Digi packs is a CD covering made of card stock and other materials. Digi packs can flip open or sometimes it can have 3 parts, so that a segment of the packaging opens to the right and the other one to the left with the CD in the center portion. Usually, the portion of the Digi packs that holds the CD is made of plastic and the plastic part is basically attached to the paper background.
Example 1:
Band Name: Linkin Park-Minutes To Midnight
Track List: 1.Wake
2.Given Up
3.Leave Out All The Rest
4. Bleed It Out
5. Shadow Of The Day
6. What I've Done
7. Hands Held High
8. No More Sorrow
9. Valentine's Day
10. In Between
11.In Pieces
12. Little Things Give You Away
DVD:
1. Making Of Minutes To Midnight
2. What I've Done Music Video
3. Making Of What I've Done Video
4. Portable Audio Files For All Tracks
5. Ringtone For What I've Done
6. Toolkit With Photo Gallery, Screen Savers and Lyrics
Institutional Information:
Linkin Park:
Warner Bros Records Incorporation is an American record label. The music label was the present day Warner music company, which now operates as a subsidiarity of that corporation. The label also maintains a close relationship with its former parent Warner Bros Pictures. Warner Bros Records was founded on the 19 May 1958 and was founded by Jack Warner. The Company is currently located in Burbank, California in America and its current chairman is Rob Cavallo. The current genre at the company is Various and the company has current record artists such as Linkin Park, Clint Eastwood, Hugh Laurie, Lily Allen and Muse and had former recording artists which include Madonna, A-Ha, Elvis Costello, The Who etc.
Linkin Park:
Warner Bros Records Incorporation is an American record label. The music label was the present day Warner music company, which now operates as a subsidiarity of that corporation. The label also maintains a close relationship with its former parent Warner Bros Pictures. Warner Bros Records was founded on the 19 May 1958 and was founded by Jack Warner. The Company is currently located in Burbank, California in America and its current chairman is Rob Cavallo. The current genre at the company is Various and the company has current record artists such as Linkin Park, Clint Eastwood, Hugh Laurie, Lily Allen and Muse and had former recording artists which include Madonna, A-Ha, Elvis Costello, The Who etc.
Machine Shop Recordings:The label is founded by Linkin Park band members Brad Delson, Mike Shinoda in 2002 and the label was originally called the Shinoda Imprint but was changed in 2002. Its Distributor is Warner Bros Records but currently the label is on hiatus.
Linkin Park:What I've done(link):http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/linkinpark/whativedone.html Indicators Of Genre? What are they?
The information offered by the digipak is the name of album which is Minutes to Midnight by Linkin Park. The digipak also offers information such as on the covers it includes information stating that the album features 12 new tracks such as "What I've Done" and includes a 20 page full color booklet. In the right hand bottom corner of the album contains a warning to people that the album contains moderate impact, coarse language and/or themes which suggests that the album is aimed at teenagers to older adults.
Are there any indicators of genre? What are they?
There are certain indictors of the genre such as Linkin Park's font on the cover of the album is black and in bold writing. The color of the font and the font itself connotes authority and also connotes seriousness which tells Linkin Parks target audience that they take there music seriously and which indicates that the genre of music for the band involves the rock genre. The clothes worn by the band are of the color black which indicates that the band is of the punk or goth subcultures. The desert on the cover of the album tell us that bands music also of the alternative rock genre as the landscape connotes to the audience, loneliness and when you listen to Linkin Park's music, the music and the videos connote to audience's of how they are trying to combat social issues of society within their music and videos of themes such as drug use, depression, environmentalism, poverty etc.
Semiotics: What signs/symbols have been used? What connotations do they have?
The only symbol I could find was on the CD of the album which had the Linkin Park logo on the CDs which was made up of the letters L and P which stands for the bands name Linkin Park. On the first CD the logo is in back which connotes power and mystery but also denotes strength and authority. Its also used so when people get the album they know straight away that the CD is from Linkin Park and connotes to the audience that the CD is of the rock genre whereas the 2nd CD is light blue which tells the audience that CD is analytical and symbolizes loyalty which connotes to the audience that the 2nd CD is more about the making of their songs or the music videos.
Are there any stylistic themes which are present in the band/artists music video's?
- Life and death, control, desertion,time, spirituality
- War, destruction, poverty, global warming
- Equality, oppression, worship and affection, choice, religion and politics.
- Regret, Communism, Capitalism and Nazism
- Purity, rebirth, transformation, environmentalism, depression, drug intolerance etc.
The digpak creates a brand identity of the band Linkin Park by showing the band in a desert landscape which shows the band as a band that wants you to reflect on their songs but also on the way they interpret humanity as one of a negative connotation. The way the members are standing with dark clothing in a dark environment makes the cover seem much more masculine rather then having a vast use of colors and seeming more feminine. On the front of the cover it also shows the font of the band Linkin Park which is associating the band with the rock genre and a band that likes to concentrate on the irresponsibility of human negligence of past and presence. The cover also shows the band as a band that doesn't want to be shown as a band that is associated with certain genres of music.
