Digipaks
What are the research techniques that would be used to find out about digipaks?
Primary research- Physically looking at already existing digipaks created for other artists for their albums
By looking at digipaks that have been created for other artists/musicians it can help to give the producers of it an idea of what types of things to include within theirs. It can help with inspiration as well as how to actually lay out a digipak and what formats one might use for it. Depending on what kind of artist the new digipak is being produced for, that is the genre that the producers of a new digipak should be looking at. Typically digipaks might include things like lyrics of songs, quotes from the artists or actually list what songs are included within the album. The research that needs to be done is to what extent these things are included within the digipaks e.g. how many lyrics, how lengthy the quotes are, the size of any pictures included etc. One way of finding out what goes into a digipak might be to look at websites that can be used to create them. This website for example- http://www.discmakers.com/products/digipaks.asp -can be used to create different kinds of digipaks. It might be useful yo use this website as it will give an idea of the formatting and what actually goes into the creation of one.
Pros
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Gives the producers an idea of to actually make a digipak, what to include and how to lay everything out
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Can give the producers and idea of how much might need to be spent as well as who will have to be involved when making the digipak e.g. graphic designers, the musicians themselves
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For people who might not be so experienced with digipaks or not even know what one is it can help them get familiar
Cons
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Looking at a small sample of Digipaks isn't a large enough representation to get a good idea of all different kinds
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Just because one thing works for one album/musician doesn't mean it will work for all of them within the digipaks
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There might not always be a budget to create anything overly elaborate or creative, it might be more cost effective to make something basic
Primary Research- Interviews with the artist/musician to find out what information to include within the digipak
In order to ensure the digipak is reflective/representative of what the artist wants it might be useful to have an interview with them. From this the producers of the digipaks will be able to get quotes from them or include stories from production of the music within the digipak. This will give the digipak a more personal touch as the information is actually coming from the artist rather than information that might have been found online or in articles. Also the musician can actually have an opinion on what they want the digipak to look like and what kinds of graphics/pictures should be used to best represent them and their image. For example someone whose music is of the rock genre might have an image that heavily differs to a pop star. Therefore the producers of the digipak can find out what the musician wants specifically rather than what the producers think they want.
Pros
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The producers can actually find out first hand what the musician wants for the digipak, this will ensure there is a correct representation of them within the album
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Makes it more personal as there will be quotes, stories, messages etc from the musician themselves rather than it being from some website or other article
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The information is reliable, the quotes will be things that were actually said by the musician and the information won't be something false as it might be if gotten off the internet
Cons
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Just because the artist likes something doesn't mean the fans will always like it. Something that a musician likes might not be marketable to a target audience
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A musician could change their mind about what they want on their digipak after final decisions have already been made meaning there could be a risk of upsetting the artist
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A musician might not feel comfortable in a one to one interview environment, likewise it might be hard to arrange/organise a meeting if the person is usually busy
Quantitative and Audience Research- Demographics of an artists fanbase
Demographics is an important part of looking at what kinds of people might be buying a product especially when looking at something like a Digipak. I feel it is important for a digipak in order to find out whether the amount of money that will be spent on a physical digipak is worth it in comparison to simply putting a song album online where probably a majority of people get their music nowadays. The demographics that would need to be looked at here is the age range for people who are fans of a specific artist. Artists with an older fan base for example it might be more worth it to release CDs with digipaks in them as more people will therefore be likely to go out and buy and album/CD. For artists with a younger fanbase it might not be so worth it to make a digipak in the first place or it might be worth it to release less physical copies due to the fact that more people might buy and download their music online rather than go out to get it. This would save money in the long run as the cost of physical production would be smaller. Demographics can also be an indication of how a producer should design the digipaks. Older audiences might prefer something more plain and bare, simply a picture and the name of the album whereas younger audiences might want a bit more with more colour and pictures.
Pros
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Gives the producers an idea of who to design the digipak for
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Lets the producers know whether or not the cost of production for physical digipaks is worth it
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Can give the people producing the digipak an idea of how many physical copies will be sold in comparison to digital copies
Cons
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Trends can always be broken, even though a musician has a younger fanbase there might still be a high demand for physical copies of albums etc with an older fan base
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Since people are becoming more tech savvy in general we might even begin to see trends in older audiences downloading a lot more meaning there might not be a point in going all out for a digipak if not many people will buy it
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Demographics only look at current and past trends, it might be hard to predict future trends
Finding out from the target audience the digipak is going to be made for what kind of things they will want to be included within. This might be things like pictures, quotes or specific song lyrics. I feel that this could be done through focus groups, surveys or interviews- Primary, Audience and Market research
Since these kinds of things are made more for the target audience than anyone else (Since these are the people who might be looking at the digipak on a regular basis) then I feel it is useful to actually find out from these people what they might like to see or will typically expect from a digipak. Therefore as a result the producers of the digipak will not have to assume what a target audience might want and will actually have so information as to what they actually want. If the musician the digipak is being made for has a bigger demographic then it might be useful to speak to different people of different age, race and gender in order to find out different kinds of information and to get a lot of inspiration for how the digipak can be made.
Pros
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The producers will know what people actually want rather than just having to assume
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By speaking to people and hearing their ideas it might give the producers inspiration or an idea that they had not yet thought of
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By speaking to the target audience of the musician rather than just the general public the ideas will be more focused and specific to that group of people
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A wider demographic of people allows for a wider variety of ideas to be explored
Cons
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A small focus group might not be a large enough representation of the target audience as a whole
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Having to wide a demographic might make it difficult to come to an overall conclusion of what to do
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Just because the selected people are giving good ideas, it might not always mean the ideas they are giving are viable
