Overall, we find that the advertisments around us convey both direct and indirect messages. Some ads are smart, others are just sexual, some try to sell products, and others try to promote awarness. Whatever the objective, ads help shape what our society is today, and give our generation a list of what to be, who to be, and what is acceptable.

Exotica AD: http://lh5.ggpht.com/_gKQKwLZ8XUs/Sqv2tVacBeI/AAAAAAAABqg/1XnJvMHOnAc/s800/exotica-flower-shop-mothers-day.jpg

CellUCom AD: http://adsoftheworld.com/media/print/cellucom_colleauge?size=_original

Axe AD: www.anvari.org/cols/Axe_Effect/Axe_Nun.html

<!–[if supportFields]> BIBLIOGRAPHY <![endif]–>Advertisment Definition. (n.d.). Retrieved December 3, 2009, from www.dictionary.com: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/advertisement

<!–[if supportFields]><![endif]–>

Ad of Exotica- One company that receives my upmost respect for its advertising is Exotica. The advertisement I choose to represent this company pictures a holiday everyone around the world celebrates, Mother’s Day. With a twist, Exotica managed to turn an international holiday into something Lebanese. The bottom line is that Exotica is trying to sell us flowers, however, they don’t just tell us that, instead, they give us a reason to buy the flowers. The first reaction you get from the image portrays a happy, caring, loving, and to large extent endearing mood. This is achieved by the mother (whose hands are only present) pinching the cheeks of her “baby” man. In our culture, pinching someone like that is just something us Lebanese do. The photograph is taken in first person view, as it you are the mother pinching the man giving personality to the image. The text on the ad, “We’re all children on Mother’s Day”, compliments the image by stating that no matter whom you are (a man or a boy, women or girl), it’s still your duty to appreciate your mother especially on this day, and what better way to do so than send her some flowers

Overall the image touches the people that view it by showing them a piece of our culture using a simple background, a simple setting, an understanding expression (the man’s face almost says the phrase “okay mom”), and a very traditional/cultural element. All these fundamentals combined generate a strong and attractive advertisement.

Ad of CellUCom- The second advertisement shows two men talking on the phone, and one of them is the driver and the other one is sitting on top of him. The company initially is a mobile retail store who obviously sells mobile devises, but in this case they are not only trying to show that they sell phones, but in fact that they care for their customers. In our culture, this advertisement doesn’t affect us much because safety isn’t the main concern for our people, which this advertisement is trying to promote. The text accompanied along with the picture “Concentrate on the road, not your conversation” helps spread awareness of driving and talking, but in a subtle way.

The setting of the image is in a car with a very spontaneous, vibrant mood. I found it every infective because it contradicted what the text was saying. The photograph is a straight half body shot, which eliminates everything going on around the two men. The two men in the ad appear busy with their conversations, however, one of them angry and the other one more aggressive. A more effective approach would be to craft a darker mood with a focus more on what consequences of driving and talking on the phone would be. On the other hand, if the company was trying to promote their product offerings, then they failed to do that as well because the main focus does not lead us towards the phones, but more towards the people.

Ad of The Axe Effect- Personally, I believe that Axe has the best advertisements for its products. The ad I choose could be relevant to any culture around the world and not necessarily ours, so in some words it’s diverse and expandable to different areas around the world. The targets are the younger generation who tend to be more open minded towards mature content and therefore generally accept the ads Axe create, and sometimes favor them. The ad shows a nun with a laundry clip on her nose. The setting is simple; the image is a portrait photograph of the nun. The colors are de-saturated and burned to give a feeling of a rather old but tempting mood. The burn effect also gives us a lack of dynamism and replaces it with neutralism. If you look at the face of the nun, the expressions on her face are very modest, and fairly religious, but at the same time the image gives us the room to predict or feel that she need something a little more than faith to stop her. In this case, stopping her from the man (absent) that has the Axe deodorant on him. The company in this case is trying to promote and sell the deodorant that gives you the Axe Effect, which all women go head over heels for. Overall the image represents lust, humor, and the absent illusion of sex. I say absent because we can see that the nun had to clip her nose in order to resist the tempting scent of Axe.

