Rock art... R.I.P?
The iPod has shrunk pop artwork to the size of a stamp. Can it survive? Paul Bignell and John Sunyer report
In little more than one square foot, the album cover captured the dreams, hopes and fears of a music-loving generation. If CDs left the record sleeve mortally wounded, downloading has performed the coup de grâce on album artwork.
The cover, considered as important as the music it housed, was considered integral to the whole experience of owning an LP, to be studied in minute detail by the rock fan.
In the 1950s, images of Elvis Presley, mouth agape, mid-song, on the cover of his debut album, helped teenagers across the world connect with their new hero. Then, in the Sixties, the Beatles took the album cover to another level – as a work of art.
Today, as technology has taken over, cover art has become nothing more than a postage stamp-sized image on an iPod screen.
An exhibition at the University of the Arts in London next month will reassess the importance of the album cover, and ask if it can survive in the digital revolution.
Spin: The Art of Record Design will exhibit original artwork that inspired some of the best-known cover art of the past four decades. At the end of the month, a discussion will also be held at the university on the future of album art. On the panel will be Faris Rotter, from rock band the Horrors, who also designs album covers.
Sir Peter Blake, who designed the sleeve for the Beatles' Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, said: "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."
Designer Peter Saville, who is responsible for pioneering sleeve designs for Roxy Music and New Order in the Eighties, fears album art has had its day.
Speaking from his studio this weekend, Mr Saville believes that cover art is dead, not just because of technology, but because the youth culture in which albums once operated has changed: "We have a social disaster on our hands," he said. "The things that pop music was there to do for us have all been done... there's nothing to rail against now.
"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."
Veteran keyboard player Rick Wakeman, once of the progressive rock band Yes, and now a DJ on the Planet Rock radio station, said: "With downloads and everything... it's just killing the whole art side of music stone dead. To be quite honest, unless you have 20-20 vision it's very hard to read anything written on a CD cover. There was something very special about [vinyl] albums... it's a great shame."
Record companies set aside up to £50,000 for the design of a leading band's album sleeve. The compact disc, launched in the Eighties, offered artists a much smaller canvas. Now, with the iPod, album design has shrunk to about a square inch, and the budget for its sleeve to about £5,000.
The new generation of designers is determined to make its mark, however. "Iconic sleeves can help to sell significant amounts of records," says Faris Rotter – real name, Faris Badwan. "If a band has put effort into the music, why not devote that same meticulousness to... the package?"
Tom Hingston, of Tom Hingston Studio, has designed covers for the Rolling Stones, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Gnarls Barkley and others. He believes that there is still an opportunity for creating great images: "You are creating a sleeve that you want to be as iconic as possible.... It's got to work when it's a thumbnail on Amazon, it's got to work on the shelves at Tesco, and on the racks at HMV."
Mr Hingston also believes designers now have even more creative freedom: "With bands being able to sell music online, it frees designers from the constraints of retailers. For years, designers have had to work within the constraints of retailers like Tesco, HMV and Virgin. They dictated the packaging, the dual case CD, because of the racking that was designed specifically to stock dual cases. Years ago, if we proposed an alternative format, it was always knocked back because retailers wouldn't stock it.
"But now what is fantastic is that we see bands selling music online, where they can sell either a digital download or offer the option... to buy a special packaging version of the product, that can be mailed to them, that can be any shape, any size and any format."
[Independent]
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Digital Music Killing Album Cover Art
Monday, January 7, 2008
Jook is no Joke: First Digital Music Standard with Social Networking
The world premiere of Jook™, a revolutionary music technology standard with social networking capabilities, launches at CES, January 7 - 10, 2008, at the Las Vegas Convention Center in North Hall, Booth 5733MP.
"Music has always been one of the most fundamental conduits for people to socialize and Jook is the natural progression to elevate music into the 21st century," said Min-Liang Tan, president and chief executive officer, Jook Inc. "Jook Inc. and its partners all aim to make music a social experience again rather than have it confined to a personal music player. The interconnectivity and social aspects of Jook are limitless and will have a tremendous impact on music and personal audio devices in the future."
