What was the first album cover you saw when you looked at this picture? Was your eye drawn to Pink Floyd’s famous brick wall, or the tongue The Rolling Stones are known for? Whether it was one of these albums, or one of the many others, you probably didn’t have to read the cover or really think about what album it was. These albums are so famous that when you see men walking across a road on the album, you automatically know it is Abbey Road by The Beatles. By just reading this, you are probably envisioning that album and don’t even need to see a picture to know exactly what it looks like. Album art has traditionally been a very important part of the identity of an artist. Even if you do not like bands such as Pink Floyd, you know it is their album when you see the prism and rainbow or white brick wall. This has helped when it comes to album sales and band recognition. Many bands are known for their album artwork and take pride in what it looks like.
With the shift to digital media, there has been a loss of importance when it comes to album art. Many people use music as a companion, and listen to it while they are at the gym or driving in their car. They are not actually purchasing a physical copy of the CD and are not usually looking at their phone while they are listening to a particular song. They may never see the album art, and therefore, bands are not necessarily recognized by their album covers like they were in the past. In knowing this, artists are changing the way their albums look. For example, Beyoncé’s album, Beyoncé, is just a black background with her name in pink.
A lot more thought is going into music videos, and things such as social media sites, to promote a new album instead of the actual album cover. Since people are looking more at an artist’s Twitter than at the small box of album art on Spotify, it is smart for artists to focus more on these outlets. It is a little sad to think that album art is becoming more simplistic and less important to the listener. While the cover may be a little more simplistic, it is still very important to the artist, and the work as a whole. Therefore, it may be on the listener to pay more attention to that little box on the bottom of the Spotify screen.
HCXO, Colette