NW What role does the digipak play in constructing brand/promoting artist?

Posted by Nick

In an age where the majority of communications, sharing information (and thus musical purchases) are made through the internet, artists have had to branch out and create high quality digitals to come with their hard copy CD in order to maintain audience interest in the ‘brand’ which is the band.

For those born a few years before or after the millennium, born into the digital age, a world where we can easily and cheaply contact friends, purchase music and watch the latest videos has always been readily available, and therefore the desire for someone to go into the nearest town and spend a significant amount of money on their favourite artist latest album has almost been non-existent, after all, we can simply buy music for a fraction of a price (sometimes completely free from illegal websites) from the comfort of our own homes.

But now, as the ‘vinyl age’ of the 1970’s and 80’s comes back into fashion, music lovers willing to spend money to get their hands on the most recent recordings, the digipak has become more and more important, offering a customer a more in depth look at an artist and their musical taste.

A standard digipak consists of a three-piece plastic case used to hold the CD and then fold over on top of it to protect it, along with the liner notes and back card.

One may wish to buy a CD as they will often have a lot of ‘goodies’ which come free with it, the liner notes will often have each song’s lyrics for the CD as well as personal messages from the artist’s, promoting their way of life and giving their audience an idea of what it is like to live the life of their favorite musical masterminds.

A lot of work has to be done on the artwork for the front covers of a band’s single, EP, mix tape or album, as they will, essentially, define an artist’s way of life, and as time passes and new band’s are discovered, the artwork can become ‘timeless’ not just for the band, but for the audience themselves, each one marking a certain stage in one’s life.

On many CD cover’s there will often be ‘meat shot’s’ of the band, as these images stay in the customers mind and will help them to make the link between an artist and their music, theoretically putting the music to the visuals. If an artist is consistent with the sort of artwork they display on their album covers, the audience will become familiar with that artist and the ‘brand’ they are promoting, giving in an insight into their personal lives and thoughts.

Poster’s will often display artwork from an audiences upcoming album to invite the audience in, as potentially, if they like the look of the front cover then they may just walk into the nearest record shop and buy some of that artist’s music.

‘Bat For Lashes’ singer Natasha Khan recently said in an advert with NME magazine, that she felt that “it’s important to show the fan’s your committed. I did the photography for the album ‘cos I wanted them to know it was a personal album, with all my feelings and influences in those eleven songs”.