nature.

- Her large mouth suggests her lyrics are more important 

- Minimalist cover makes her stand out more than the album name and her name on the cover.

- There is not much colour used on the cover.

- The artist herself, Grace Jones, looks very unfeminine as she is wearing no earings, she has a mohawk,  no jewellery, large mouth which all suggest masculinity.

- 'Slave to the rhythm' - this has a controversial and political edge.

- Facial expression suggests aggression -> this is emphasised and exaggerated by the long face

- She doesnt appear to look scared or in pain, shes yelling -> this suggests that her voice is powerful

- The cleff lines going across her mouth shows she has multiple tongues which could suggest the different topics/issues she sings about.

- Plain background is different to mainstream artists -> white background makes her stand out.