Jook, developed by Jook Inc. - a subsidiary of Razer - is a technology standard that allows any portable music player to act like a personal radio station enabling everyone, regardless of their music player, to wirelessly transmit songs to people around them. For example, someone with an iPod™ can become a DJ and play music for someone sitting across from them on the subway listening to a Zune™. Friends jogging together can all tune into one person's music player and listen to the same songs at the same time - regardless of the type of portable music players being used.
Jook is further designed to be a social networking tool that lets listeners later connect and talk about music they had previously heard. Users can create a profile, store it on their Jook enabled device, and share it with their listeners or broadcasters. These profiles provide more information about members, which can include anything from a personal web page to their contact information, as well as their music preferences. Further, music fans can rate fellow Jook users' songs as well as the overall playlist the broadcaster
chose to create and share.
How It Works:
Jook consists of three modes that users can flip between with the push of a button:
- Me Mode: Like today's standard personal music players, users will listen to their own music in this mode.
- Us Mode: Lets Jook broadcast its owner's music to other nearby Jook enabled devices. Users will listen to their own selections and others with a Jook-enabled device can now tune in as well. A red ambient light alerts others nearby that there's music available to tune in to.
- U Mode: Jook allows a listener to connect to another Jook-enabled play list. A green ambient light indicates to broadcasters have listeners.
The Jook standard will be available to all manufacturers and developers of portable music players and audio accessories such as earbuds, headphones and other similar products. Each Jook device will be designed to plug directly into a music player, drawing a minimal amount of power from the music player.
Jook is poised to be a universal technology standard that connects users with different devices that would normally have a "closed" listening environment. A user with an iPod can broadcast their music to a user with a Zune, who also can broadcast their music to a user with a Zen™.
About Jook Inc.
Jook™ is a social technology for music that unites people by offering them the ability to broadcast songs, podcasts and audio streams to other portable music players around them. It is a wireless specification that can be inexpensively incorporated into headphones, earbuds, and headsets and will allow users to connect and listen to each other's music in real-time. Jook Inc, a subsidiary of Razer, is partnering with manufacturers of music players and accessories to produce Jook enabled devices that will make music free for everyone to listen in to. For more information, visit www.jook.us.
About the Razer Group
Headquartered in Carlsbad, California, Razer™ collaborates with gamers to develop, manufacture and market cutting-edge gaming peripherals utilizing proprietary technologies that give gamers the competitive edge. Razer products have earned critical praise and won multiple awards from around the world for their precision, sensitivity, usability and distinctions in product design. Razer's products have a reputation for being the leader in gaming peripheral technology, with every single product engineered to near perfection. For more information, please visit www.razerzone.com.
Source [EHomeUpgrade]
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Only 409 Days to upgrade your Analog TV or it will be useless - Gov't giving out $40 coupons to help
If you use "rabbit ears" or a rooftop antenna with an analog television, you must take some action before February 17, 2009 to continue receiving television broadcasts. Full-power television stations nationwide must switch from the analog method of transmitting TV signals to only broadcasting a digital signal. The information below will help you identify what you need to do to be ready for the digital switch on February 17, 2009.
If all your TV sets are connected to cable, satellite or other pay service, check with your provider to see how they will support your analog set after February 17, 2009.
You must take action before February 17, 2009. Your options include:
- Buy a converter box that will plug into your analog TV.
- Buy a TV with a digital tuner.
- Connect your analog TV to cable, satellite or other pay service.
go to www.dtvtransition.org for more information.
A converter box is a one-time purchase that will allow you to use your analog TV after February 17, 2009. The Federal Government is offering U.S. households up to two $40 coupons to help pay for the cost of certified TV converter boxes. Certified TV converter boxes are expected to cost between $50 and $70.
For more information or to request your coupons, call 1-888-DTV-2009
(1-888-388-2009) or 1-877-530-2634 (TTY),
visit online at www.DTV2009.gov,
apply by mail at PO Box 2000, Portland, OR 97208,
or fax 1-877-DTV-4ME2 (1-877-388-4632).
Produced by the U.S. Department of Commerce. 12/2007
