Magazine Adverts

In this ad for indie rock band The View, their live shows are being advertised. The advert contrasts in many ways with the advert for Bombay Bicycle Club's live shows. Firstly, the font is not plain and stands out from the image. The unique and eye-catching font style infers that the band are also unique and stand out from the crowd. The style of the font gives the idea it could have been written by hand, which again shows an independent 'Do It Yourself' approach to an image, typical of the indie genre. As the font is in white over quite a dark background it also jumps out of the page at a reader.

Another way it differs from Bombay Bicycle Club's ad, is that the band members are not alongside each other but seemed to be placed in positions of how well they are known to an audience, with of course the lead singer in almost centre frame and at the foreground. The setting of the image seems to be beneath some trees, with the sun shining through over the lead singer's left shoulder. This is a natural and outdoors setting, giving the impression that the band are not in a studio, and are not manufactured, but have a more realistic image, which is typical of the indie genre. The setting also loosely reflects the name of the band as a 'view' is often connected with the outdoors and nature. The colour scheme of white and green again works with this idea of the outdoors and also have connotations of a calm and laid back image. The facial expressions on the band member's faces are quite serious, showing that perhaps they take their music and image seriously.

Magazine Adverts

This is an advert for the indie rock band Bombay Bicycle Club. The advert is advertising their upcoming live shows. The colour scheme of this advert is black and blue, which is a simple combination, and along with the simple font which is inside the square box, infers a straightforward and clear cut band that have established their image well. The fact that the font doesn't stand out as much from the page as that in other band's adverts, shows that Bombay Bicycle Club are well known and don't need to try and catch attention through colour and font in order for reader's to pay attention to their advert.

The photograph of the band shows all four members sitting beside each other, and so as equal, unlike in photographs of other band's in which generally the lead singer takes the centre and foreground. The photograph is also advertising the band's image, in a familiar and informal way, with each member pulling a different facial expression and bodily position. The comfortable expressions and positions of the band put the reader at ease and make them want to read the advert.

The advert as a whole is simple, with a recognisable logo for the name of the band, and an uncomplicated and familiar photograph of the band. These characteristics suggest a typical indie band, who have an independent approach to advertising their music.

Magazine Adverts

This is another advert from NME, for a debut album from indie/alternative/folk band Stornoway, called 'Beachcomber's Windowsill'. The advert contrasts very much with the one advertising Louise Aubrie, instead this advert is much more simple and traditional. The advert does not show the band at all, which means the focus is on the name of the band and the information under it about their album, as well as the descriptions it has from newspapers and magazines. This more traditional approach to advertising the band's album suggests they are quite old fashioned and independent in their approach to advertising their music, and perhaps their music is more important to them than their image, which may be something they want to get across to their audience.

The small pictures on the advert, which consist of a house with a light on and birds flying over head, a jellyfish and some other kind of creature, make a viewer curious as to what they mean and inquisitive about the band, and again also suggests a 'Do It Yourself' band, typical of the indie genre. By not having an image of the band them self, the advert is increasing their mystery and the curiousness of the reader. Again the word 'Debut' in bold letters suggests that the album is new and exciting, and the words 'OUT NOW' in capitals produces an urgency for readers to buy it, making the album seem more exclusive and a 'must-buy'. The advert includes descriptions from newspapers and NME itself, which give the reader a second opinion from reliable sources, and a reassurance that the band are worth listening to. Words like 'magical and majestic' and 'melodically magnificent' excite a reader as well as increasing the mystery of the band.

Magazine Adverts

In order to create our own magazine advert for our bands' album, we need to look at other bands' album advertisements in magazines to find out how the albums are advertised, especially those from the indie genre. I am going to analyse some advertisements I have found in the music magazine NME. NME stands for 'New Musical Express' and is a popular, UK published, music magazine. Therefore its adverts reach a large audience and bands will want to advertise their albums and live shows in NME.

This is an advertisement from NME for Louise Aubrie's debut album. Louise Aubrie is described on her website as 'indie post-punk' and therefore fits loosely to our bands' genre of indie /alternative. The advert has an ongoing colour scheme of faint pink, black and white. The faint pink infers a feminine side to the artist, yet the guitar, hat and the way she has her shoulders showing, imply an edgy side to her also. The mixture of edgy and feminine work well together to create the idea of an independent woman, which also works with the idea of indie artists being independent and standing out of the crowd. The advert is making strong statements about the artist's image and also telling the viewer the kind of artist she is by having the guitar and microphone, this tells us she is a singer and plays the guitar. The actual image on the advert is quite grainy, which suggests a 'Do It Yourself' style photograph, and the artist's elbow overlapping with the section of the image for the font also suggests this. The font itself stands out, the capital letters help to bring out the words, and it is obvious right away what the names of the artist and the album are, which means it successfully and clearly advertises the artist and their music.