Advertisments are all around us. From the web pages on the internet, to the billboards high on the rooftops, humans are surrounded by them. They impact us, impact our enviroment and our perceptions. They influnce us, and set the image of what is so called “acceptable” in our society.

Lebanon is a country that is outnumbered by advertisements. From the billboards on rooftops, to the framed prints in the bathroom stalls, they are surrounding us. Advertisements are what drive our emotions, touch our senses, and sometimes even keep us entertained. However, what do we define as good advertisements?

Music Matters

Dory Younes

American University of Beirut

Music Matters

Abstract

The major key players in the music industry have shifted our views of what we call music today. From the struggles of independent record labels to the price wars of major record labels we find that not every industry is perfect. The essay is a critical evaluation of the current quality, content, and value of the music industry.

* (List of Sony Music Entertianment Labels, 2009)

* (List of Sony Music Entertainment Artists, 2009)

** (List of EMI Labels, 2009)

** (List of musicians signed to EMI)

*** (List of Universal Music Group labels, 2009)

Based on the breakdown form the article Wal-Mart wants $10 Cds in the Rolling Stones website, the total cost of the collection of music I listed above is approximately $159.9. (COHEN, 2004)

The music industry is a money gateway, and when you look at all the places your money goes to when buying a music CD, you stop and ask yourself, is it worth it? The music I listen to, or anyone else, is directed and approved by the same major record companies. Most profits are heading to them and only some of the artists are getting a fair cut. However, the bad part comes with the independent record labels that are finding it harder and harder to survive the competition that major record labels present. It’s tough resisting the dominance of the big players in the music industry since most the authoritative power is coming from the same people. If you look at the table, 50% of my music is owned by Sony BMG Entertainment. So, am I a serious supporter of the artists? Let’s dig into the quality of the music first to find out.

There are multiple differences when it comes to comparing the music from an independent record label company versus a major label company. First off, the content of the music becomes more main-stream when you are under the major record label companies. Independent record labels have more control of what they want to produce and most the records they produce are not commercialized like the major record labels. The quality of music also differs in that you get more quality but less quantity when you deal with independent record labels. Major record labels aim for making more money. Independent record companies might be big corporations too, but they keep their quality and practice their traditions. It’s hard to find an independent record company that doesn’t entertain the people by setting the quality of content standards pretty high. “Some prefer to use the term indie label to refer to only those independent labels that adhere to an arbitrary, ill-defined criteria of corporate structure and size, and some consider an indie label to be almost any label that releases non-mainstream music, regardless of its corporate structure.” (Record label, 2009)

Since there are a select handful of major companies that dominate the music industry, an artist is going to have to weigh all pros and cons of joining a major record label. For starters, having a bunch of major record labels means that every one of those record labels is going to do everything to hire anyone just to have a greater pool of artists. The question becomes, are those record labels doing it for the money or are they doing it because they actually like the music. Honestly, I believe that they do it for the money, and I say that because you can literally find over 50 artists that are signed under each major record label. Basically, to them a single artist means nothing, and their aim is to make records that sell millions, so in turn they can make millions. Another negative in having a major record labels controlling everything is that they don’t work for the artists, instead, the artist works for them. The point is that artists start to make music to please the record labels. The more the album sells, the better off the artist becomes. (McDonald)

The positives of having major record labels dominate are that the artists benefit from more money opposed to being independent, have more connections, and benefit from the size of the record label companies. More money comes handy with promotion and advertising for the album, which is a huge benefit for the artist. This is an advantage over independent record labels because they have greater buying power and a greater audience. Multibillion dollar record labels have the purchasing power to produce and market millions of albums, especially the ones that they find profitable. To the consumer, whether an artist chooses to produce his/her albums independently or with a major record label determines the quality of content in the music, more independent artists have the advantage of passion for music rather than passion for the money. (McDonald)

