Recording successes aside, Tom Vek comes to chat with Creative Commission about his new venture, Sleevenote
Many of you might know Tom Vek from his recording career. He’s had two albums released by Island Records, We Have Sound in 2005, Leisure Seizure in 2011, and more recently, in 2014, Luck came out on the legendary super-indie, Moshi Moshi. Recording successes aside, today, he’s come to chat with Creative Commission about his new venture, Sleevenote.
CC: What is Sleevenote, exactly?
TV: “Sleevenote is a music player app where you experience your music collection via sleeve artwork, both the front and back cover. The back cover art becomes the interface through which you select the tracks you want to play.”
CC: So it turns your digital collection into more of a virtual record box experience?
TV: “You could say that, yes! Without it being a retro thing, it’s intended to showcase how well sleeve art works in full res digital interactive glory.”
CC: Seems a like great idea. What brought it on?
TV: “I studied graphic design, and as a result, for my debut album, I did the CD sleeve, inner booklet, everything, knowing it would get seen by most fans. Six years later, preparing to release my second album, I was looking forward to doing the same. But by 2011, so many people were experiencing albums digitally - album art was reduced to a thumbnail on iTunes, nothing else, which I felt was really sad.
“I’ve always been so passionate about the artwork around music releases - when I was young I used to peek through the top of the CD case in the shop, so I could see how thick the album booklet was before I bought them! I created Sleevenote, which is a essentially a vast database of back cover art, so at least the back cover art, which has always been such an integral part of the album experience, would have a digital home and I think, its rightful place.
"Rather than see back covers become extinct, I decided to do something about it, and make that art available to enjoy digitally" - Tom Vek
“When you think about it, the back cover art has always been the way you remind yourself which track is which, and the primary way of selecting what you’ll listen to. The inner booklet, you could guarantee that fans would look at that at least once, but the back cover of a CD or vinyl would get looked at all the time, for practical reasons as well as aesthetic ones. Rather than see back covers become extinct, I decided to do something about it, and make that art available to enjoy digitally and a key part of the experience once again. I also want to see booklets come to digital albums but I believe there needs to be a fundamental artwork-based format for them to exist in.”
CC: I think proper diehard music fans will love it.
TV: “Yeah it’s for the super-fans. Most other digital delivery methods, there’s an unashamed focus on the irresistibly large group of people that are browsing, but there are no products for those spending serious time with an album, who are actually most important. Things like Spotify, you never leave the shop, they just want you to keep ‘grazing.’ There’s no grazing element to Sleevenote. No ‘if-you-like-this-you’ll-like-this.’ It’s not for the grazers, it’s for the people who are really into bands, who listen to albums one at a time.”
CC: How do you keep it free for fans?
TV: There’s a small production cost for labels. Some of the artwork has to be reformatted slightly, just so the track names are large enough be tapped on. At the production line stage for a label, when they are mastering and packaging an album it’s a nominal cost and an easy time to provide assets.”
CC: What’s in it for the labels?
TV: “The super-fan has always been the lifeblood of the music industry. I’d like to think Sleevenote could turn the passing fan into a super-fan by helping them get more enveloped by a release. There’s also the scope to be more creative with the digital sleeve artwork, with special reveals and information, since it can be updated and changed throughout a campaign.
“I’ve use this technique to good effect myself: in the run-up to a tenth anniversary gig for We Have Sound, I added a hand-written note to the back cover of the album in Sleevenote, telling fans a code word to say at the merchandise stand, so they would be given a free poster. Sleevenote is great for little touches like that, little surprises and ‘Easter Eggs’ to make the super-fans happy. Plus hidden tracks are finally hidden again!
“It also means that some classic album sleeves, which are true pieces of art that start a story on the front and continue it on the back, (e.g. Beastie Boys, David Bowie..) still can be experienced as the artist intended. No other distribution platform lets you do that. Also when was the last time you saw a record label logo? They are an art form in themselves!
CC: Is Sleevenote proving popular?
TV: “If an album isn’t already there in our database, fans can ask for the back cover to be added. We’ve had 30,000 requests to add back covers so far, and we’re going through them as fast as we can! But keep them coming, the more we get the better.”
CC: Awesome. Well, good luck with it. Any final thoughts?
TV: Thanks! I think you have to experience Sleevenote on your own favourite albums to fully appreciate the value it brings. It’s something that people are going back to vinyl for, which is I think should be a wakeup call for digital music. Sleevenote lets you see experience albums without being subject to the agenda of the gatekeepers, the iTunes and the Spotifys of this world, no extra branding, no distraction - It’s just you, the music and the art, the way the artist intended it to be.”
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Download Sleevenote now via your app store. Find out more at Sleevenote.info and see a selection of artwork on Twitter @Sleevenote or Facebook/Sleevenoteapp
