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If listeners really are judging an album by its cover, using your resources to put together a great work of art could go a long way in gaining more listeners.Ĭover art is more than a representation of the music it’s part of an artist’s brand.
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It may seem obvious, but spending the time, money and effort on putting together a fantastic album cover could be a big advantage to artists. Much like our first factor, artists and labels want to make sure that listeners can predict what genre or sound they’ll hear with a particular album before they listen to it, because this usually will lead to more streams. Illustrator Jonathan Zawanda told Pitchfork, “I guess music has no real visual component, so musicians within a genre start making album covers that look a certain way, that’s when people start thinking that’s how the music looks as well.” Country fans could be unpleasantly surprised when they hit the “play” button, yet hip-hop fans might not check the album out in the first place. Let’s pretend Runaway June’s “Blue Roses” (right) was actually a hip-hop album. There’s a cultural association with what’s presented, and veering away from what consumers are familiar with could lead to lower listenership. Why is this the case? Listeners are conditioned to correlate sounds with certain types of imagery. Country music almost always features a portrait with the artist’s name at the forefront. A majority of today’s EDM music features 3D art (rarely a portrait). This is when it’s important to “look the part.” While creativity is important here, it’s also critical to make sure that listeners know what to expect when they hit “play.”įor example, a lot of hip-hop music features a subject with a high contrast of color against a black or white background. When music listeners look through the new release pages on streaming platforms, songs aren’t separated between genres.
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This ties to the film industry too – no one wants to see a poster similar to “Skyfall” only to be surprised by a movie akin to “Agent Cody Banks.”īy this logic, a project might stream better, and have better retention with listeners if its cover matches its mood because listeners know what to expect. In Paramore’s case, both of the covers mentioned before do a great job of representing the mood that particular album represents. And, those looking for a melancholy sound may not even hit the “play” button on that project in the first place.
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If a new listener is attracted to a song by a “happy”-looking cover, only to find that the track they select has a somber tone, they might click away if it doesn’t fit the mood they’re seeking. So, how do streams play into album artwork?
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Just take a look at Paramore’s “After Laughter” cover in comparison to their “All We Know is Falling” cover. A sad, or more dramatic work will often be darker with less color. A collection of feel-good songs will likely have an album cover that’s brighter with higher saturation. Probably the most important element to an album cover is making sure the style matches the vibe of the music it is representing. These are factors you’ll also want to keep in mind when making your picks in FanLabel. Here are a few elements to cover art that can lead to a more “streamable” work of music. While this doesn’t mean that trying to make it in the music world isn’t worth the chase, there’s one important factor that can play a significant role in how an artist’s music performs: cover art. In the music industry today, we’re experiencing a high saturation of releases. The same notion applies to music, in many cases. They say not to judge a book by its cover, but there’s no doubt that many do, anyway.