What’s the most iconic album cover you can think of?
Was it Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of The Moon, depicting a light beam shooting through a prism? How about The Beatles Abbey Road, with the Fab 4 striding across the front? Was it Nirvana’s Nevermind portraying the naked baby swimming after the dollar in the pool? How about IGOR by Tyler the Creator- a shocking pink offset by a monotone portrait?
Album covers act as the initial ‘hook’ to the album itself. Or at least they used to. With the increasing popularity of online streaming services, vinyl records have become an impractical outlet in the world of music. Vinyl and record players are still popular, but they are not the go-to way of accessing music.
With the increase in streaming, came a decrease in record stores. Thus, fewer listeners are buying albums at record stores. A huge factor behind spending decisions made by buyers in record stores was the cover art. So with the absence of record stores, it begs the question: are album covers even important anymore?
Music plays a huge role in many people’s lives. Sophomores Aahana Rustagi and Isabella Jerome both shared that they listen to music at least four hours a day. They both listen to music in the morning, throughout the day, and most of the night. They explained they see music as a relaxing outlet.
Isabella noted that she doesn’t really pay attention to album covers unless she likes the music.
“Album covers don’t dictate if I listen to music or not- music is music,” Isabella said.
She then explained that when she’s streaming music, she usually isn’t looking at her phone and if she doesn’t go out of her way to look, she doesn’t see them. When she does notice them, she said she likes colorful albums, but prefers having art on the cover rather than the artist.
Aahana disagreed with Isabella and said, “The album cover always gives me the initial vibe of the music. If the vibes are off, then the music usually isn’t for me.” She says that when she sees the musician on the album, it feels more personal and she’s more likely to enjoy it.
My mom, Sarah Cheney, was a teen in the 80s.With her stories of big hair and punk makeup, I wanted her to weigh in on the debate.
Music has always played a huge role in my mother’s life. In her teenage years she lived in Utah, so she was able to see tons of concerts at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City (She even crossed paths with Lars Ulrich, the drummer from Metallica). But none of Metallica’s album covers were her favorite.
“Thematically [they were]not what I was interested in. To put it frankly- they were boring,” Ms. Cheney said.
An album cover that has always stuck with my mom was KISS : ALIVE II. The cover is quite plain in itself, but you can see all four of the painted faces of the members in the corner. It wasn’t the album design that drew her in; it was the fact she could see all the members on the front.
“It was genius really,” she explained. “The cover encouraged you to pick a member to identify with. For me, it was Ace Frehley.”
He was the guitarist, and was painted as a ‘Spaceman’ (Coincidentally, he was the only one with silver face paint).
My mom also recognizes that KISS: ALIVE II was her first vinyl ever, so she’s a bit biased.
After thumbing through her old record collection, we finally found it. Since it was a double record, the album itself acted as a folder. We carefully removed the plastic protection sleeve, opened it… and out came flying her KISS: ALIVE II book (one of the promotional items included with the record). The immersive experience from the book helped draw me in; it was essentially just a picture book of all the members, but it served as my reminder how the music industry has shifted.
With the overwhelming transition from cassettes and records to Apple Music and Spotify, not only has the music itself shifted- but so has the initial ‘hook’ to a record. It’s no longer record shopping with your friends, but often a 15 second clip from a TikTok or an integrated song off of Spotify’s ‘Smart Shuffle’. Album covers overall don’t have the same influence they used to, but that doesn’t make them irrelevant. Now, in the 21st century, an impactful album cover is just an added bonus rather than the initial draw.
