DIGIPAK RESEARCH - History + Appeal of Record Sleaves

POSSIBLE POINTS OF INFLUENCE:

• The unreleased material of David Bowie, could have the bonus tracks be unreleased songs from Suede's dystopian sophemore effort due to similar themes of my video

RESEARCH:

From this account:

The History Of Album Art from jspraget1

• https://www.udiscovermusic.com/features/history-album-artwork/

STILL TO RESEARCH:

There is a plethora of literature written on the subject:

• https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/25710.Music_Record_Album_Cover_Art
• https://www.amazon.com/Brief-History-Album-Covers-Guides/dp/184786211X
• Art Record Covers, reviewed in this Independent article.

Definition from wiki entry :

An album cover is the front of the packaging of a commercially released audio recording product, or album.

Origin of the name:

The name “album” comes from a pre-war era when it literally referred to the album that contained the 78rpm shellac disc, held in a drab heavy paper sleeve with only a title embossed on the front and spine. Sometimes the discs were contained in a leather book, similar to a photographic album.

Alex Steinweiss, the inventor of the album cover artwork?

From wiki:

In 1938, Columbia Records hired Alex Steinweiss as its first art director. He is credited with inventing the concept of album covers and cover art, replacing the plain covers used before. After his initial efforts at Columbia, other record companies followed his lead. By the late 1940s, record albums for all the major companies featured their own colorful paper covers in both 10- and 12-inch sizes. Some featured reproductions of classic art while others utilized original designs.

Steinweiss died in 2011, his Guardian obituary:

Alex Steinweiss, who has died aged 94, pioneered the concept of record album covers, when music was still released on 78rpm shellac, and was the inventor of the LP record sleeve. In 1939, while designing ads for Columbia Records, Steinweiss suggested adding art to the company's 78 releases, which were then generally sold in heavy paper and, for multiple-record sets, packaged in plain, book-like binding. His first cover featured the title of a collection of Rodgers and Hart show tunes up in lights on a theatre marquee. A Bruno Walter recording of Beethoven's Eroica showed a huge increase in sales with its new sleeve, and Steinweiss became Columbia's art director.

From udiscovermusic:

The first signs of change came in the 30s, from pioneering designers such as Alex Steinweiss, whose illustrated covers – for singers such as Paul Robeson, or the classical records of Beethoven – led to huge increases in sales. However, it was the advent of the long-playing 33⅓rpm record that changed everything. The heavy paper used for 78s damaged the delicate grooves on LPs, and record companies started using a folded-over board format sleeve. The format was ripe for artistic experimentation and ultimately led to covers such as The Rolling Stones’ Sticky Fingers – something unimaginable in more conservative times.

Has digital disruption killed the album?

Peter Saville, designer behind album artwork for bands such as New Order, Rosy Music and Sir Peter Blake, album designer for acts such as  The Beatles seem to think so in this article:

Saville blamed technological advances, such as iPods, for the decline in popularity of cover art.And he also singled out Britain’s changing youth culture, saying that the country faces a “social disaster”."The things that pop music was there to do for us have all been done... there's nothing to rail against now,” he told the Independent on Sunday."When I was 15, in the North-west of England.... the record cover to me was like a picture window to another world. “Seeing an Andy Warhol illustration on a Velvet Underground album was a revelation.... It was the art of your generation... true pop art."Sir Peter Blake, who designed the pioneering cover for the Beatles’ ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’, also expressed his concern about decline in popularity of the CD."It [album art] survived from the LP to the CD, but... if that becomes obsolete then I guess album art won't exist. I think it would be a big loss,” he said.

This is from the time when the iPhone was just being introduced, long before the digital disruption of Spotify and YouTube posting whole albums just for free, when now you don't even have a digital copy, you're just streaming it.

APPEAL FOR AUDIENCES

However, the comeback of vinyl might prove to be countering that disruption. 

Tony Bennett said of the marvellous album covers of the 50s that, when you bought a record, “you felt like you were taking home your very own work of art”. Indeed, artwork can be as much a part of the identity of a record as the sound. Billions of music fans over the past century have taken pleasure from looking again and again at old album covers.

