# Music Packaging: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly



## Common Listener (Apr 6, 2019)

The conversation begun by rice here and going on for quite an interesting while after that made me want to post this thread. As indicated in the link, there is a thread on "CURRENT Box sets you want to be reissued with better Packaging / Design / SQ" so, while I don't want to limit things, I particularly wanted to talk about "the good" in this thread. I tried taking some pictures so you could see what I mean but I'm not so good with a camera. I recently got a 10CD Brilliant Classics budget box of _Corelli: Complete Works_. The box is nice and sturdy with nice artwork on the front and great list of the contents and musicians on the back. There is a 12 page booklet which discusses Corelli, his works, and the musicians in this recording. Each of the ten slipcovers has its own, but compatibly styled, artwork, a listing of the works and movements and musicians and even the make of their instruments on the back. Best of all, those slipcovers are sturdy and perfectly designed - the CDs don't readily fall out but, unlike most, also require no force to get out or put back in. All in all, I'd have a hard time giving higher marks to any set that came in cardboard and this is actually amazing, to me, for a budget line. (Not really on point, but Peter-Jan Belder's Musica Amphion is really good, too.) Since this probably sounds like an ad, I should specify that I have no connection with the company or performers. 

So, what are your favorite packages (or not-so-favorite)?


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## rice (Mar 23, 2017)

I'm a fan of Maestro Horowitz and these box sets are simply amazing.







This is beautifully crafted. Classy and well-designed.








This set doesn't come with a booklet, but a full sized *book* and it's absolutely fantastic.
Many precious photos, info and story about the maestro are there. It's probably the only literature that comes with CDs I've ever read from front to last page. 
However I must say the LP sized box is not very shelf-friendly But considering the brilliant book the drawback is nothing!


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Very nice packaging but does not fit with the rest of the CDs.

LP sized box and booklet:









CDs behind the LP sized booklet:


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

Both of Rattle's Beethoven cycles are well packaged. The VPO set is nice but that BPO set is beautiful to look at.


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## bigshot (Nov 22, 2011)

I hate box sets with jewel cases inside. I like the nice big books, but the rest of it just takes up space in the garage once I rip it. The more compact the better. When the proportions fit on a normal CD shelf, that is a plus. It's also important to have full track listings on each cardboard sleeve. I can't believe how many sets don't.


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## Kiki (Aug 15, 2018)

Merl said:


> Both of Rattle's Beethoven cycles are well packaged. The VPO set is nice but that BPO set is beautiful to look at.
> 
> View attachment 117090


This is hard to believe! The book is a... book, and there's even a string for pulling up the records! So sensible and so functional... This is absolutely _ridiculous_! Just look at the CD/BD version. While it's easy to remove the discs, I never touch them, I only flipped them up _once_ to get the download code that's hidden underneath. And then look at the booklet (top right). It's bound to the box. The objective of the whole box design is to make it difficult to hold and read the booklet while sitting on a couch! :lol:


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

Kiki said:


> This is hard to believe! The book is a... book, and there's even a string for pulling up the records! So sensible and so functional... This is absolutely _ridiculous_! Just look at the CD/BD version. While it's easy to remove the discs, I never touch them, I only flipped them up _once_ to get the download code that's hidden underneath. And then look at the booklet (top right). It's bound to the box. The objective of the whole box design is to make it difficult to hold and read the booklet while sitting on a couch! :lol:


Lol, i think its a lovely box.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

The 1990s edition of Solti's Ring cycle on Decca is in the luxury class - each of the four operas individually packaged in its own box with a large booklet, all of which fit neatly into a bigger box with removable lid.










Hopefully we've seen the back of those clunky, space-wasting multi-disc jewel cases, like the type which originally housed Kubelik's Mahler cycle on DG and the _Mozart Edition_ on Philips.


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## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

Here are three with pretty senseless packaging:









The only problem with this one is that the cardboard sleeves are so tight that it's nearly impossible to remove the discs without tearing them. This is a pretty consistent problem with Sony/BMG CD products.









Another Sony abomination. The size only works for people who still have LP shelves. Worse than that, the CD's don't stay in order unless you store the box flat. The same problem occurs with the Wand edition box.