When discussing trends, you find very similar characteristics about certain mainstream music. The first is that most the music I have are highly commercialized, and that is one of the main objectives of a major record label; getting the music out there. However, this makes it extremely hard for the independent labels to make it mainstream, since they are practically competing against giants. The second trend involves production. Many albums I listen to have millions of copies produced and distributed around the world. The music styles are different, but in some sense they are made to be put on radios; liked by the majority of people. That the difference between underground music and commercial music, not everyone enjoys underground unless they are true fans of the genre itself. (McDonald)

“”We’re in such a competitive world, and you can’t reach consumers if you’re not in Wal-Mart,” admits another label executive.” (COHEN, 2004) Wal-Marts dominance in the music industry has affected all types of companies. From the local music store to the major record label, everyone felt threatened by Wal-Marts entry into the music industry. Selling music only totals to 2% of Wal-Marts total sales, however, it sells about 20% of major record label sales. (COHEN, 2004) With that in mind, Wal-Mart demanded that record labels sell their CD’s at cheaper prices so that Wal-Mart could sell them at $9.72. (COHEN, 2004) As this price war evolved, record label companies began finding it difficult to compete against Wal-Marts power in the music industry. In some sense, I find that to be the cause of Wal-Marts decline in leadership, along with the fact that Wal-Mart wants everything their way. However, I also believe that Wal-Mart lost interest in music sales because only a few of the major record labels agreed on lowering the prices for Wal-Mart.  Wal-Marts plan was to sell CD’s for a price cheaper than they originally bought it for, hoping that someone would buy complementary items such as stereos. (COHEN, 2004) Therefore, the artist had to look for alternatives to sell their music, and one of the most popular ways to sell became online (ex. iTunes). From a consumer’s perspective, music became so much cheaper now that you can download single tracks or albums at low prices.

To sum up, the music industry is a money chugging industry that has multiple twists and turns. From the major record labels to the independent ones, money is somehow involved, either by having an excess of it or not having it at all. However, the fine line between making good music and making excellent music differentiates the passionate artists from the ones who are just trying to make money. Nowadays, the main goal of most major music industries is to make the most profits, and they achieve that by acquiring more artists to add to their pool. Personally, I find that to be a negative since it takes away from the quality of the music, the quality of the content, and the passion of the artists themselves. The only thing added is money to the pockets of the giants. So am I a serious supporter? Yes and no. Yes because I enjoy the music the artists make and I respect their dedication to the music industry. No because the artists are controlled by too many factors, the main being the cooperation’s they work for.

References

COHEN, W. (2004, October 12). Rolling Stone. Retrieved November 1, 2009, from Walmart wants $10 CDs: http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/6558540/walmart_wants_10_cds

List of EMI Labels. (2009, October 18). Retrieved November 1, 2009, from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_EMI_labels

List of musicians signed to EMI. (n.d.). Retrieved November 1, 2009, from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_musicians_signed_to_EMI

List of Sony Music Entertainment Artists. (2009, October 30). Retrieved November 1, 2009, from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Sony_Music_Entertainment_artists#P

List of Sony Music Entertianment Labels. (2009, October 28). Retrieved November 1, 2009, from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Sony_Music_Entertainment_labels

List of Universal Music Group labels. (2009, October 31). Retrieved Novemer 1, 2009, from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Universal_Music_Group_labels

McDonald, H. (n.d.). Major Record Label Deals: Pros and Cons. Retrieved November 3, 2009, from About.com: http://musicians.about.com/od/beingamusician/a/majorlabelpandc.htm

Record label. (2009, October 25). Retrieved November 2, 2009, from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Record_label#Major_vs._Independent_record_labels

ML Paper 1- The Rolling Stone Magazine

Critic on the Rolling Stones Magazine Cover

Dory Younes, 200801729

SOAN 207

October 19, 2009

Abstract

The essay discuses the Rolling Stone Magazine, a publication that discuses contemporary topics mainly pertaining to the entertainment industry. The critic cover all the topics pertaining the cover story and focuses on the cover page itself. I discuss the design elements in the cover page including the fonts, colors, pictures, and headlines. Furthermore, I added a section that discusses the effects of changing some of the elements in the cover page and how people might react to that.

