Images for Release/Packaging

Hi!

Release / Packaging - MusicBrainz (which is linked from the packaging help bubble on the release editor) is dry and not very informative. We have some links to images, but I’d like to add them to the page itself and ideally have them be as clear as possible. Is there someone who’d be willing to take some decent photos of their own packaging that might help? Might having diagrams actually be more clear than photos? (I seem to remember @aerozol had some diagrams ages ago).

I took a picture of the packaging for one of my digital releases:

I hereby declare it as CC0 so you can use it for whatever. You’re welcome! :+1:

:innocent:

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I have some exotic cases like https://musicbrainz.org/release/49814c99-f43b-46f0-bc11-aef43f2eaf2b/edits for the Other type.

At least for a start, here are some:

Slim Case

Slim Case (spread)

Slim Case White Side

Slim Case White Side (spread)

Super Jewel Case

Super Jewel Case (spread)

Jewel Case 2CD Smart Tray

Jewel Case 2CD Brilliant Box

Fat Box 6CD Smart Tray

Digipak (Medium left, booklet glued)

Digipak (Medium right)

Gatefold Cover 2CD

Book 2CD

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I took the liberty of updating https://wiki.musicbrainz.org/Release/Packaging but I could not find a way of including the wonderful photos that @Griomo took. Should they be uploaded to Wikimedia Commons?

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Login required - MusicBrainz Wiki should work, I think, unless it’s somehow locked for non-admins.

I have uploaded the images by @Griomo but I’m not sure how to classify the 2CD jewel cases.

I’ve always just used “Jewel Case” for those cases since they have the same form factor. Can anyone confirm this is proper?

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I don’t know if it’s “proper”, but that’s exactly what I do, for exactly the same reason. That makes at least two of us. :slight_smile:

And for those who are more knowledgeable than me on this, what is the difference between a book and a digibook? From images, all I can tell is that books have CD sleeves glued on to the front and back covers of the packaging, and digibooks have the sleeves as “pages” of the book. Is that the only difference?

There seems to be a pending ticket to add brilliant box as a separate packaging: STYLE-298.

Somehow, I foresee some people people getting confused between selecting the 2 CD Brilliant Box or the 2 CD Smart Tray unless there is a good explanation of the subtle differences (with pictures). They are definitely different, and not interchangeable. I also am of the opinion that they are both subsets of the Jewel Case category.

A book is a book, and sometimes books come with CDs (e.g., Taonga pūoro: Singing Treasures: The musical instruments of the Māori). A digibook seems to be something that kind of looks like a digipak, but instead of having a loose booklet, the booklet is part of the cover itself, like a book.

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How would you classify this? It’s all cardboard, but sort of like a book. You flip open the cover (to the left) and then there’s a (double thick) cardboard page that also flips open (to the left). Then the last page flips open to the right (sort of like a tri-fold) and in this final unfolded page is a sleeve with the CD.

It was originally entered as “Cardboard/Paper Sleeve” on https://musicbrainz.org/release/78acc379-5b9e-41fc-8691-d387475ede74, which I thought should be changed to “Other”. I initiated Edit #47158156 - MusicBrainz but there is some discussion as to whether that is appropriate.

Actually it looks most like a gatefold cover, only with more “pages” with CDs in them than usual. Of course there is an unlimited number of ways you can spin standard packaging types and there’s no way to have them all in MusicBrainz (there are also no names to call them by of course). The “other” category is not very useful because its meaning changes every time a new packaging type is added to MusicBrainz, so generally I try to avoid using it.

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Actually, there’s only one CD in the package, but I agree that “Gatefold Cover” is probably a better fit than either “Cardboard/Paper Sleeve” or “Other” (which I dislike using other than as a last resort). I’ll redo my edit. Thanks.