The idea that an ever changing topic such as music is losing its visual identity can be produce quite polarizing opinions, since its viewpoints are based on personal taste and its analysis can be very biased. This essay explores the current state of contemporary music artwork and its demand in the digital age, the resurgence of analogue formats such as vinyl records and the analysis of the artists viewpoints on the matter.
Has 21st centu ry music lost its visual identity?
"I am pretty turned off by a lot of current record cover art. So much of it seems tossed of and lazy, but then again, so does a lot of the music it is (Beatty, cited in Kawaii.K) framing."
It is well known that mainstream music has a strong connection to the appearance of the person behind the sound. Most rely on the image of the singer/ artist to create a visual identity. The visual concept of the albums is basically inexistent. The majority of mainstream projects share some kind of resemblance, both visually and sonically, most times even with some other artists from a past era of music. These projects rely on some kind of appropriation (besides the artist’s looks) to attract the public, they follow each other’s strategies to remain relevant, which ends on the development on certain trends, and while some are subtle, most are blatantly obvious.
Upon some mainstream album artwork analysis I found 3 examples that illustrate this point, all by female mainstream pop artists. The projects in question are “Bangerz” (2013) by Miley Cyrus, “Britney Jean” (2013) by Britney Spears and “Teenage Dream” (2010) by Katy Perry. The covers consist of a photo of the singer in question, with the album title presented in a “neon” type in a blue/pink colour scheme. Even though these are the examples where the existence of a trend is evident, most mainstream projects, especially the ones in the pop genre, follow the same formulaic layout of photo, name of the artist on a big typeface and the name of the album on a smaller setting. In other words, contemporary music has lost its visual identity. When everyone tries to look like one another, their identity is lost. The question is: is album artwork that important in this day and age ?
Lebon, T.(2013). Bangerz album artwork
Robert Beatty is a Kentucky based graphic designer, artist and musician, who gained fame in the underground world of the music industry due to the artwork he produced to several alternative bands and projects in the past decade. His eerie and otherworldly style is reminiscent of a 1950's sci fi magazine, with illustrations composed of bright colours and alien like characters, but most importantly, his pristine draughtsmanship that makes use of the airbrush. What makes Beatty's practice so sought out is the otherworldly atmosphere he is able to produce by applying his technique with the airbrush in a more contemporary way. The appeal is that it evokes something that people cannot place, the idea that nowadays this style is so much associated with trash culture, while in the past it was one of the most prominent techniques in terms of graphic design, or in
the overall visual aesthetic of the 1980's and 1990's creates a sense of intrigue. Beatty's latest projects include bands such as Thee Oh Sees, Tame Impala, Damaged Bug and The Flaming Lips, all considered heavy-weights in the alternative spectrum of contemporary music. The project that brought Beatty into the spotlight was the album artwork for "Currents", by Tame Impala, an album which awarded the band a BRIT award for best International Group in 2016. The artwork features motifs inspired by diagrams of fluid dynamics given to Beatty by Tame Impala's frontman Kevin Parker. This was a different take on the band's album covers, which were mainly photography based with some filters overlaid to better portray the psychedelic nature of the band's sound. Instead, "Currents" artwork relies on a more abstract design, composed of lines in shades of purple and pink with a metallic ball floating
seamlessly in between the sea of lines, creating ripples and waves. A delicate and subtle way to portray the band's change of sound to a more mellow psychedelic pop that surrounds the listener with layers that are both soothing and at times overwhelming. Robert Beatty also debuted his first art book in September of 2016. Composed of unpublished material and unused assets for some of his projects, "Floodgate Companion" is a gateway to Beatty's imaginarium, an amalgamation of parallel universes with airbrushed alien creatures and abstract typography that inhabit a cosmic realm reminiscent of a sci-fi graphic novel.
“It’s that sort of artw like it was never made simply exists in its ow –Paul Pope (Battling Bo
work which looks by anyone, it wn realm.” oy, THB) Beatty, R.(2015). Tame Impala “Currents” album artwork for Modular Recordings/Interscope.
When confronted with a question regarding nowadays state of album art, Beatty, simply stated that most of what is out there is lazily appropriated artwork for lazy music. The pervasiveness of the internet made many resources available to the masses, and this lack of original artwork is a product of all these developments in technology. With the arrival of streaming services, the need for original imagery for album covers is not the same as it was 30 years ago, when people had to buy a physical copy of the music to be able to access it. Now that everything is digital and the only form of album art visible by the client is a 200px by 200px thumbnail on the corner of the screen, the visual identity stops being a priority, and the artwork falls onto the formula of using a portrait for the album cover, because it is the easiest way to identify the artist.This way the basis of the visual identity is the artist's already achieved fame. It has never been easier to get your work "out there", be it music, illustrations, sculptures, etc. The internet is the best way to promote yourself and your work, but it also makes appropriation an even bigger threat than before. Appropriation has gained a big presence online and not only it is sought after, but also expected by many.
