CD's and Digipacks

With the rise of online sales the number of CD's and albums bought are getting fewer and fewer. Many people now download music illegally instantly and for free off the internet. This is hitting the music industry very hard in terms of sales form their product as they are no longer in total control of the distribution of their own product. Artists are now playing more gigs than ever in order to make more money. The number of festivals in the UK increases rapidly every year. There are now over 500 festivals in the UK every year alone.




However what may still appeal to the public about digipaks is the package they come with. The pictures, images and style which comes with a digipak cannot come with a download. This is why making a striking digipak which stands out from the rest is so important.

There are a few main features of CD's and Digipak's which make them so different;

       CD's;

• Also known as a jewel CD case; the packaging is made up of three pieces of plastic; two glued together to fit the CD and one, hinged being the cover. This format has been used since the compact disc was first released in 1982.
• Problems which can be related to the jewel case are the structures weakness as it breaks and cracks easily when put under pressure due to its brittle nature. 

Dgipaks;

• Digipaks became widely used by record companies in the 2000's as an alternative to the jewel case as it is less brittle and more eco-friendly due to it being commonly mainly made from cardboard.
• They commonly have six sides. The advantage of this is that this gives the artist more space on the case to promote themselves. As lots more music is being downloaded now digipak's, in order to be successfully, have to have something which makes them better than a download and a digipak also offers pictures within the case rather than just a plastic case.

I believe a digipak is more effective than a jewel CD case as it offers more of what they want (interesting images and pictures) to a music buyer who is not downloading digitally.



Layout of a CD case; 


Layout of a digipak;