Vickers and arts: RCA caught like litter in the wind of public opinion

Who knew that anyone would have been waiting for Diana Vickers to release an album? And that, once it came within shouting distance, those people's reactions would not be one of stunned gratitude, but discontent?

James P takes up the story:

Diana Vickers, an X Factor reject from a couple of years back, is releasing an album soon. As is often the way, the record company thought that a good way to pique fan interest would be to tease them with a preview of the album cover artwork.

Unfortunately, the fans hated it.

The messageboards are awash with gripes. Some people hate the font, some hate the photo, some hate the colours. Interestingly though, RCA have taken these complaints on board and started to tweak the image. In what appears to be a depressing collision between pop music and focus groups, they've changed the colours used in the artwork and, as the fans are still grumbling, this may not be the last amendment they make.

It does make me grateful that the internet wasn't around forty years ago, album covers would've been rubbish. "The flowers are nice and I like the different-coloured suits, but it's too cluttered and I don't recognise most of the people. Couldn't they just use a photo of the band leaning over a bannister or something?" "What's a cake got to do with bleeding?" "Why isn't Paul wearing shoes? They should put some on him, otherwise people will think he's dead or something"

(It does make me wonder if it would be possible to organise a Facebook campaign demanding that the next Kasabian album features a photo of the band being mauled by bears, however)

It's interesting to see that RCA is responding to consumer demand so minutely. Almost as if they think they need every sale they can muster. Perhaps they should try a print-on-demand cover?