Ancillary Research: What is a Digipak?

What is a Digipak?

A digipak-style packaging is often used for CD singles or special editions of CD albums. It is typically made of cardboard with an internal plastic holder for one or several CD's. They are sometimes seen as an alternative to 'jewel cases' used by big, mainstream record companies. Jewel cases are slightly larger and thicker, and made up of a hard plastic. These are the most commonly used packaging for CD's. However, I belive that the style of the cardboard digipak fits better to the indie genre and it has a homemade element of it. Additionally, these are seen as the more 'aesthetic' of the two. Digipaks came into use to describe all soft CD packaging, and has recently become more and more popular in the industry and are known for their minimalistic style and being eco-friendly.

How does a Digipak benefit the artist/artists?

The front of a digipak will have some aspect of what the artist presents and what their predominant genre is. The digipak will most likely embody a message about the artist's image, increase their appeal and brand image and subsequently increase the popularity of the artist. The digipak will be the physical thing that audiences will see when buying. Therefore, it is important that this will appeal to the same audience as the music itself would. The digipak also exemplifies the artist and the creative approach the artist is taking throughout the music. All aspects of the digipak, brand image and music video are all interwoven with each other.

What does it look like?

Digipaks tend to have a front cover, back cover and either one or two internal disk holders. The front tends to be an image representing the artist's work, their ideas and the aesthetic of the music that they produce (whether it be indie/rock etc.). Then, the back cover tends to have a full track list of all the tracks on the CD/CDs. The Digipak itself opens like a small cardboard book and tends to have art on all sides, including the interior so that there is a constant image for the buyer to admire.