This one is simply pointless. The digipack folds out in four directions, so in order to remove the discs (or read the documentation), you have to lay the thing flat on a table. Dumb, really dumb. I dislike digipacks in general - if they are damaged, there's no way to replace them - but this one takes the concept to a new low.


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## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

This series was the worst. (I have three sets from it.) The inside front and inside back each had a pocket that held the discs so tightly that you were lucky to get them out once without scratching them. I got them out, ripped them (both layers), put the discs in paper sleeves and hid them away. I can't even remember if they came with any textual materials.


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## Kiki (Aug 15, 2018)

Merl said:


> Lol, i think its a lovely box.


Have to admit it does look lovely, on the shelf! :lol:


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## Duncan (Feb 8, 2019)

I genuinely like Anne-Sophie Mutter - she's a class act - but not so much that I was ever tempted to acquire this at CDN 400.00 (it's long out of print and generally going for at least twice that now but I didn't want it then and I want it even less now...).






On this second video American talk show host David Letterman displays the set (which he refers to as the ideal "hamster habitat") before introducing Mutter and Andre Previn.


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## Kiki (Aug 15, 2018)

There was a time when record companies were producing both CDs and LPs, and presumably to cut cost, this is the result. :lol:


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

This is such a treasure, bought it second hand, mint for only €30,00


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## 13hm13 (Oct 31, 2016)

If you like packaging, you may enjoy DG/Decca/UMG's YouTube "commercials" ...






They have become my favorite "tv commercials" of all time ... so well produced, shot and sweet !!


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## Johnnie Burgess (Aug 30, 2015)

This set of Mahler symphonies was packaged bad in my opinion:










The openings for the cd's are in the middle making it hard to take out the cd.


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## Common Listener (Apr 6, 2019)

Keep 'em coming! This is some neat stuff. The LP/CD hybrid stuff sometimes makes sense but is sometimes hilarious. Speaking of hilarious, I have to agree with Dave on the hamster cage - her getting that set is nice but it doesn't really suit. On the other hand that Horowitz and von Karajan look amazing. I want that von Karajan even though I don't want it, so to speak.


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## Duncan (Feb 8, 2019)

This has been sitting in my shopping cart ever since the pre-release information was posted back in August of 2016... It weighs 7 kg... which is like 6 and 3/4 kg more Bernstein than I would ever want... maybe even 6 and 9/10 kg more Bernstein than I would ever want... ah, hell... let's just go with "7 kg more Bernstein than I would ever want", eh?

Three years later it is still sitting there because if I really wanted it I would have had it by now but I really don't want it and thus I continue to not have it and to not really care all that much - in fact it's pretty much an understatement to claim that I really couldn't care less because for every Bernstein recording ever released I can easily find five other versions (when I'm feeling really lazy and uninspired and ten other versions when I'm feeling rather energetic and inspired because I'm really jacked up to the max on caffeine) that are preferable...

It is going to continue sitting in my shopping cart unwanted, unneeded, and unloved... until it actually goes out of print in which case I will be back here bitterly and incessantly whining about the cruel and merciless vicissitudes of life and how I should have purchased it when it was readily available but I didn't and now I have to pay an outrageous premium for a secondary market copy and all because nothing is more attractive to me than that which I cannot have...

It's still in print and available for a relatively reasonable price... and I still don't care... and I still don't want it...


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## Kiki (Aug 15, 2018)

Mollie John said:


> It's still in print and available for a relatively reasonable price... and I still don't care... and I still don't want it...


Trust me, I know how that feels!  It happened to me with EMI's complete Karajan vocal music box. Kept it in my shopping cart at several online stores for many months then after it had finally disappeared from all those sites _panic_ struck and I _had to_ order it from an independent seller on Amazon with a marked up price and a hefty shipping cost that's even more scary! :lol: Enjoy the sight of it in your shopping cart while you can! :devil:


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## Kiki (Aug 15, 2018)

Common Listener said:


> .... On the other hand that Horowitz and von Karajan look amazing. I want that von Karajan even though I don't want it, so to speak.


