Jay-Z - The Blueprint 3 Magazine Advert Analysis

This is a very well laid out magazine advert for Jay-Z’s album The Blueprint 3.

The date of the album’s release is 09.11.09, which is shown boldly on the right page of the magazine advert. The artist’s image is a mix between casual and smart, his image on the advert is bold and he stands out well with the black clothing and is seen to be standing alongside buildings in the advert which connotes that he has “reached the top”. This magazine ad doesn’t have any featuring songs on it, which can be argued as a good or bad thing. The bad may be that consumers can’t see what the album contains but this could also be good, as it will entice people to find out more information about the album. The album was released as a CD and for download at the same time, which allowed parallel sales of the album. It was available for download on iTunes, which is one of the biggest sources for downloadable music while the CD is sold in shops such as HMV. This magazine advert as very bold images, one I’ve already mentioned being the picture of Jay-Z alongside the buildings another would be the image on the right which seems to be a collection of different instruments and electronics with 3 large bold lines across which means the “3” in the album’s name. The record label is shown on the page on the right under the release date. The name of the record company is Roc Nation. Jay-Z has his own website “www.jay-z.com” and can be seen on the magazine advert under the record label. It’s quite small as it isn’t something particularly important but some people may want it. One side of the magazine advert has a bold quote which reads “Is Jay-Z bigger than hip-hop?” which contrasts off the image above showing Jay-Z amongst buildings. The set colour scheme for this magazine advert is white, black and red which in my eyes works well to capture my attention onto the most bold parts of the advert.