Do a flat plan of your advert, work out the layout you want

Here is my first flat plan for my promotional poster:

Investigate how important the print advert is the promotion of the artist/music.

The Print advert is very important in the promotion in an artist music. It brings its target audience in and appeals to them. It does this by its use of:

• Font
• Colour 
• Images that the audience can relate to 
• Contrast

Here is a good example of a good promotional poster. The poster is for an album by a band called 

Blink 182. It clearly shows the band name, and eye

catching image, colour contrast, the price pf the album and where the consumer can buy it. One of the biggest reasons why a promotional advertisement is so important is because it gets the consumer to go buy the product. 

Research the conventions of CD advertising. Look at music advertising from the genre your music video is and come up with a list of conventions that you need to get right.

The conventions of CD advertising in my chosen genre are very simple. In a lot of pop punk albums you wont see anything fancy or highly technical on the promotional images. Here is just one example of an advertisement for one band's album. However just because the conventions of CD advertisement in my chosen genre are simple doesn't mean they are not effective. I still need to focus on achieving a convincing promotional poster that fits into my chosen genre well. There is a list of conventions I will take from this promotional advertisement for a band called Real Friends for my final poster.

• Clear Band Name
• Clear Album Name
• Easy To Look At
• Contrasting Colour Scheme 
• Relating Image to Album Name/ Key Song

Final Digipak

And we are there! Here is my final Digipak!

Investigate the how the sales of CDs have changed in the last five years.

CD's have always been a 'must have' and have remained to be a very popular product to listen to music via. However music sales in the UK have fallen for the sixth consecutive year, according to the British record trade.  The BPI said combined digital and physical album sales fell 7% last year, from 128.9 million to 119.9 million.The 2009 figures saw an overall drop of 3.5%, despite a rise in download sales., music and books retailer HMV announced plans to close 60 UK stores in the next 12 months. The company said Christmas sales were down 10% and warned profits would be at the lower end of forecasts, blaming severe weather and "challenging trading conditions". The BPI monitored sales gathered by the Official Charts Company and said sales of digital albums in 2010 have increased by 30%.It also found the combined singles market recorded an all-time high of 161.8m, beating 2009's figure of 152.7m.

 It is now easier, and faster, to click a button a download your new favourite track, legally or illegally. Now thanks to to sites such as youtube and spotify, it is simple and easy to listen to music over and over again free of charge. This dramatically effects artists as they do not make a profit from there music. Itunes helps this by charging for downloads, although this does not support the sales of CDs.

  Artisits are no longer making a great amount of money from CDs. It is now coming from performing at festivals or concerts, or going to do a private show. If they are going to do a festival then normally the company will fly them out there and pay for their accomadation. As well as this itunes is still used all over the world on a daily basis. Itunes will keep a percentage of the money but the rest will go to the artist. As well as this artist will avertise themselfes, they do this in many different way's such as selling T-shirts, Caps, Flags,Horns and 20 second recordings of their latest song.

Look at how star image is used

I have a list of rules that I will incorporate to create my main photo for my digipak.

• Eye Catching
• Easy to look at
• Relating to album/ single
• Relating to band 
• Band logo
• Band name
• Album name/ Song name
• Clear Text
• Range of Colours

What is the difference between a Digipack and a CD case?

What is the difference between a Digipack and a CD case?

There are a number of differences between the two, a digipak refers to a certain kind of CD case, the one that I will be designing. It essentially consists of a plastic disc tray that has been glued inside a folded cardboard case. Digipak once referred specifically to the patented digipak packaging but has now become a genericized trademark that is basically used for any cardboard centred CD packaging.

They are made of paper, and despite this they were once considered the environmentally friendly version of CD cases, however they have remained less common due to the fact that they can survive less wear and tear than jewel cases, particularly when they are in the store, ojn top of this they have higher manufacturing costs. 

A jewel case/ CD case consists of 3 peices of plastic put together to create a protective case for the disc. The plastic disc pinner is generally the same as in the digipack, yet information about the CD including the case is pinned in to the front of the case, and printed onto separate paper. The back artwork can be held securely in place between the CD and back plastic. 


Why There is more value on a Digipack

The digipak has 6 sides, therefore there will be more opportunity for visible artwork, information or promotions. This way the artist has a better chance at attracting potential buyers, such as fans, as they will see the digipak as more than just a disc of music, it is a collectable item as well. In comparison to the jewel case, all of this additional information is easier accessible, the sleeve in a jewel case is easily ripped when removed or put back into the plastic grips, making it unappealing to remove. On a digipak all information is very easily accessible.

Things I need to Include in my Digipack;

The artist name

The album title

The names of the songs on the album

The copyright label

The record company

Album credits

Lyrics?

Album artwork

Barcode

Disc holder