What Makes an Effective Album Cover

Album covers are not just there to protect the disc inside the case, but to also promote the artist to the customer, they can do this in a number of ways from being eye catching to doing something different to the majority.

There has to be an overall theme which matches the video and the album cover, this continuity means that the consumer knows one product is linked to the other and so is able to spot the characteristics of their favourite artist as the way the products are marketed will link back to the artists themselves.

The text has to be clear, this is so people can read what they are buying and also so they can quickly identify the album they are looking for. The colours on the cover have to reflect the artist and be relevant to the music, for example Miley Cyrus fans are unlikely to buy something that looks dark and dismal, they are more than likely looking for something bright and colourful.

Another important factor is that the album cover and the advert has to link to the music video, this again develops continuity by which the target audience can familiarise themselves with.