I spent my adolescent and teenage years surrounded by music. Because my father spun records in clubs, I experienced every album in his collection. I held them, set the needle to them, and heard them emit raspy sounds through the Technics and out of the Grundorf speakers. Near dad’s retirement, when the CD had gained momentum, he said, “Things won’t be the same from here on out. Music won’t sound the same, and it sure won’t look the same.” He held up a 12-inch sleeve next to a CD case, “I can’t read these tracks without my glasses. And what the hell am I supposed to do with this tiny booklet?”
In an age when iPods outnumber vinyl records and youngsters prefer to download a song instead of purchasing a reflective 80-minute disc, music’s identity changes once again. It’s not just about the media’s evolution. Since music’s encasement shriveled from 12” down to 4 and 27/32”, all I can wonder is where will it go next? What will come of packaging? The new iPod’s color screen may be the next wave. We won’t gaze at CMYK CD jackets at the music store, we’ll see RGB images of our favorite artists as they download to iTunes and are played back in the iPod. Independent artists use the internet to promote and market their songs. The recording industry masters, markets, and sells its products digitally—in every sense of the word. And a number of retail outlets use interactive kiosks to both promote and sell music. These days, we look at music in a whole different way, but physical media won’t disappear anytime soon. Nor will its packaging. While music sits on your portable player and/or desktop computer, DVDs will continue providing rich cinematic experiences. (At present, developers have created a next-gen DVD that will deliver hi-def pictures for the current wave of televisions.) Expect to see DVDs on store shelves for at least another 2—3 years. But talk about limited, most DVD packages protect the disc with little consideration for aesthetic or visual punctuation. Forget communicating something evocative, they’re worthless pieces of plastic with a printed insert.
Packaging isn’t as important as it used to be. In fact, it’s not even needed. Ask yourself, “Why would I want to keep packaging, when I can import my music into iTunes, attach an image to its library tag, and then discard the plastic and paper it came with?” Or why even buy a physical product? I can download it! Since less is more, stretching the limits of packaging, and providing the audience with rich experiences—from sight all the way to touch and smell—doesn’t matter. I don’t care how many fancy printing tricks I see pulled out of your hat, it’s worthless because it all takes up space. I don’t want cases collecting dust. I don’t want to purchase more of those cheap CD racks from Target. I especially don’t want to put my CDs in leather binders with the booklets sitting behind them for reference. I want music—and nothing more thank you very much.
Well, Jason, you're different from me. I have a thing about CD packaging ... and the printed material that comes with music in general. I love a nicely designed CD package, and I have had music that I got digitally (either legit or illegit) that I've gone out and bought the CD for just because I really wanted the package on my shelf.
I'm always pissed off when I buy a CD and all it is is the plastic with a slip of paper inside. I particularly like paper (card) packaging, and I love CD booklets, and various other bits they stuff inside there. To me music without liner notes is like software without a manual (yes, don't get me started). I like to see and touch the design, look at the band pictures, read the credits.
As music divorces itself from its packaging, I have to wonder if there's a market there for bands to sell the printed material? If I, say, bought an album (what is it that we call this now?) online, via download, and had the option of having a cool poster or booklet sent to me by mail for an extra ... $2-$5, I would do it. Maybe even $10 if it was really cool.
Am I the only one? Does this make me "old"? Is the music all that matters to you youngsters?
On Oct.28.2004 at 12:14 AM