The Album Cover

Abstract

Despite the fact that they are not in the strictest sense making sound themselves, album covers are profoundly musical. Album covers represent the music contained inside them and, even further, they mediate our listening experience. Conversely, our viewing experience is mediated by the music. Looking at an album we are reminded of the art historian W.J.T. Mitchell's assertion that "there are no visual media," by which he means that all media are mixed media. 1 Likewise, we can say, there are no sonic media, and covers are exemplary of the audiovisual dialectics of records.Scholars have used generally four parameters to explain the album cover: a) as protection for the record inside; b) advertisement for the music; c) accompaniment or visual aid to the musical sound and text; and d) commodity and collector's item in its own right. 2 These categories are, however, more descriptive than conceptual. Similarly, many studies of album covers describe a history of sleeve design and offer case studies with an emphasis on-or even bias toward-the LP and rock music. 3 Despite these descriptions and histories, few scholars have attempted to theorize the album cover. Indeed, historicizing the album cover is only one of four ways to think about the sleeve and its design, the other three being paratext, audiovisuality, and materiality. Rather than merely chronicling the history of the album cover, we can reconsider it as an example of what media theorists term device convergence (even before the time of digital media). 4 This can be approached through what Emily Dolan calls a "musicology of interfaces," which suggests that the album cover can be thought of as an instrument through which we interface with sound. 5

Analisis Visual Desain Cover Album Dosa, Kota, dan Kenangan Band Silampukau

“…Fungsi dan desain cover album dapat berkembang mengikuti format rekaman yang ada. Dimulai dari format piringan hitam dengan ukuran cover besar menjadi lebih kecil menyesuaikan format kaset dan compact disc (CD), hingga menjadi digital untuk diterapkan pada layanan streaming musik seperti Spotify, Apple Music, dan sebagainya (Vad, 2021). Vokalis Grup Band Superglad Buluk menyampaikan bahwa sebelum era internet, penikmat musik memutuskan membeli rilisan fisik hanya berdasarkan cover album karena keterbatasan referensi dan informasi musisi atau band.…”