Under the name of the artist and the album, the line 'Stunning Debut Album Out Now' is helping to sell the album. The word 'Stunning' suggests the music is beautiful and exciting, and the

word 'Debut' suggests that the album is new and fresh. The way the artist is positioned in the centre of the frame infers that she is the main focus, and important, and the angle of the camera means

that the viewer is looking up slightly at her, again inferring that she is important and a powerful independent woman. The artist's eyes look away from the camera and towards her name and the name of her album, which means a viewers eyes also direct this way as they follow her gaze.

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Lyrics to Our Chosen Song

I long what summer brings

Sunlight through open windows

Highlighting a lack of need for any kind of worry

I watched the time expire

Remove the carpet from my feet

On my living room

And with it all I want to keep the safety of my youth

I don’t want to go

When I hear that bell

Signal fire in my head

From out of this perfect slumber comes crystalline fear

The ring pulses in my ear

Heart blood pumping through my brain

Flash grenades remove my senses

I know I’m never going to hear the laughter from these streets

I don’t want to go

And evenings on the wind

Morning content to close its eyes

I catch a fleeting glance of someone I recognise

But cannot apprehend, there lies a decade in our eyes

Of eminence of faith

Of prospects unbeknown to me

He lights a cigarette

A glinting die is cast at noon

A child is left

A man is held in one resounding need

Signal fire in my head

Signal fire in my head

And with it all I want to keep the safety of my youth

I don’t want to go

Indie Music Video Analysis

The Courteeners - 'That Kiss'

'That Kiss' is a narrative/performance video, yet the narrative is broken up and gives the impression that it could be concept. The narrative is broken up by the performance of the lead singer singing the song. These breaks from the narrative, showing the lead singer, allows the audience to establish the singer by himself, familiarising themselves with his image and also the feeling in the lyrics he is singing. The lead singer is only singing the lyrics to the song during the parts of the video where he is on his own, and not during the narrative. This produces a personal situation between the lead singer and the audience, as if what he is singing is quite private and the other people in then narrative aren't supposed to know.

The video opens with different coloured lights and then a shot of a disco ball.

This tells the audience that the setting is going to be at a party as these are the connotations of a disco ball. The coloured lights through the windows of the house in the background give the impression that it is busy inside the house and that thereis a lot going on, however we see the lead singer standing alone outside the house singing; showing him to be isolated and wanting separation from the other people inside.

During the video we see shots of a girl, who looks back at the camera as if she knows she is being watched. This shows the idea of 'notions of looking' and being watched. We assume the lead singer is looking at her, and therefore we as an audience identify her as an important role in the song, and the object of the lyrics.

The video also shows lots of shots of young people, drinking and dancing. This would appeal to an indie audience as they are generally young themselves, and it would be a situation they could relate to. The 'party' setting is also done in a realistic fashion, not made to

seem high budget or manufactured as it may be in other music genres; this would also appeal to an indie audience who like the idea of independence from the mainstream, and presentations of reality rather than idealistic representations of situations.

The visuals in the music video amplify the lyrics, as the song is about the lead singer liking a girl who is with another man, but the girl likes him back and they end up kissing, which the lead singer knows is a mistake. We can tell these things from the lyrics from lines like "That kiss is lasted too long and we probably shouldn't have danced to that song", and "I know that I shouldn't but I enjoyed it".

Therefore tis supports Goodwin's Theory, and the visuals are amplifying the lyrics by showing shots of the girl looking at the lead singer whilst kissing her boyfriend, and also when she whispers in his ear and hands him a note, we assume that is asking him to meet her somewhere, as later we see her about to put on lipstick in front of the mirror.

The visuals also amplify the the music in parts of the video, again supporting Goodwin's Theory, such as when the music speeds up and the drum beat increases, there are more cuts between shots and the pace of the narrative increases as well as the energy in the dancing people in the video.

Our Chosen Song

Indie Music Video Analysis

Maroon 5 - 'Won't Go Home Without You'

'Won't Go Home Without You' is a performance/narrative music video, which is mainly performance, and the narrative increases as the video goes on. We see the lead singer singing the words throughout most of the video, there are only a few shots where he is not singing.

There are many close ups of the lead singer's face, this helps the audience to identify with him and how he is feeling, and the representation of looking int

o his eyes makes it a personal situation in which we as an audien

ce can see into his mind.

Flashbacks are used in this video, and the video begins with one, the audience can tell they are flashbacks because unlike the rest of the video they are in black and white - connoting the past and things that have happened previously. In the flashbacks the lead singer is not singing and performing the words, showing that the song is in

the present and the lead singer is looking back at something which has already happened, which is to do with a woman we presume the song is about and that he is in love with, as it i

s a love song.

