The document discusses the magazine advert for LCD Soundsystem's album 'This Is Happening', highlighting its minimalist design and artistic inspirations. The use of James Murphy's imagery, including a formal dress code and the repetition of the album's cover art, aims to connect with the indie audience and convey deeper themes. The advert's monochrome style and subtle symbolic meanings reflect the band's American dance-punk and electronica genre, contrasting with mainstream marketing approaches.

1. LCD Soundsystem's 'This is Happening' - Music Magazine Advert
Oftentimes in magazine adverts for album releases, we can observe the features and get an
insight into the genre of the artist and use audience theory to determine who they are
designed to be aimed at. For instance, in this poster advertising the release of LCD
Soundsystem's 'This is Happening'; the album is American dance-punk and electronica,
produced by what was an independent record label before it was purchased three years
later by Universal Music Group.
The one character present is represented by James Murphy, the artist behind LCD
Soundsystem. Murphy's body language is inspired by Robert Longo's artwork entitled 'Men
in the Cities' (1979), a pastiche which suggests that Murphy aims for LCD Soundsystem's
music to be associated with the art wave in New York City. This is stereotypical of indie
artists who prefer to produce work with substance, often linking to metanarratives such as
art and politics.
As well as recreating Longo's work, the dress code of Murphy suggests a narrative; he is
dressed formally as if for a date; or, more likely when considering the band's genre and the
songs on the album, as a politician. The absence of colour and particular style of costume
creates hermeneutic codes; Roland Barthes defines this as when something is open to the
interpretation of the audience. The artwork raises unanswered questions. Kept very simple,
nearly each feature of this music advert has symbolic connotations and an enhanced
meaning which will appeal to the artist's niche audience. These I have aforementioned, as in
the case of the suit carrying suggestions of
political formalities and the ninety degree
rotation of the image implying that the
artist is looking at the world from a
different angle.
The advert employs simulacra by repeating
the image used on the album's digipak
rather than using another image, making
the audience familiar with the cover art.
The album being released entitled 'This is
Happening' copies American art styles in a
postmodern fashion.
James Murphy is sharply dressed to reflect
the artwork of Robert Longo. The advert is
minimalist which is conventional within the
indie genre. The typography used is the
same as that on the digipak; the advert is
an exact copy of the album cover art
captioned with the release date. The image

2. has a monochrome edit, direct lighting and an indirect mode of address. These are all
characteristics of a more artistic design, selling the album's substance to a niche indie
audience, in contrast to more popular music from the big record labels which tend to use
star marketing or attractive imagery. The image is also rotated ninety degrees. The angle
makes it appear as though the artist is in his own space and his own world, suggesting that
the music is deep and atmospheric which would appeal to LCD Soundsystem's intended
audience.