ITunes LP revolutionizes album packaging

Posted to Arts and Entertainment by Eric Rees at 10:14 a.m., Oct. 15, 2009

Probably the most heralded new feature that came with the recent iTunes 9 update was Apple’s attempt to remake the age where you got something tangible when you bought an album: iTunes LP.

On select albums before iTunes 9, some albums would come with a digital booklet which was basically the liner note booklet scanned into a PDF and tagged along with the purchase of the tracks. Not only was this a little skimpy in terms of content, it opened in a completely different program and was not easy to navigate. iTunes LP aims to do those “booklets” better, and does so easily.

The LP opens up right in the iTunes window and right away takes the art style you would expect from the physical CD. From this opening screen, viewers can navigate to videos that were included with the LP, photos, liner notes and a track list of the songs. Paramore’s Brand New Eyes came with a music video and a making of video while Jay-Z’s The Blueprint 3 came with an interview with Jay himself.

The song list has lyrics for each song and the song can be played easily from the same page. Paramore’s LP even included a handwritten version of the lyrics to “Ignorance” for even more depth. It is obvious that iTunes has worked hard on these LPs and worked closely with the artists to get everything down. It’s a little extra cash, but LPs are definitely back in style.