Headlines

September 24, 2007

Billboard: Does album art have a place in the future of digital music?

Billboard | Read Full Story >

In today’s digital music environment, album art—like liner notes, lyrics and other extras considered commonplace in the physical world—exists as a mere afterthought, if that. Its primary purpose is to serve as icons when shoppers scroll through vast music libraries on the computer or iPod.

In a move that was part protest and part publicity stunt, English band Hard-Fi in August released its album “Once Upon a Time in the West” with just the words “No Cover Art” printed on it, citing the irrelevance of album art in the digital space.

It doesn’t have to be this way. There’s no reason digital distribution channels can’t spark the greatest innovations in cover art since the days of the vinyl LP. Animated album covers, interactive booklets and liner notes that link to other Web sites and multimedia material, customized album art where fans can place their own images—all are possible in the digital distribution future,


Post a comment



Click Here