Digipak Ancillary Task No. 6: Selling CD's?

For the sixth consecutive year in the UK, the sales of CD's and albums have been falling as seen from a study of the British Recorded Music Industry (BPI). But the question remains: How did the popular product first introduced in the 1980's enter it's stage of decline?

As in the age of convergence that we are in at the moment, the internet and comfortableness have been brought together. Online Data bases such as iTunes and various P2P servers now make it possible for the consumer to download the wished song or album with one small click. No more running into music shops, one might exaggerate the situation, but indeed, CD sales are still very high. Artists are still trying to earn their money through sales, but now they can sell their products to a much larger market virtually. The problem of piracy does still remain, but nowadays it is far easier to make a larger profit as so many people own a personal computer or laptop with an internet connection. Furthermore the artists create revenue through diversifying and taking on different jobs in the media, such as acting, etc.

Moreover sales of physical singles also have fallen from 2.5 million to 1.9 million in 2010.

Further interesting websites:

Sales of Albums in the UK: 

http://www.nme.com/news/various-artists/54449

A historical slideshow of musical sales in America (Recommended - Don't miss this!):

http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/stories/081611thirty

Digipak Ancillary Task No. 5: Photoshop

In this task we were asked to re-create a digipak with the use of Adobe Photoshop. These are the results:

This is the front of the Digipak we have tried to copy via Photoshop. On the left is the copy, on the right the original.

The back of the Ministry of Sound Digipak. On the left the copy and the right the original. Mrs Black has allowed us to cut down to only two cds. The original is a bit overlighted, probably because of the flash settings of the camera. 

Digipak Ancillary Task No.4: Star Image

Here's a little Prezi about Star Image.

The Link:
http://prezi.com/bi_tlvxba205/star-image/

Digipak Ancillary Task No. 3: Digipaks Vs. CD Cases

Research the difference between digipaks and CD cases. Discuss why you think there is more value put on a digipak. You will need to design a 6 panelled case.  Come up with a list of things you are going to need to include in your promotional package.


When analysing the differences of Digipaks and CD "Jewel" cases, we came up with the following definitions of these two different types of CD save keeping:



The Digipak - It consists of a card stock outer binding or a gate-fold paperboard, and with 1 or more plastic trays, able to hold CD's and DVD's. Digipaks became immensely popular with record labels and artists in the early 2000s. They were the first 'real' alternative to the CD "Jewel" cases.


Pros

• Hub or "Soft Spot" instead of hard plastic.
• More value as it is an appealing case and storage space which perfectly fits to the genre and the artist of the specific music.
• Might be more information involved than with A CD case.
• More stability compared to CD cases.
• More room for creativity and diversification from the artists.

Cons

• Most likely to be more expensive than CD "Jewel" cases.
• Take up more space.
• Hard to repair as it is almost unable to replace the Digipak.
• More damage through water.

The CD "Jewel" Case - The Three-piece plastic case was first introduced in 1982. Its origins, according to Philips, comes from reflecting high quality compared to early attempts. Designed by Peter Doodson, it was found 'virtually perfect', therefore being called "Jewel" case. Doodson though said that as he used "specified polished ribs as they pick up the light and shine" the case was praised because of the appearance.


Pros

• Less to no damage made through water as it consists entirely of plastic.
• Possibly cheaper.
• Easier to store as it is smaller than the Digipak.
• Easier to repair/replace through the use of other CD cases.
• CD cases snap shut, therefore the CD is less likely to slip of the hub and fall, creating more damage.

Cons

• The case is hinged on two arms, therefore making it easy to break.
• Less information than on the Digipack.
• Less freedom and creativity from the artists as the size is much smaller.

Therefore we can see that there is more value and time spent on creating Digipaks as these aren't as easily replaceable and the artwork is part of it, instead of being loose paper. When creating our own Digipak, we have to include the six following things:

1. Powerful and appealing artwork that attracts possible consumers
2. Information concerning the music.
3. Several frames to complement the amount of information and CD's that have to be included.
4. The artists and their names have to be included on the front, as this is used throughout the genre.
5. Lyrics of the songs
6. Small Quotes, Biographies or anything related to the Digipak from the artists.

Digipak Ancillary Task No. 2: Test, Test!

In order to decide which fonts to choose from we orientated us with the actual Digipak cover of "Hate It Or Love it" Here are some examples of possible fonts that we might use on our Digipak:

Hate It Or Love It 

Hate it or Love it 

Hate It Or Love It

Hate It Or Love It

When searching the font we identified certain criteria which we had to follow if we want to create a similar Digipak such as the original:

1. Utilize stereotypical music genre ideas: Font has to 'look' like graffiti, Rapper's name has to be on the cover. 
2. Stick to the setting as a background and as a font: The font has to look luxurious if the rapper promotes the 'bling' movement.

Digipak Ancillary Task No. 1: Market Research

We have chosen 50 cent to research on how he promotes his musical career. Nowadays Rappers have to stand out from the crowd in order to receive attention from likely consumers. There are a lot of different old and new ways to promote yourself in our time, but one very effective path to take is new media. By creating YouTube channels and blogging on Twitter, Facebook or MySpace rappers such as 50 cent can promote themselves to a profitable extent as the internet is used for almost anything nowadays and very powerful with teenagers and young adults. It isn't only very cost effective, but also brings in cash: 50 cent for example promoted shares on Twitter and earned 8 million US Dollars. Careful attention also have to be placed on TV adverts as celebrities tend to promote themselves together. The Clip from Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, Floyd Mayweather junior and Mike Tyson below is a great example of this and product placement. we have chosen this clip as their are similarities in the characters between this short film and our music video.