Some are still being remastered and reissued:

PHIL COLLINS
From this Petapixel article:

Famed musician Phil Collins began reissuing some of his most loved albums in November of 2015 as part of a collection called “Take a look at me now…” But keen-eyed fans of Mr. Collins noticed something curious about the reissues: the Phil Collins on the new album covers looks quite a bit older.
And that’s exactly what Mr. Collins was going for. The title “Take a look at me now…” is meant to be taken literally, and so in addition to some musical extras thrown in for his fans, Collins also had some fun recreating each one of the six albums’ covers:

YEAH YEAH YEAHS

From the shop:

My artist has done this (source):

As previously reported, reunited Britpop leading lights Suede will release expanded editions of their five studio albums in May and June, via Demon Records. Each of the records has been remastered and expanded to include B-sides, demos, and previously unreleased songs, as well booklets and bonus DVDs featuring recent interviews with the band members and more. The entire band, including once-estranged original guitarist Bernard Butler, worked on the reissue project.
The expanded edition of the band's 1993 self-titled debut is due May 30, with 1994's Dog Man Starfollowing June 6, 1996's Coming Up out June 13, 1999's Head Music arriving June 20, and 2002's A New Morning due June 22. On Record Store Day, April 16, Suede will release a limited edition single featuring demo versions of their first single, 1992's "The Drowners" b/w "To the Birds". In addition, The Best of Suede, which came out last year in the UK, will be released digitally in the U.S. on March 22.
Over the next few months, the band will also play shows in Europe, North America, and Asia, including a set at Coachella and a couple of three-night stands where they'll play a classic album in full each night. Below, we've got the tracklists for each of the reissues, as well as the band's tour dates and their video for "The Drowners".

Even if the act is still disbanded or deceased, they are still able to market to an audience. 

THE SMITHS

NME article:

One for the die-hards:

The Smiths have announced a ‘Super Deluxe Edition’ of their iconic album ‘The Queen Is Dead’.

• Exclusive NME offer: Save £10 on Amazon Music Unlimited plans with code NME10

The iconic Manchester band teased the release last month, after the official Smiths Facebook page posted an archive image of a coffin being carried, along with the caption: “#TQID 16.06.17″
As Stereogum points out via Morrissey fan-forum Morrissey-Solo, the re-issue was available to pre-order via Amazon’s UK store, but has since been taken down. Available as both a two CD box set and a CD/DVD set, the first disc of the release features a fully-restored version of ‘The Queen Is Dead’, while the second features a number of b-sides and rarities.

In the wake of artist's death their work becomes very lucrative, a recent example being David Bowie's final album Blackstar which in the year 2016 which started with his death saw his parting gift become a vinyl bestseller. (Sky News, NME)

Since there have there was a posthumous collection collections:

There was always a huge Japanese market for Bowie's music

Unreleased material is a huge attraction to fans, especially if there is a gap between the passing of the artist and the release, not releasing it immediately after the death can increase the appetite and appeal.
This consisted of his own recordings of songs written especially for a Broadway musical (Lazarus) he was working on, until then only the recordings with the actors had been released.

For April 2018 there are to be special releases for Record Store Day.

NME article:

Three rare David Bowie records are set to be released for Record Store Day 2018, including an iconic London live performance.
Record Store Day, which takes place on April 21, will see Bowie’s ‘Welcome To The Blackout (Live London ’78)’ album be released as a 3xLP set. The record features recordings from Bowie’s ‘Isolar II’ tour performances at London’s now-demolished Earls Court on June 30 and July 1 1978.
Elsewhere, eagled-eyed Bowie fans will be able to nab a 12″ single which features the first full-length of ‘Let’s Dance’, along with a live version on the b-side. Finally, ‘Bowie Now’ – a rare 1977 US only promotional-only LP, featuring tracks from ‘Heroes’ and ‘Low’ – will get its first commercial release.

Social media was used to market, as with this Instagram post:

Multiple comments on the post:

And magazines take in on the release connected with Record Store Day: such as Uncut, having exclusive interviews with multiple artist's including my artist Suede's frontman Brett Anderson:

The April 2018 issue of Uncut is now on sale in the UK – with Joni Mitchell on the cover. Elsewhere in the issue, we pay tribute to Mark E Smith and there are new interviews with The Breeders, Josh T Pearson, Brett Anderson, The Decemberists, Chris Robinson and many more. We also look at the legacy of Rick Hall’s FAME Studios. Our free 15-track CD features 15 tracks of this month’s best new music, featuring Graham Coxon, Gwenno, Guided By Voices, Jonathan Wilson, David Byrne, Tracey Thorn, The Low Anthem and Mélissa Laveaux.

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