What are a digipak and magazine advert, and why are they important?

Digipak

 

An example of a digipak which continues the theme established
by the album artwork.

A digipak is a gatefold style CD/DVD packaging, which were first introduced around the year 2000. By packaging a CD within a digipak, a lot more visual content is able to be included around it than would be available in the usual booklet which is provided with CDs when they are purchased. The content included on a digipak is usually made up of song lyrics, exclusive pictures/graphics which correspond to the album cover, and a space for one or multiple CDs to be stored. While they are slightly dated now, with the majority of music now being purchased online, they are still an important product within the realms of physically released music, as they are often now sold for a higher price than the standard release CD as a special or deluxe edition. It is important to properly research how the best digipaks look before designing the one we will be producing for our coursework, as otherwise we will not have a target to stride towards.

 

Magazine advertisement

 

Magazine advertisements are still incredibly important within the world of music, as they are one of the most prominent non-digital ways of promoting an upcoming tour or album by a band, who are either well established or relatively unknown. Whilst many bands promote largely online, this can only really be targeted to those who are already aware of the band, whereas a magazine advert can open a band up to a whole new audience. If the advert is for an upcoming album, then it will usually contain many of the same features as any other advertisment. These include a picture of the album, its title, the bands name, the release date, the name of one or two successful singles which have already been released from the album, reviews and ratings about the album from well known music publications and newspapers, and information about how the band can be followed on social media such as Facebook and Twitter. In addition to this, the advertisement will almost always follow the same graphical scheme as the album cover and, if relevant, its digipak. Below are some examples of posters advertising albums, and it is clear that they all contain similar features.