Covermount

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Covermount (sometimes written cover mount) is the name given to

Audio recordings were distributed in the UK by the use of covermounts in the 1960s by the fortnightly satirical magazine Private Eye though the term "covermount" was not in usage at that time. The Private Eye recordings were pressed onto 7" floppy vinyl (known as "flexi-discs" and "flimsies") and mounted on to the front of the magazine. The weekly pop music paper NME issued audio recordings of rock music on similar 7" flexi-discs as covermounts in the 1970s.

The covermount practice continued with computer magazines in the early era of

Most magazines backed up by large publishers like Linux Format included a covermount CD or DVD with a Linux distribution and other open-source applications. The distribution of discs with source programs was also common in programming magazines: while the printed version had the code explained, the disk had the code ready to be compiled without forcing the reader to type the whole listing into the computer by hand.

In November 2015, The MagPi magazine brought the concept full circle and attached a free Raspberry Pi Zero on the cover, the first full computer to be included as a covermount on a magazine.

In other places, such as

In the United Kingdom, many television-related "partware" magazines (magazines aimed at collectors which build up to a complete set over months or years) have been launched in recent years, with covermounts containing episodes of the subject show (such as Dad's Army, Stargate SG-1 or The Prisoner).

American musician

Demo covermount discs

The initial purpose of covermount discs was to distribute demo versions of video games. Initial magazines, like Amiga Format or ST Format had one or more floppy disks with demos of upcoming games, but the fragility of the media and the increasing size of demos made publishers turn to compact discs, which were cheaper to produce, more resistant to damage, and had over 300 times more capacity. CDs became the most common storage media, but in the past several years, demos have grown from mere 50MB files to 500MB or larger. This discourages magazines from distributing most of the larger demos, unless the magazine has an exclusive distribution agreement or the title is highly anticipated. While in 1997 a CD could carry over 15 demos, in 2005 the typical CD had 5 or fewer. This led some magazines to insert a second CD, or to use DVD media instead.

Covermounts came late to the world of

The trend of offering full versions appeared in the mid-80s, when magazines such as Your Sinclair and Amstrad Action put full versions of software, usually games on their covertapes. These games, provided by distributors from a list of games with lesser commercial value, are also often found in budget range labels, and can range from older but highly regarded titles to unknown titles with little shelf space. Some games or expansions were released exclusively on cover media, such as Moley Christmas in Your Sinclair,^[3] or the expansion Populous: The Final Frontier for Populous.^[4] As access to internet gaming websites such as GameSpot or IGN grew, so did the importance of having a strong covermount. Others, like PC Format used to distribute full versions of unknown commercial software, with a beginners' guide in the printed version.

Although tagged as "free", covermount discs sometimes increase the price of a magazine.[5] Magazines that carry discs can cost as much as double the price of other magazines without them, even if these magazines have more pages. The "free" label serves as a dissuading factor in retailers stripping discs and selling them separately. To prevent theft of the discs from the magazine covers, retailers sometimes remove the discs anyway, keeping them behind the counter to be given to a customer upon purchase of the magazine.

Problems with covermounted products

Software added as covermount to computer magazines may sometimes not be secure. A fast-spreading medium, computer magazines can output over 10,000 discs in a matter of days. In the days before

In addendum to viruses, glitches may be present in cover media that have an adverse effect; In 2004, an issue of PlayStation Underground, a CD-ROM-based magazine, had a glitch where the user's memory card was wiped after executing a demo.^[11]

See also

• Disk magazine (a magazine contained entirely on disk rather than a disk attached to a paper magazine)
• Volume (a jewel case sized music magazine that came with a CD in each issue)

References