Conventional Elements of R&B Music Album Covers

Good Girl Gone Bad is Rihanna’s third studio album and was released in 2007 . The background is plain and simple which can be seen as sense of class and sophistication, which is a common theme, represented in female R&B artists. The medium/ long shot of Rihanna shows her body in a tight dress, which is attractive to her male audiences and is seen as the male gaze. The low-key lighting also highlights the shape of Rihanna’s hourglass body which is also very Important in the R&B industry as women have to look a certain way to appear alluring and sexual .

The “Makings of Me” album was released in October 10th 2006. Her costume is a scarf covering her chest and jeans, the significance of the little items of clothing that she wears is a common stereotype of R&B as women are shown to have less clothing or more revealing clothing. The artist position show that she is at the centre which also highlights that album is all about her. Her pose is relaxed and it is not staged, it is an everyday pose which indicates that she is comfortable. The lighting is suttle and bright which is common in R&B album covers.  The bright lighting could suggest that the alum is something to look forward to. Bright lights often signify good and positive things, so this could suggest that the album is about positive things. The mise en scene with the makeup is natural, natural colours such as brown, gold, bronze are used instead of bright colours for the eye shadow which complements the artists skin tone. Looking at the album cover I would say that the target audience for this album would be teenage girls ages 14-18 and young adults between the ages of 21-27.