Longbox
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A longbox is a form of exterior paperboard packaging for musical compact discs in widespread use in the 1980s and early 1990s in North America.
Background
When compact discs first began to appear in the retail stores, the longbox packaging served a transitional purpose, allowing shops to file new compact discs in the same bins originally used for
Placing the jewelcase within a cardboard enclosure made for a larger and more cumbersome package that would be more difficult to shoplift from retailers.
Longboxes began to fade from popularity as the CDs themselves became more colorful, elaborate, and customized (labels initially printed CDs with standardized, oftentimes black-on-silver labels simply listing basic information about a release and its contents[1]). Longboxes were also considered environmentally wasteful and were expensive to produce. In North America, the drive to eliminate longboxes took hold in Canada first.[2]
Legacy
Environmental concerns of unnecessary cardboard waste from artists and consumers alike created controversy over continued use of longboxes.
On the other hand, some recording executives tried to have the packaging serve a useful purpose beyond marketing such as when in 1991
Some merchants resisted this disapproval of the packaging, as longboxes theoretically made it harder for
Longbox packaging was phased out officially as of April 1, 1993, due to the controversy. At the same time, major retail stores were no longer selling vinyl records and had converted their displays to accommodate shrink-wrapped
Aside from the occasional
Most original longboxes were discarded upon purchase, and they have since become desirable amongst music collectors.[citation needed] A compact disc is worth more if it is accompanied by its original longbox.[8]
References
- ^ djayarnold (July 4, 2010). "CD label art: a visual history". Mostly Music. Self-published. p. 1. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
First phase (mostly mid-'80s): the facts and only the facts – artist name, album title, song list, production credits, and copyright notice – printed in boring black with no background design. Many releases on Warner Brothers and associated labels used a standard design
- ^ Howard, Pete (December 14–28, 1989). "CD News". Rolling Stone. p. 216.
- ^ "Trash the longbox?" - Ron Givens, April 20, 1990, Entertainment Weekly
- ^ Knopper, Steve (2009). Appetite for Self-Destruction. Free Press. pp. 37–38.
- ^ Christman, Ed (June 2007). "Kill The Jewel Box: A Mistake from the Start, Landfill Forever". Billboard.
- ^ Rosen, Craig (August 1993). "ECO Sets Sights on Jewel Box". Billboard.
- ^ a b Knopper, Steve (2009). Appetite for Self-Destruction. pp. 39.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
See also
- Compact Disc
- Optical disc packaging