CD packaging question: Eco Pak vs. Digi Pak?

I was under the impression that among non-jewel box packaging options, there was a pretty clear distinction between digi-pak and eco-pak. Generally, I thought that if a plastic spindle/hub is included it is considered a digi-pak but if no spindle is included and the CD is just lodged in a paper sleeve or the cardboard, then it falls into the category of eco-pak / mini-LP style.

Well, I just had look at INXS' Welcome to Whereever You Are. Though I haven't looked at it since, I originally purchased this CD in 1992 when it was released. When I undo the quick release (something unique to this CD among my admittedly modest CD collection) I see that there is an inner spindle/ hub but curiously the black plastic has embossed on it "Eco Pak" That would undermine my general theory of categorization.

If anybody reading this has this CD with this style of packaging, I'm wondering if there are other examples of this type of Eco-pak. And is my understanding of this basic distinction correct or not? Has the Eco-pak evolved (i.e. taken different forms) over the years?

 

A lot (all?) of the Motown "#1's" compilations are in Eco-Packs with various ways of holding the discs in (almost all are sleeves of some sort, but some use a cardboard hub).

 

I'm fine with the digipak, but I hate - HATE other packaging where the cd has to be pulled out of the package like an LP.

What a pain, especially if you want to use them in a car.

 

I wish the distinction were that clear when ordering online. I like the digipaks w/spindles but do not care for the ones that are like record sleeves. But "digipak" is used pretty regularly for anything not a jewel case it seems.

 

This came up yesterday in regards to Pearl Jam's second album, which was originally released on CD without a title and in an Eco-pack. That packaging was called such because it had minimal plastic compared to a standard jewel case. I think that was the first, or certainly one of the first, releases using this type of packaging. Most of the package was cardboard, but it did have plastic on the ends where you closed/opened it by pushing in and the cd was housed on a plastic bed inside. I think the term has evolved over time and now refers to a type of case that does not use any plastic, while digi-packs are basically a cardboard outer frame with a plastic base inside for the cd.

 

any reissue that comes without with a booklet, is not something I'll buy.

 

If memory serves, the original Eco-pack came about not because of concerns over jewel cases, but concerns over long boxes. They were folded in such a way from the factory to more closely match the long box form factor. IIRC, when you opened them you removed a couple of plastic rails, at which point you could fold it into a jewel case form factor.

I believe there was a blurb in Rolling Stone in about 1993 or so about this.

 

What does that have to do with anything? Most releases in digipaks/ecopaks come with booklets...

 

Found a few references. Digitrak is what I was thinking of, although it looks like Eco-Pak was around too.

http://www.studio-nibble.com/cd/index.php?title=Digitrak
http://articles.latimes.com/1991-09-08/entertainment/ca-2888_1_jewel-box

"For the last few months, the PolyGram Label Group (PLG) has been quietly wrestling with a potentially serious problem. One of its most respected superstar bands, U2 (which records for PolyGram-owned Island Records), had publicly voiced its opposition to the CD long-box package--and promised its fans that its new album would not be released with a long-box format."

Dig this quote:

"I doubt if we'd ever order the jewel box--it creates too many problems with theft and fixture conversions. If PolyGram were to have any success with that package, they'd just get the idea they could ram it down our throats. Still, I like the idea. This way, PolyGram and other labels will have a true test of retailer enthusiasm for the jewel box."

 

The new trend in EcoPacks seems to be to not include booklets to make them more (you guessed it) environmentally friendly.

 

There's a trend?

 

Most/all of the ones I've bought have come with a poster or a booklet.

Who cares, though? That's like saying that you refuse to buy an LP because it doesn't come with a custom inner sleeve.

 

Wasn't the Beach Boys Summer In Paradise an EcoPak ??

 

This.

 

Yes.

 

But what CDs came in a lukpac?

 

Wouldn't you like to know.

 

Love the Digi's with trays, (Jakob Dylan's solo CD's come to mind).

Hate the LP design (ala Beatles remasters)!!!

 

I won't refuse to buy a CD if it comes in an EcoPack. If it's easy to get in and out of the sleeve or hub or whatever; fine, but if it gives me problems I just transfer it to a regular jewel case.

 

Digipaks, the plastic trays surrounded by cardboard which often but not always have a booklet, are fine with me. I like them.

But those crappy cardboard sleeves which scratch the discs because you have to slide them in and out of the packaging very closely to the cardboard for even getting them in and out, I despise those. They have no longeivity.
If I have to have one of those CDs, I usually use my computer's scanner and printer to construct my own jewel case version to keep the CD in.
Most of the time, I wait until the ecopak CDs are as cheap as their packaging before I buy.

Recent ecopaks I have not bought because of them being ecopaks include "The Old Magic" by Nick Lowe and "Seeds We Sow" by Lindsey Buckingham.
Last year, it was "Mojo" by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and a few others as well.

Trouble is, some retailer websites call foldout ecopaks a "digipak" despite having no tray. So colloquially, the two terms are being mixed up by the retailers, probably on purpose because they know their customers do not like the cheap cardboard packaging at all. It devalues the CD.

It somehow is beyond me as to why labels put their releases in inferior ecopaks when the labels could put their stuff in Super Jewel Cases which really are superior to the standard jewel cases.

 

I don't like looking at a back liner that is chopped off in the corners and not being able to get the booklet out easily.

The original is still the best and that is the heavy standard jewel case.

Any CD packaging with the word "pak" in it is no good.

 

Just give me a standard jewel case, please!
I hate those cruddy cardboard cases.

 

I try to not worry too much about this stuff, but the new Pink Floyd covers (and the Lennons) are a disgrace, there's no excuse for CD packaging which damages the disc surface before the item us even opened/used by the consumer. And which makes it very hard to get the (already marked) CD out in the first place. Cardboard costs virtually NOTHING, at least make it the right size and/or give us an inner sleeve.

 

The couple/3 "eco-friendly" titles I have from Sony/BMG including a Crash Test Dummies "hits" CD and an Elvis Presley "hits CD. Both did NOT come with a booklet, but with instructions on how to download the liner notes from Sony's Web site.

Some people would care. Of the Sony/BMG eco-friendly "hits" titles, a number of them were previously released or simultaneously released in regular jewel cases with the CD booklet/liner notes.

 

I once ordered a CD off Amazon, that I could have easily bought in my local Target, because Amazon had jewel cased versions and Target ONLY had the album in an eco pak.

I'm not sure who benefitted more from that or what message that sent the record company in terms of my comsumer power, but there it is.