Case in point: Polydor's "#1s" series of greatest hits compilations, for example...



These are being issued in bargain-basement eco-paks with no liner notes, yet they're going for the same price as CDs packaged in jewel boxes with full booklets! The list price for the James Brown title shown is $13.95!

If you've seen these, you know that there's absolutely no way these are worth anywhere near $13.95, $10.00, or even $6.99.

Maybe $4.99 at the most.

I had seen the James Brown collection but didn't realize it was part of a series until yesterday when I saw a Temptations disc and a various artists collection of jazz hits. They are kind of eye-catching in the store, but where's the beef?

And the industry wonders why so many people just want to download these days...

Even a digipak is better than this piece of crap!! Never thought I'd say that, but...

I first noticed these a few months back at Wal-Mart - all the 20th Century Masters Millenium Collection CDs had changed to this...ahem, packaging.

Yuck!!

Jewel boxes forever, cardboard never!

You know...I'm confused... record companies have been putting out more and more nicely designed cover art by way of digipaks. Their rationale being to give consumers *more* and to spur on the sales of CDs... thus competing with download sales.
Yet... these "ecocrap" cd packages are junk.
I don't understand the rationale behind them when they are not only cheap-looking but... priced relatively the same as a regular digipak or CD.
???
If all packaging becomes this cheap... I might have to resort to downloading.
Ecocrap packages suck.

I've come to accept digipaks... and have to admit they have much more "character" and appeal than the jewel case versions... when they are designed nicely. They are similar to Japanese mini-LP CD packaging... (though the mini-LP CDs often replicate the original album packaging down to the letter).
But then there are other packages like Neil Young's Live At Massey Hall 1971... where the CDs have no room to breathe in the package, and are often scuffed up. Bad design Neil.