Cross media essay (A04)

Representation and star persona cross media study

Introduction

The artist I choose was American rapper Max B. He was born in 1979 in New York. His genre of music is hip-hop.  His primary target audience is young teenage males (15-20). Mainly black ethnitity listens to him as they like to relate to him. His secondnary target audience could be girls as some of them may want to listen to him.  He is signed to a record label called 'ByrdGang records' which is a Independent label. This may affect his star persona as he will not be as known as he can be if he was with a major record label. Also because he has a 'cool' image so he won't get as much fans as he can.
Max B's star persona is a cool image and a confident type. Also he seems like he can be a show off and is always the main man in the scene. The clothes he wears are always flashy and of a cool image. It is mainly hoodies, jeans and trainers. most of the time with shades and a baseball cap. This dress sense appeals to young audiences around the age of 15-16. He is portrayed as a gangster most of the time with an ambition to have a lot of money with females by his side. His star persona is represented across different media texts in a similar way most of the time. For example on one of his CD covers he a black hoodie with shades on whilst in one of his music videos he has the same sort of clothing but just in a different color. His facial expressions is always in a certain way that he doesn't seem shy or timid and is confident with what he does. This is good as his fans will believe in him more. In most of his songs, a lot of bad language is used but because this seems to attract young people as they find it cool so it helps him with promotion. With his product designs, his CD covers are appealing to his fans as in sum he's holding money which shows power and happiness. He also does this in his music videos except there will be girls as-well showing him in a high position as the females would be all over him.
There are some similarities and differences between his CD cover and music video. In both of them he is represented as the main person. even though there are others with him, the camera shot is focused in a way that the attention is put on him. Another thing is in both of them his clothes haven't changed much as he's still got the shades and the hoodie. There is some differences as the image of him on his CD cover makes him look a bit calm but in the music video he's more active because he's singing. These two media texts cross promote the same star persona because of the way his image is portrayed. As he is put in the main spotlight which gives off a confident and cool image of Max B, this makes us feel he is the main man making this fit perfectly with his star persona you would expect from him.  

Textual analysis of a music video (A04)

i denote a 'two shot' of Max B. the use of him in the picture connotes that Max B is a bit of a show man because the lighting in the background and his clothes

I denote a 'low angle' of Max B. this shot shows him in different view with the bridge behind him. this shot makes him look big which links to his star persona. this shows he's the main man in the shot.

I  denote a 'mid shot' of Max B. there is a bit of a low angle to it aswell. This connotes that he likes to be the centre of attention. the bright lights in the background blended with his black top make him stand out.





I denote a 'close up' of Max B. this shows him in a confident pose with his shades and white hat. also the way the shot has been taking puts him in a dominant position making the focus stay on him.

target audience

Target audience: Teenagers
Gender: Male
Age: 15-18
Max B appeals to his target audience by his use of words in his videos. also his appearance in his videos of the chains and clothes attracts his target audience. the production is in different environments even though it is mainly set at night time with him in a car. The designs at the background of him is a bright late nighted new york city giving the impression of having a good time with your money.

Max B

The star persona from this image can tell a lot about the person in the image. from the main image i can see that Max B is trying to present himself to his audience as he's a slave to the wave with the wave in the background to add effect. The title also plays a part in giving out the intention Max B is trying to portray as an artist and idol to many young fans. his shades and hoody attract a lot of young viewers as they to have a similar fashion sense.

Powerpoint into subsidiary labels (A01)

Presentation2 karl

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Universal music group owns a large range of smaller record labels. This shows the power they have as  they control so many labels and that appeals to a wide range of target audiences. This shows they dominate all other companies in the music market.

Artist Profile (A04)

My Artist - Jay Z
Reason - I choose Jay Z because i like his music and would like to know about him. He has his own record label (Roc-A-Fella) which is a major record label even though it was independent at first.
Record Label - Roc-A-Fella is a major record label bought by universal music group. There are other artists sighed to this label including Jadakiss, Juelz Santana, Kanye West and Uncle Murda.
Genre - Hip Hop
Target Audience: Age       - 16-28
                            Gender   - Male
                            Ethnicity - Everyone
                            Class      - Lower
                            Hobbies & Interests - Rapping, Money

Info - Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), better known by his stage name Jay-Z, is an American rapper and businessman. He is one of the most financially successful hip hop artists and entrepreneurs in America having had a net worth of over $150 million in 2009. He has sold approximately 50 million albums worldwide, while receiving ten Grammy Awards for his musical work, and numerous additional nominations.
Jay-Z co-owns the 40/40 club, is part-owner of the NBA's New Jersey Nets and is also the creator of the clothing line Rocawear. He is the former CEO of Def Jam Recordings, one of the three founders of Roc-A-fella Records, and the founder of Roc nations. As an artist, he holds the record for most number one albums by a solo artist on the Billboard 200. Jay-Z also has had four number ones on the Billboard 100, one as lead artist.

Webpage analysis (A04)

Advertising
Jay Z is advertised in many ways to appeal to fans and target his audience
Examples of this are
CD cover:

these two CD covers have Jay-Z on them to help promote products and also his CD cover. The image of him with eminem on dj hero will help promote the game even more as they are two major music artists.

TV Advert:
Publicity:

                      
This magazine has Jay-Z on the cover of it. its one of americas popular magazines which is suited for people who like hip-hop and RnB. This will raise his popularity as it will be seen by his target audience.









TV Interviews:

TV interviews will raise his awareness as many people watch TV so it will be seen by a wide audience. Also the programme he is being interviewed can have a impact to as in the video above, he is being interviewed by opera which is watched my thousands of people so this will raise his popularity.

promotions
Jay-z has many products that can be bought by fans and also products which have been sponsored and promoted by him. Another one of his products is his Roca Wear clothing line which he is also selling to his fans. this is sponsored by him and promoted as-well. This makes him gain more publicity with his fans as they can wear clothes with him on it. By them buying it and wearing it, other people will see and begin to recognize him and may start to take and interest in him and what he does bringing  him more fans.