That reminds me of one thing about such big boxes - the complete Karajan boxes issued by DG and EMI come with more than a few tracklist errors, recording data errors and even album cover errors which I find rather irritating. (Have to confess I'm obsessed with recording dates. Nothing irritates me more than the wrong recording year being stated in the booklet! And this happens not only with these big boxes, but also with regular CD releases as well. It's so sad.)


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## rice (Mar 23, 2017)

I try to buy as many CDs as I can now, knowing the regret when a set goes out of print and disappear from the market.
Physical media is bound to fade out soon, CD shops are closing one after another. (it's sad)
Even online retailers are shrinking. I just can't take the risk of waiting for the best buying moment.

Just did a hunt of an out of print set produced merely 10 years ago. The premium I paid for it...sigh it's outrageous.


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## flamencosketches (Jan 4, 2019)

Johnnie Burgess said:


> This set of Mahler symphonies was packaged bad in my opinion:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I thought the packaging was phenomenal. Only a couple of them have openings in the middle, the ones with two CDs in one sleeve (reproductions of the original LP gatefold. Even these I had no trouble taking out, but most of them have an opening in the typical spot. The little LP jacket reproductions with original liner notes were awesome IMO. This is my favorite box set of the few I own.


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## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

flamencosketches said:


> I thought the packaging was phenomenal. Only a couple of them have openings in the middle, the ones with two CDs in one sleeve (reproductions of the original LP gatefold. Even these I had no trouble taking out, but most of them have an opening in the typical spot. The little LP jacket reproductions with original liner notes were awesome IMO. This is my favorite box set of the few I own.


Sony seems to have gotten the message (at least in some instances). For the Szell box the gatefold reproductions have the opening at the top.


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## SalieriIsInnocent (Feb 28, 2008)

The music packaging with Anima Eterna sets with Immerseel conducting that I've purchased have all been phenomenal. Nice sturdy digipack style cases, with beautiful artwork.




















Those images don't really do them justice.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

SalieriIsInnocent said:


> The music packaging with Anima Eterna sets with Immerseel conducting that I've purchased have all been phenomenal. Nice sturdy digipack style cases, with beautiful artwork.
> 
> Those images don't really do them justice.


I see it says Zig Zag at the bottom of each cover. Maybe* these* can also be used for disk cleaning cloths?


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## CnC Bartok (Jun 5, 2017)

I don't like these huge boxes, such as this relatively recent investment, even if the contents are beyond magnificent:









Nowhere to store it, doesn't fit on normal CD shelves.

Aaaaah! First-world problems.......


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

CnC Bartok said:


> View attachment 117486


I want a box set packaged like that but with no hole in the middle, meaning there has to be about twice as many disks! But if there is a hole in the middle, they should include a USB stick with all the music ripped.


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

Stravinsky conducts Stravinsky - Sony 22CD

I got this by mail, the cd box being wobbly and deformed, maybe damaged on the way. Impossible to straighten it out again, and now ugly and shapeless.


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## CnC Bartok (Jun 5, 2017)

joen_cph said:


> Impossible to straighten it out again, and now ugly and shapeless


How dare you talk about Igor like that! :devil:


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## philoctetes (Jun 15, 2017)

CnC Bartok said:


> How dare you talk about Igor like that! :devil:


That box was quite a sensation when it came out for $25. One of the first to break into that price bracket. Imagine the original CD release n jewel cases that sold for several $hundred!


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## rice (Mar 23, 2017)

Just received another *superb* set of the maestro.
Beautiful, thick cardboard original LP jackets, nice booklet, 
and the very hard to find columbia recordings.
This box is just incredible!

The only drawback is, this set was made 10 years ago and out-of-print for a long time, I wasn't a classical music listener back then. I've seen the reduced 10 CD version on shelves I thought it was meh, I didn't know this 70CD complete set exists until a few weeks ago! It was an impulse buy for me!
To get this _brand new_ box, I paid more than double the the original retail price
And I consider myself lucky such new-old stock still exist.

Although I think I have 1/4 of the content in RCA gold seals and later compilations, apparently this box was produced better with superior masters. Thinking about most of the discs are impossible to find, it still seems a bargain to complete the collection for a fan like me


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