The effect of the flashbacks in this video is that the audience get some background to do with how the singer got to where he is in the present in the video. We see how him and the woman 'broke up' which is what we assume as in the flash backs they are together and in the present narrative the singer is walking through the streets and into a restaurant to find her. The lyrics also suggest that they are no longer together through the lyrics "But now it's far too late, she's gone away". We also see at

the end of the video in the present, the woman sitting with another man at a table in a restaurant, when the lead singer finally finds her.

The narrative of the story i

s the man walking through streets to find the woman, this amplifies the lyrics, as in the song he sings about wanting her back "I asked her to stay, but she wouldn't listen" and "Just give me one more chance to make it right... I won't go home without you".

So in this way the video supports Goodwin's Theory of music videos, as the visuals are amplifying the lyrics.

At parts in the video the visuals also show a relationship between the visuals and the music, which also supports Goodwin's Theory of music videos; for example at the beginning of the video the visuals are in black and white while it is in the past, and then when the drum beat comes in the visuals turn into colour and the present.

Target Audience

Indie Music Video Analysis

The Metros - 'Talk About It'

'Talk About It' is more of a concept/performance music video than a narrative video, which features performance in terms of the lead singer singing the words, and also a 'story-line' where the band run through the streets of a town the whole way through the video. A lot of the video is filmed in long shots and medium long shots of the band running, however, there are images occasionally of the lead singer dancing or singing, these tend to be medium close ups, where the audience gets a closer and more personal identification with the singer and the lyrics.

The lead singer is the main focus of the video, the other band members are shown also, and all are wearing different clothes and so do not blend in together, however the lead singer is given the most focus and there are lots of shots of him by himself singing, or standing in front of the other band members, this supports Goodwin's theory that there is a demand on the record company for lots of close-ups of the lead vocalist. The band's clothing is very important as it presents the image of the band. Their clothing consists of suit jackets, shirts, bow ties, skinny legged jeans and trousers and big chains; it presents their image as 'geek chique' and the idea that being a 'geek' is fashionable and 'cool'.

The lyrics do not relate to the visuals of the video, and so by Goodwin's Theory it is contradicting this aspect. However, there are points in the video where it illustrates Goodwin's Theory in the way that there is a relationship between the music and the visuals. At one point in the video there is a break in the music, at which point the band members jump in the air and are frozen for the second that the music breaks, and then the movement is continued when the music comes back in.

Indie Music Video Analysis

The Killers - 'Read My Mind'

This music video by The Killers is also a performance/concept video. The band wear similar clothing in this video, all dressed in black suits and waistcoats; this expresses the bands image and conveys them as a whole group who are unified. The clothing promotes the image of the band to the audience; this seems to be a popular concept of indie music videos.

This band use humour in their video, such as someone dressed up in a monster suit and also some costume changes by the band; this promotes the bands image as humourous and fun to the audience, who would then like the band and possibly want to imitate their unique indepent image.

The setting of this video is similar to the setting of the The Kooks music video, in that it is set in an urban city environment, but possibly in China or Japan. The upbeat tempo of the song reflects the colourful video and its colourful setting, even though the lyrics themselves do not relate to the music video, Goodwin's Theory would explain this as the visuals contradicting the lyrics. The music begins quietly and calmly, with some pale long shots of a city under a mountain, and as the song builds tempo and rhythm the more colourful the video becomes; showing brightly coloured city lights and street scenes.

Indie Music Video Analysis

The Kooks - 'Always Where I Need To Be'

The Kooks are an English indie band and I am going to look at one of their music videos in order to identify some of the typical features of an indie music video.

The music video "Always Where I Need To Be" is a performance/concept video which focuses very much on the image of the band. For example, the identifiable style of clothes the band wear, such as the coat with the fur lining in the image on the left. These individual style clothes reflect the individuality of the band and their indepence. An audience would instantly identify with an image such as this, and would perhaps follow this image.




Throughout the video there are lots of close ups and medium close ups of the band members; this again allows the audience to identify with the band members, and get a more intimate and personal sense of them. There are also many shots of the bands playing instruments, this is another way of the band advertising their image and their musical abilities to an audience, it also shows the way they make their music and the style of the music visually as well as audially.




The band use colour as well as black and white during the video, the black and white conveys a vintage, urban sense to the video, which are two features of an indie band's style and image. It also makes the video more interesting to watch as the different effects create different moods throughout the video.

The setting of the video is in an urban environment, such as towns/cities, parks and industrial areas; of these there are lots of long shots, which establishes the environment and location of the video. The setting also reflects on the band, it shows them to be city-living people, who are young and around the places that young people want to be or can see themselves in and identify with.