Japanese albums generally cost between $28-45, but I think that they're worth it. They really take their time to put a lot of care into their products! When an album is first released, you can get them on pre-sale and they'll come with really fun promo gifts! They almost always come with a poster. But I've seen cellphone accessories, stickers, and other cutesy stuff, too. Even for the rock bands. It's not just albums that have fun promo items, either. In Japan, the success of an album is based very strongly on the sales of their singles. Singles are usually about $20.
Here are some examples of some of my CDs. First photo is of my beloved collection. #1-6 are Japanese, #7-8 are American, #9-10 is a comparison of sizes.
1. Gackt - Love Letter (outer CD sleeve, custom CD case made of material like an ancient love letter, a really fat booklet)
2. Gackt - The Sixth Day (outer CD sleeve, 3/8" thick CD case, two CD booklets)
3. Malice Mizer - Bara no Seidou (outer CD sleeve, 3/8" thick CD case, thick booklet)
4. 12012 - Play Dolls (5/8" thick case, 2 CDs, sticker, booklet)
5. Dir en grey - Vulgar (1/2" case, one thick booklet, one small booklet)
6. Dir en grey - Withering to Death (1/2" case, one REALLY thick booklet)
7. HIM - Razorblade Romance (3/8" thick CD case, thin booklet)
8. Blaqk Audio - Cex Cells (3/8" thick CD case, thin booklet)
9. 12012: 5/8", Dir en grey: 1/2", HIM: 3/8".
10. 12012: 10 pages, Dir en grey: 20 pages, HIM: 4 pages.
7 comments:
Personally, I do like Japanese music, so it's a plus knowing that its CD covers have good design.
I love cd art! But I totally agree that a lot of main stream American album art is terrible. My boyfriend has a HUGE (no, seriously, HUGE) collection of vinyl from every place at every time. Some of that art is fantastic and then combined with the music, it's almost too great.
I totally agree, most American CD album art is boring, especially when compared to Japanese CD album art. Japan has fascinated me since I was a child. I've been reading manga and watching anime for about 15 years.
Japanese book covers, DVD packaging, and advertisements are extreme and diverse; I think this one reason that Japanese culture fascinates me.
Unfortunately American culture is still very conservative, and this shows in our advertising. If an advertisement or product package is brightly color most assume it targeted towards children, if it's dark people assume it is gothic or evil. I think American graphic design is too stereotype specific.
CD Art is a Great Way for Musicians to get recognized, as well as the designer. Great observation!
What is a "visual-kei CD"?
Visuel-kei is a genre of Japanese rock music. I personally think the height of that era was in the 90s. It's been on a decline since then.
I totally agree that most of American CD is not a good design. BTW, I would like to introduce Jack Johnson new album. In my opinion his cover shows me the mood of his songs and his character with the colors and his black and white picture.
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