2. Whatisadigipak?
A digipak is a physical form of packaging for CD’s or DVD’s, often made from
cardboard with internal plastic to hold discs
3. Historyofdigipak
Digipak is patented and a registered trademark of AGI-Shorewood an Atlas
Holdings LLC company. They were originally used by Impac which was taken
over by MeadWestvaco (MMW) in 2000 which later folded into its AGI
division. After this, the Digipak name and designs were licensed to
manufactures globally.
Before digipak the ‘jewel box’ existed which consisted of a rigid case
designed to protect the CD from scratches however if dropped it would
easily break. Digipak on the other hand, is more environmentally friendly
and when fell it will not damage the plastic casing, therefore a much
safer case and allowing more images to be displayed which increases
customer appeal
4. Conventions
As they became popular with artists in early 2000 the physical forms of
Digipak contained:
A booklet inside, containing lyrics of the song and information about the
artist along with pictures or posters
The track list on the back to make with the names and orders of songs
The name of the record company and who's released the album and copyright
On the back there is the barcode and often a scan code relating to either a
website or other media for customers to scan the code from their
smartphone and be automatically directed to the link encoded in the scan
code, creating intertextuality and links between different media texts
6. SuccessofDigipak
Digipaks have been very popular since they came out in the early 2000’s with
artists as the portable discs allowed listeners to listen in their car, home
and work. With CD players they could be played anywhere without internet.
However in recent years due to the rise of technology music is now streamed
online with softwares such as iTunes (Apple Music), and Spotify which have
also evolved into apps on smartphones; the number of digipaks sold have
decreased. Audiences may still purchase digipaks for their favourite artists
or because the designs of them are appealing.
