Digipak Research

Digipaks are the only real alternative  to the original jewel cases. They are used as a premium style of packaging for CDs and DVDs as they are composed of a patented card outer binding with a fold- out design. This format allows for additional photographs,  artist, but also extra publicity increasing knowledge of the artist and widening their market share. 

During the early stage of the digipak, they were only really accessible to leading musicians as they were expensive to produce. By the early 2000s, many large producers adopted the packaging style and they could be developed at a much lower cost. Production companies also favoured the 'environmentally friendly' concept as the casing could be made of recycled materials and ink, promoting the ethical image of the artist. 

In more recent years, the hard- form digipak has become less popular with digital downloads accounting for 51.2% of music consumption. However, companies such as iTunes also offer the digipak format in digital format, with the album artwork streamed to the buyer as well as the music.