Beatty, R.(2015). Damaged Bug (John Dwyer of the Oh Sees) “Cold Hot Plumbs� LP cover for Castle Face Records.
"It's very to just bec ending stre (Beatty, ci Instead of utilising these resources as a basis to build upon and create new work, the trend nowadays seems to be the contrary, and actually rely on the anonymity of the internet to steal another artist's work and have an easy way out.
easy with tumblr and other such blogs come another anonymous .jpeg in a never eam of imagery." ited in Kawaii.K)
Beatty, R.(2016). Thee Oh Sees “A Weird Exits” album artwork for Castle Face Records.
Beatty, R.(2011). Ga’an “Black Equus” album artwork for Captcha Records.
There is no effort being put into it, and with so many visual resources available to the masses, the act of creating a visual piece to complement the music falls onto appropriating of another artist's work that someone found on the internet and overlaying it on top of the artist's photo. It becomes something that works as a trend, used once and then left behind, just an element conjugated to the artist's looks but never the main point of the project. Ultimately, the only source of music related artwork has been brought to the spotlight by more alternative projects. These musicians often refuse to work with streaming services and prefer releasing their music in physical formats such as CD's and Vinyl Records up to this day.
Alternative music, a term referring to a generation of musicians whose "modus operandi" stems from 1970's era of Punk Rock, was the independent musical artists response to the mainstream. The genre emerged in the 1980's and gained popularity throughout the 1990's and the 2000's and has become a staple in the industry, with a broader spectrum of styles and subgenres, cult followings and distinct visuals from the ones present in the mainstream. Since the visual identity of these underground sub-genres does not revolve around one's appearance, the need to create some kind of eye catching or interesting artwork was a priority. With so many sub genres under the umbrella of the alternative, and most so distinct from one another, the artwork for these projects is equally varied and full of personality, with the main goal being to visually illustrate a specific mood or sound, drawing inspiration from different art movements such as De Stijl and Psychedelia. More importantly, these album covers, like the music, have a certain concept behind them. Some of the most well recognised are Pink Floyd's 1974 release, " The Dark Side of The Moon" and Joy Division's 1979 debut "Unknown Pleasures". More contemporary projects include Tame Impala's 2015 album "Currents", Gorillaz's self titled album from 2001 and Nirvana's second album "Nevermind" released in 1991. Almost everyone is able to recognise the artwork
featured in these projects, even if they do not appreciate the music. Most of these bands present themselves with some kind of branding strategy so they can be more easily identified by the masses. One of the most well known cases of successful self branding in a contemporary setting was "The White Stripes", a musical project from Detroit, composed by Jack White and Meg White, who presented themselves as brother and sister, the youngest of 10 siblings.This background lore was later disproven after proof of their marriage in 1996 emerged. The Whites Stripes colour scheme was so consistent that even in live performances every item of clothing and gear would be in some kind of composition of the colours Red, White and Black. They also showed a heavy connection with the number 3, with every song only consisting of 3 musical elements. The band took this visual aesthetic very seriously, it served the purpose of illustrating the project's rawness and innocence, like two young siblings playing in their parents attic. This visual presentation was so well crafted that, early in their career, the band turned down a deal with the label Bobsled, simply because they didn't want to feature the label's green logo in their album covers.
White Blood Cells Album Cover(2001).
Several other bands were able to create intriguing visual aesthetics, but none of them were as intricate as The White Stripes visual premise, even after their disbandment in 2011 after a lengthy hiatus. Some other contemporary alternative projects that caught the attention of the masses due to their visual aesthetic were the british band "The Gorillaz", which is composed by an array of fictional characters, and "Daft Punk", a french electronic house music duo who wears robot helmets in every public appearance. The public enjoys these kind of gimmicks and most of the time they become the selling point of these musical projects. The visual identity helps bringing them to the spotlight, and that is probably one the reasons why these artists still prefer to release music in physical formats, especially in vinyl.
The dimensions of the format are perfect to showcase their visual aesthetic, and vinyl has taken off like never before, to the point of even breaking the record for most sales ever in the history of vinyl, surpassing every other format, including digital streaming services like Spotify and Pandora. There still isn't an objective reason for the increase in popularity in the format, because even though it has a lot to offer to an audiophile public, vinyl records are not the most convenient way to listen to music in this day and age. To be able to properly enjoy the wide dynamic range of sounds the format has to offer, the client needs to own or have access to a turntable, a preamplifier, an amplifier and some good quality speakers. Of course there are other options like portable turntables which already have all the necessary components, but the sound quality leaves much to be desired and these cheaper options are known to damage the records due to too much pressure on the stylus. These reasons make some vinyl adepts believe this new resurgence of the format is a sham, and that vinyl has just become the latest poser accessory or some kind of novelty that evokes feelings of nostalgia. There are facts that backup this theory, one of them is a survey published by BBC in which it is stated that roughly, only half of the people who buy music in the format have intentions to play the records, and that 7% of buyers don't even own a turntable (Savage, 2017).
