Album Covers

Album covers have been a prominent part of music releases for over 5 decades. The definition is:

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

They were first used by Columbia Records in 1938, with the credit going to Alex Steinweiss for coming up with the concept. They then became the norm during the late 40s and since then some sort of design has been used on every album, from the LPs of back then all the way to being included on digital releases (the preferred music distribution of 2013). 

CDs had a period of being very popular during the 90s and 2000s , with the album cover being a prominent part of the marketing and even having a say in the sales. The two main formats were the standard jewel case and the more expensive cardboard Digipak, used mainly for special editions. Even with digital distribution, were a physical copy of the cover isn't provided, they are still a big talking point of major releases and as standard are included with every music purchase on digital marketplaces such as iTunes and Amazon.

The features of an album cover, are usually the album name, the artist, some sort of design either original or took from somewhere (like a photograph, as pictured in 1969's 'Led Zeppelin').

What I also might expect to see are some sort of link to the genre or the concept behind the album, such as Kanye West's 'Yeezus' cover featuring nothing but red tape on a transparent case which reflects the minimal style of the music on the album. I would also expect a familiar symbol of the artist or continuing a style that runs through the discography of the musician.

My Group Blog

My group to make a music video comprises of me and Anthony Hill, and we'll be working together closely on our project. If there are no posts on this blog for a long period of time it is likely that we have been focused on the group blog, which you can find and read the posts on here:

Group Blog

Summer Work - Week Six

Kanye West - Gorgeous

This track wasn't released as a single with a music video, being an album track where the lyrics feature Kanye West rapping about social injustice and society's attitude towards him and sexual exploitation.

My idea of a music video for this song would be mostly performance based in a very old fashioned way, with the final verse by hip-hop veteran Raekwon being performed at a piano with a cigar. The narrative would follow the daunting life of a female model and how they are exploited and the life they lead.

Summer Work - Week Five

The White Stripes - Fell In Love With a Girl



This video is of the 2002 single from the album White Blood Cells, and was directed by decorated music video director Michel Gondry. It is iconic, being completely filmed with Lego pieces and only featuring a few seconds of computer animation, the rest being entirely manual. The narrative behind it closely follows the story of the song detailing a love relationship between a man and woman. It also features shots of Lego versions of Jack and Meg White performing complete with Lego instruments. The band couldn't strike a deal with the company so had to buy large amounts of the toy brick themselves. It won three awards in the MTV Video Music Awards: Breakthrough Video, Best Special Effects and Best Editing.

Summer Work - Week Four

Outkast - Ms. Jackson



This song is a 2001 single by Outkast, with the music video directed by F. Gary Gary. It features a narrative of the two members Andre 3000 and Big Boi residing in an old house with many pets, as a storm hits. The roof starts leaking and the lights go out, with the duo trying to fix and repair all the problems. The storm eventually clears and the lights return, as Outkast look through a hole in the ceiling at the sun.
The video ties in with the song, with the story of the stormy weather possibly being a metaphor for the strained relationship that mother's have with their kids and kid's partners. The main narrative of the song itself follows this concept.

Summer Work - Week Three

Metallica - Turn the Page



This is a 1998 song by Metallica, and a cover of a Bob Seger 1973 hit. The video, directed by Jonas Akerlund, follows the story of a single mother who supports her child by dancing at a gentleman's club in the day and through prostitution of night. It is very dark natured and was banned from airplay by MTV due to the abusive sex scene, unlike the song which talks about the life of a musician on tour. It uses fast editing as it gets more intense and the scenes of the narrative also include an interview of the character, who justifies her profession.

One basic idea for a video of this song would be more fitted to the lyrics and nature of the song discussing the life of touring in a band and a possible short mockumentary around a fictional band.

Summer Work - Week Two

Kanye West - Heartless



Heartless is a 2008 song by Kanye West, from the album 808s & Heartbreak. The animated video is directed by Hype Williams, and is styled around the 1981 American Pop. The narrative features the animated version of West wandering through the city streets while shots of various women appear round him. This video again fits in with the song, which tells a story of a man post break-up.

One basic idea for a music video of this song would be a band dressed in 80s costumes performing it in a dark empty hall while a woman dressed more modern would walk around each of the members and tease them while they pay no interest as if she isn't there.