The Big Picture

After reading the article by Jack Rosenthal named THE PUBLIC EDITOR; What Belongs on the Front Page of The New York Time, I started to realize and look at magazine covers in a completely different way. Then, after searching online for different magazine covers, the Rolling Stone magazines stood out the most. I enjoy the Rolling Stones magazines, and what I enjoy most is their covers. Straight off, the Rolling Stone covers depict exactly what you, as the reader, are going to stumble upon inside the issue; however, they do it in a unique way. The main subject in this issue is obviously 50 Cent, however, that’s not all the Rolling Stones has for its readers. Without even focusing, our eyes are drawn into all the other surprises they have in the issue. The Rolling Stone not only focuses on the importance of the 50 Cent articles, but also gives equal weights to the other articles that are just as important. There aren’t many magazines that do this correctly, but of the ones that do, the Rolling Stone Magazine is the leader. The theme is crisp, clear and attractive. (Watson, 2003)

Looking deeper into the main cover story, we read the caption or by-line of the image, which reads, “50 CENT MASTERING THE ART OF VIOLENCE.” Is it catchy? Definitely. The reason I feel that the tag line is attract is because of the image that compliments the line. 50 Cent in the image gives us the representation of a mean fighting machine. Standing cross armed with his back towards the audience, 50 Cent appears to be that someone you would not want to mess with. The image is strong, clear, and vibrant. By adding the chain to the back, it gives off a “thuggish” vibe, or even a violent one. But it doesn’t end there, if you look at most the other stories, they all have similar themes: violence, war, tragedy. Example: “ZERO HOUR WITH THE U.S. NAVY ON THE EYE OF WAR.” Therefore, the Rolling Stones will not only cover the main articles in the issue and give them equal importance, but will try to have most the publications related by theme. (Watson, 2003)

Now if you take a look at the font and the font style, you notice that there is unity between the texts. The font is readable, neutral, bold and effective (especially since everything is capitalized).  Most the text is in red and black, again complimenting the theme, and the other texts are in more of a gold color, such as the main title. (Watson, 2003)

A New Perspective

A suggestion to an alternative cover picture perhaps be a picture 50 Cent in the same position (on the magazine) just with a different look, one that makes him seem like he just came out of a battle a winner. His clothes would be torn with some bleeding around his body. Perhaps some cuts around his body and face. In addition he would be carrying the microphone as his weapon. The headline to go with that might be something like “50 CENT: MASTERING HIS OPPONETS” or “50 CENT: THE BATTLEMASTER.” This change might cause the readers/viewers to perceive the image in a different way. It gives a different feel to the cover story, suggesting that he is a master in both the music industry and his daily struggles/disputes. It also suggests to the readers that the article discusses 50 Cents career and the fight to achieving his goals.

The alteration of the image might also attract other readers since it hints that the story is not only talking about 50 Cent as a rapper, but discussing 50 Cent’s rise towards fame and all the struggles of his life. The layout would be the same giving the cover a strong feel that tells its viewers that this issue will be filled with excitement and battles!

Overall, the design of the original cover is unique yet simple. It’s not over clustered and yet provides the readers with plenty of information on what’s found in the current issue. From a designer’s perspective, I find the cover extremely effective since it portrays and compliments the overall theme of the issue. All the elements within the cover page (font, colors) were placed in a nice, eye catching layout. After all, the main point of the cover page is to provide the most information within the best layout. In this case, both the image and texts are the information used in the layout.

Works Cited

Watson, A. (2003). 2003 Rolling Stone Covers. Retrieved October 16, 2009, from Rolling Stone: http://www.rollingstone.com/photos/gallery/5399657/2003_rolling_stone_covers/photo/6/large/

]]> http://younesdory.wordpress.com/2009/10/19/ml-paper-1-the-rolling-stone-magazine/feed/ 0 younesdory http://younesdory.wordpress.com/2009/10/08/hello-world/ http://younesdory.wordpress.com/2009/10/08/hello-world/#comments Thu, 08 Oct 2009 10:41:54 +0000 younesdory ]]> Welcome to WordPress.com. This is your first post. Edit or delete it and start blogging!