Be it as it may, the increase in sales of the analogue format is welcomed nonetheless. It pushes the boundaries of what artists can do with the artwork that complements their music, sometimes transforming vinyl records into novelty objects. The fact that people are buying vinyl, even when they don't have a record player, shows that there is a demand for something more tangible than a click of the mouse on a computer screen, and since most vinyl releases nowadays come with a download code for the uncompressed music files, people can still experience the sound quality of vinyl, albeit in a less interactive way . The advancements in the technology put in the record making industry, when combined with new digital technology, make it possible to create some of the most interesting items in the music industry. From Eno and Hyde's augmented reality record that plays a 3D animation when looked at through a smartphone camera, to Jack White's "Lazaretto", which features a hand etched hologram on the dead wax that shows an animation when the record is playing under a small light. It's these small quirks that bring the appeal to vinyl, and when the work speaks for itself, there is no need for self promotion, or at least not in the same way the mainstream artists promote their work.
These are the projects that defy the idea that music nowadays doesn't have identity and everything looks the same. So, has 21st Century music lost its visual identity? My answer to that question is No, no it hasn't lost its identity. It just isn't handed to the public like it was in past decades, and, despite the fact that the demand for artwork is not the same, music's visual identity is very much alive, we just have to go look for it .
BIBLIOGRAPHY Beatty, R.(2016). Thee Oh Sees “A Weird Exits” album artwork for Castle Face Records. Beatty, R.(2015). Tame Impala “Currents” album artwork for Modular Recordings/Interscope. Beatty, R.(2015). Damaged Bug (John Dwyer of the Oh Sees) “Cold Hot Plumbs” LP cover for Castle Face Records. Beatty, R.(2011). Ga’an “Black Equus” album artwork for Captcha Records. Christie, C. (2016). The return of analogue - how vinyl went mainstream. April 15, 2016. Little Atoms [online]. Available from: http://littleatoms.com/return-analogue-how-vinyl-went-mainstream [Accessed December 2016] Coates, S. (2015). X Ray Audio. United Kingdom: Strange Attractor Press. Cooper, L. (2017). The vinyl revolution is a sham. January 13, 2017. NME Blogs [online]. Available from: http://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/vinyl-revolution-sham-1942217 [Accessed 25 February 2017] Fricke, D. (2005). The Mysterious Case of the White Stripes. September 8, 2005. Rolling Stone [online]. Available from: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/white-on-white-20050908 [Accessed February 2017] Kawaii, K. (2012). Interview: Robert Beatty. April 18, 2012. Tiny Mix Tapes [online]. Available from: http://www.tinymixtapes.com/features/robert-beatty [Accessed Lebon, T.(2013). Bangerz album artwork Media, M. (2017). Music Branding | importance of modern visual brand. February 24, 2017. [online]. Available from: http://blog.moodmedia.com/visual-branding-musicians/ [Accessed 25 February 2017] Peter Curtis(2016). SHOW & TELL • my vinyl collection
Savage, M. (2017). UK vinyl sales reach 25-year high. BBC Entertainment & Arts. [online] . January 3, 2017. Available from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-38487837 [Accessed January 2017]. Savage, M. (2016). Vinyl sales made more than downloads last week. BBC Entertainment & Arts. [online] . December 6, 2016. Available from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-38221420 [Accessed January 2017]. Shepherd, I. (2014). It’s a kind of magic – Or: It’s not about the f****** format ! June 11, 2014. Production Advice [online]. Available from: http://productionadvice.co.uk/its-not-the-format/ [Accessed Snazzy Labs(2015). 7 tips to perfect sounding vinyl records: Handling, cleaning, playing overview Steven, R. (2015). Record sleeves of the year: Our top 10 from 2015. December 18, 2015. [online]. Available from: https://www.creativereview.co.uk/record-sleeves-of-the-year-our-top-10from-2015/ [Accessed 23 February 2017] Telekom Electronic Beats(2016). VINYL FASCINATION The Vaultable(2016). My vinyl collection Volgsten, U. (2014). Music, culture, politics - communicating identity, authenticity and quality in the 21st century. August 22, 2014. Nordisk kulturpolitisk tidsskrift [online]. Available from: https:// www.idunn.no/nkt/2014/01/music_culture_politics_-_communicating_identity_authenti [Accessed 25 February 2017] White Blood Cells Album Cover(2001).