The document summarizes and analyzes a magazine advertisement for the experimental electronic music band Crystal Castles. The ad features an image of a pale child in dark winter clothing standing alone in what appears to be a graveyard. Though disturbing at first glance, the unsettling image relates to the band's unusual music. Text at the bottom promotes the band's name, album, and quotes praising the band. The ad also features the logo of music retailer HMV, promoting sales of the album through a major store.

1. Rosie Burns<br />Magazine Advertisement<br />3423285216535 <br />‘Crystal Castles’ are an experimental electronic music band from Toronto and they were formed in 2003. On the right is the image that they have used in their magazine advertisement. The one that I will be analysing took up a whole page in a music magazine. The main feature of this advertisement is the child on the right of the image who is stood in what looks to be a graveyard. The child is wearing dark winter clothing and has a very pale complexion. The image is fairly cold and has an old fashioned edge to it because of the editing effect which has been used and the child’s style of clothing. At first glance this image is fairly disturbing because you do not expect a child to be wondering through a graveyard alone. The unusualness of it however does relate to the band as a whole because the music that they create is different and not mainstream. Like ‘Unkle’s’ advertisement, the band are again not featured in the image. Unlike many of the Pop and R ‘n’ B artists, it is typical of experimental and rock bands to use other images and artwork on their advertisements. Crystal Castles have therefore conformed to the genres conventions as they have used an unusual image that possibly only their target audience would understand and appreciate.<br />The text which includes the band name, album name, quotes and website is situated on the bottom left of the advertisement. The text is white with a solid black box behind it and is in capital letters. This is so that the information can stand out against the image, unlike ‘Unkle’s’ whose text blended in with their advertisement. This suggests that they are trying harder to sell their album as the two quotes from ‘NME’ and ‘Hype Machine’ also help to attract and appeal to more of a wider audience. They have also included the dates of when the album can be downloaded and when it is on sale in stores so that the audience are aware that it can be purchased using different formats. On the bottom right of the advert is HMV’s logo and website underneath it. This is a type of synergy which enables both the band and company who sell their product have maximum promotion and an increase in sales. As HMV is a well known recognisable company, it means that their album can easily be purchased by their audience as people will be aware of where to find it. Having their logo on the magazine advertisement also helps to show that they are a successful band as HMV is one of the largest music retail stores in the UK. From looking at the advertisement I believe that ‘Crystal Castles’ target audience is predominately males aged 16-25. This is because of the simplicity of the advertisement and dark colour scheme.<br />