CD covers...

Avril Lavigne - Girlfriend

The artist attempts to hide her identity from the audience by obscuring her eye with her hair. Despite this the artist uses a direct mode of address, although she is not central in the frame, in order to connect with her audience through use of the uses and gratifications audience theory.

The colours red, blue and white are on the back of the artists’ costume. This is possibly another way in which the artist tries to appeal to her audience because they are the colours of both the British and the American flags. This is not unusual for an artist however it isn’t expected from this artist as she is Canadian not American or British however by having these colours on the CD cover she will instantly appeal to a patriotic audience. Another reason for the use of these colours could be an attempt on the artists’ part to try and bridge the gap between the different, yet extremely similar cultures.

The artists’ blonde hair fits the genre stereotype. This ensures her target audience is reached and consider her fashionable and a role model.

The albums title is suited to the genre as it is cartoon style and very girly looking whilst using ‘rock’ images such as cross bones, it is playing off the traditional skull and crossbones image. This creates a unique look which is easy to read due to the clear copy which is all capital.

The artist challenges character stereotypes by not sexualising herself. Absolutely nothing about her could be considered sexual besides her facial expression. Her expression is neutral to the point of acting ‘hard to get’ which completely contradicts the song ‘girlfriend’ where the artist is trying to draw a guy away from another girl.

Unfortunately I was unable to find the back cover for this CD.

P!NK - So what

Everything about this CD cover connotes power, particularly the leather jacket and the way her hands are positioned. This communicates a strong female role model to the audience, with an edge of masculinity. It could be seen as a post feminist representation of a woman.

The colour of the copy draws attention to the artists’ name purely because it is green rather than pink as one would expect. The ‘!’ in the artists’ name also does this in addition to making her name a little quirky and interesting.

Despite this only being a mid shot the artists’ entire body is within the frame due to her pose. By posing as she is she is empowering herself as nothing about her is sexual in any way and it makes her look as though she is ready to take on anything. By using a direct mode of address this idea is reinforced and the gender stereotype is challenged. She appears to be very masculine though her costume and position within the frame however her name has a huge number of female connotations.

The black background ensures the audiences’ attention is focused solely on the artist as she is he most important thing within the frame and the only way to pass any message to the audience.

Ashlee Simpson - Boyfriend

For this CD cover Ashlee Simpson uses direct mode of address in order to connect with her target audience through uses of the uses and gratifications audience theory. Everything on his CD cover is in some way drawing in the artists’ audience.

Her costume particularly aids her in doing this. By wearing the gel bracelets she is engaging in common trends amongst teenagers which have numerous sexual connotations which links into the actual outfit the artist is wearing. By wearing a shirt and tie she is drawing attention to her youth in addition to drawing in the audience and imitating Britney Spears famous naughty schoolgirl look which goes through periods of being really popular with teenagers. Overall her outfit makes her look quite childish but her facial expression gives the opposite impression. Her moody facial expression and overtly sexual pose show she is mature and not quite as innocent as she is trying to appear to a younger audience. To an older audience she gives a naughty schoolgirl impression and appears to be trying to appeal to male fantasies. The fact that her facial expression is moody also makes it quite sultry so her differing audiences can both identify with her.

The colour scheme on this CD cover also has quite ‘naughty’ connotations as red is a colour with romantic connotations whilst black is quite a rebellious colour.

The copy is positioned at slants to show she’s not on the ‘straight and narrow’. This combined with the schoolgirl appearance shows the artist does not conform to rules. This is, to a point, challenging the gender stereotype as she is not depicted as a stereotypically well behaved girl.

Back cover

The background from the front cover of this CD continues to the back. There is a warm feel to this background as it looks as though it is textured, this links into the pop element of the music.

All the necessary information is on the back cover for sales and copyrighting purposes. Despite having al this information the back image is not obscured and is still as provocative as originally intended as it shows the artists cleavage.

Although the copy on the back cover is different to that on the front cover is still fits into the rebel scene.