Why is album artwork important and how is it used?

Album artwork is still important till this day as it helps create and maintain an artist or bands image.It provides a visual representation of what the album is going to be like and the ideology of the band or artist.

It’s used to sell the product which in this case is an album and in some cases they have gone ahead to become iconic and even the unique selling point of the product. 

Kendrick Lamar's To pimp a Butterfly (2005)

The Velvet Underground and Nico, 'The Velvet Underground & Nico' (1967)

It could also be used to show the genre of the album for example a cover with hard block writing and dark colours would most likely be in the rock punk genre while a cover that has light colours would be in pop.

Rock album Mothership by Led zeppelin

Taylor Swift's Lover album released in 2019.

Having looked at these two album covers above you can tell that each cover has been designed to fit the different genres of the artist that appeals to their audience.

Album artwork also means that record labels can sell an artist's music physically for more money with the artwork at the front of either a CD or Vinyl.