Digipaks.. Yes/No?

Youtube is one the world's leading website to watch videos on. From home videos, parts of films, music videos and many more. With some songs reaching over a billion views viewers like to listen and watch. The positive about youtube is that it is free meaning whoever from wherever can watch whatever they like at any time. However, this is a disadvantage to the music industry as those who have access to the internet can just listen to their song choice for free online + watch the music video also. A question raised is "will online downloads mean the extinction of hard copies?" 

Also as DVD's are being downloaded illegally and films, songs and music are also. There are free online programmes that allow internet users access to convert a Youtube song into an MP3 song onto their hard drive for free. There are also other programmes that PC users can download which allows free song downloads. This is a hindrance to music industry or in a wider perspective, the media industry altogether.












Some people who may download them legally argue their reason being that it is a lot quicker than to go out of home to purchase the product then wait to listen to it when the internet is instant and fast. Many customers do not bother with the lyrics and posters which some albums contain. Another argument is the on iTunes it may cost 99p for one song rather than £3 in HMV a music retail store.

Although there are many factors which can cause the fall of hard copy discs, dedicated fans prefer the hard copies. There are still many people that prefer albums and singles rather than downloading because they like what they get inside and some use them as collectors items.

Other ways of transferring song files can also be done via a mobile phone. If a mobile phone has bluetooth it can connect to another phone and send song files as well as other media objects. Any media items on the phone can then be transferred to any other product that can hold media data such as a computer and laptop which then can be transferred to an ipod/ipad/mp3 or to another phone or media device. It is almost inevitable to question the existence and importance of a hard copy CD, plus digipak.

Do digipak's design entice the audience? or the song and artist themselves?
Some customers don't usually acknowledge the hard work and detail put into the design and layout of the cover, most customers already have a vague idea of what they want and the song choice. However some customers do acknowledge the album covers and digipaks, however these are usually fans.