Digipak example 2:
Band: Keane-Greatest Hits
Track Listing:1st.Greatest Hits
- Sparling
- Is It Any Wonder
- This Is The Last Time
- The Lovers Are Loosing
- Put It Behind You
- Somewhere Only We Know
- Again At Again
- Snowed Under
- Crystal Ball
- Can't Stop Now
- Perfect Symmetry
- To The End Of The Earth
- Nothing In My Way
- You Haven't Told Me Anything
- Everybody's Changing
- Bend And Break
- A Bad Dream
- We Might As Well Be Strangers
- Try Again
- Bed Shaped
1.The Iron Sea
2.Everybody's Changing
3.Put It Behind You
4.Nothing In My Way
5.We Might As Well Be Chickens
6.Bend And Break
7.Can't Stop Now
8.Try Again
9.Your Eyes Open
10.Frog Prince
11.Hamburg Song
12.Fly To Me
13. Leaving So Soon
14. This Is The Last Time
15.A Bad Dream
16.Somewhere Only We Know
17.Is It Any Wonder?
18.Broken Toy
19.Atlantic
20.Crystal Ball
21.Bedshaped
Institutional Information:Keane:
Island Records:Is a record label, founded by Chris Blackwell in Jamaica, which is also based in the UK, which is owned by Universal Music Group. The label now operates as a division of the Island Def Jam Music Group in the United States. It was founded in 1959 and has various genres with a focus on rock and pop.
Interscope Records: It is an American record label, which is owned by the Universal Music Group, founded by Jimmy Lovine and Ted Field in 1990 and is located in Santa Monica, California. The label currently has recording artists such as Queens of the Stone Age, Nicole Sherzinger, U2 and many more.
Fierce Panda Records: Is a London based independent record label with its first release in 1994. The label is also credited with releases by Keane, Coldplay and many more.
Interscope Records: It is an American record label, which is owned by the Universal Music Group, founded by Jimmy Lovine and Ted Field in 1990 and is located in Santa Monica, California. The label currently has recording artists such as Queens of the Stone Age, Nicole Sherzinger, U2 and many more.
Fierce Panda Records: Is a London based independent record label with its first release in 1994. The label is also credited with releases by Keane, Coldplay and many more.
Are there any indicators of genre?What are they?
There are a number of indicators on the cover of the album which connote certain music genres such as the red has been used to connote alternative rock. Blue has also been used on the cover to connote conservatism to the audience etc and it also connotes the music genre of Post Brit pop which has been criticized for providing a conformist and homogenized version of Brit pop which has been used as music TV soundtracks, shopping malls etc. Yellow has then been used to connote optimism, depression and imagination which has come to be associated with the genre of New Wave music which has gone on to influence New New Wave music which evidently has been used to describe bands or artists such as The Killers etc and the genre has been considered as part of the alternative rock music genre.
Nothing In My Way(link):http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/keane/nothinginmyway.html
Semiotics: What signs/symbols have been used? What connotations do they have/:
For this album cover, I found that these are photographs of the band members on the album cover is split into 3 parts such as we have the lead singer at the top with a red light behind him which has been used on the album cover to connote passion, masculinity and leadership. At the bottom right hand cover of the album includes a man in yellow lighting, the lighting is being used to connote intelligence, electricity and imagination. In the bottom left hand corner on the album cover contains a man with blue light in the picture is used to connote optimism and the male gender. From looking at this album cover I have found that the designer of the album cover is trying to connote to Keane's target audience of how the designer wants people to see Keane as a friendly, passionate, imaginative, optimistic and intelligent band.
The triangles on the top of the 2 CD's have been used by the designer of the album cover to connote creativity, harmony, ascension etc.
Are there any stylistic themes which are present in the bands/artists music videos?
The digipak creates a brand identity of the band Keane by showing the band in three parts such as the red at the top of the CD cover with the lead singer. In the right hand corner of the album there is a person with yellow lighting in that section of the CD album cover and in the left hand corner there is a man in blue lighting. The digi-pak creates a brand identity of the band by depicting the band as a band that is passionate, courageous, imaginative and intelligent. These sections of the CD album cover also illustrate the members of the band and connote to people connotations of those members and the colours of black, red, yellow and blue also connote to the audience the genre of music that the band plays such as black connotes alternative rock, yellow connote new wave, etc.
The triangles on the top of the 2 CD's have been used by the designer of the album cover to connote creativity, harmony, ascension etc.
Are there any stylistic themes which are present in the bands/artists music videos?
- Fate, acceptance, imagination, existence, broken world, decline, fluidity of life and death
- Guilt,origin of life, regeneration, evil and mystery
- Environmentalism, depression, drug use, economic strains.
The digipak creates a brand identity of the band Keane by showing the band in three parts such as the red at the top of the CD cover with the lead singer. In the right hand corner of the album there is a person with yellow lighting in that section of the CD album cover and in the left hand corner there is a man in blue lighting. The digi-pak creates a brand identity of the band by depicting the band as a band that is passionate, courageous, imaginative and intelligent. These sections of the CD album cover also illustrate the members of the band and connote to people connotations of those members and the colours of black, red, yellow and blue also connote to the audience the genre of music that the band plays such as black connotes alternative rock, yellow connote new wave, etc.
Excellent work Rhys - a really comprehensive analysis. If this analysis is missing anything it's a sense of how YOU might develop some of these observations in your own creative work. In future analyses (of magazine ads and music videos) try to include a reflection on how the research might influence YOUR magazine ad, even if it's as simple as a colour scheme you like or the use of silhouettes for example.
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