Cover Covers is a personal music streaming environment that puts emphasis on the concept of album. It offers an experience of listening to albums with self-created album cover.
Background
With the emergence of streaming services like Spotify, people gained easy access to individual songs. Now, music consumers are able to curate playlists with favorite songs. However, having instant access to popular and catchy songs, people no longer listen to albums. Although listening to albums has its own beauty like unique concepts and stories, it requires time and endurance.
Even knowing its value, I always find my playlist with songs from different albums. So, I wanted to force myself to listen to albums as a whole.
Attachment
I thought of how my first pasta tasted better than any other pasta I had before. People, especially beginners, tend to value their works regardless of its quality. I used this tendency to establish attachment between me and music albums. Then, I would listen to them more.
I decided to recreate album covers for three reasons:
- Album covers are art pieces inherently, so there is room for interpretation and recreation.
- Modifying covers do not affect listening experience.
- I don’t know how to draw, so recreating covers will establish strong attachment.
Based on my own interpretation of the music, I recreated nine albums. I used multiple digital tools including Machine Learning and Photoshop.
1. Kim Kwang-seok – 다시 부르기 1
2. Guckkasten – Guckkasten
3. Onnine Ibalgwan – Most Ordinary Existence
4. Seoul Electric Band – Life is Strange
5. The Black Skirts – 201
6. C Jamm – Keung
7. Yi Sung Yol – Why We Fail
8. Hyukoh – 24 : How to find true love and happiness
9. SWJA – Far Away
All Covered by Jung Soo
Then, I used automated browser to change original album covers on the music player to recreated versions.
Reflection
Having my own album cover proved to be a great strategy. Listening to albums became a more enjoyable and immersive experience. Also, it became a more interactive one since I had to develop my own understanding of the music.
