The end of the plastic CD case?

This Sunday's New York Times Magazine profiled legendary producer Rick Rubin, who has helped launch the careers of bands like the Beastie Boys and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and has collaborated with countless other artists such as Johnny Cash, the Dixie Chicks, Metallica, and Slayer. These days, in addition to his producing duties, he is the co-head of Columbia Records. Recently, he urged the company to become the first major record label to go "green" and completely do away with plastic CD cases, or "jewel cases," and they agreed. Since music is increasingly moving towards the digital medium anyways, this could be a big step forward to making the music industry more environmentally friendly.

Let's take a look at the three main types of CD case available today:



The standard jewel case is still fairly prominent on record store shelves, but this is the kind of packaging that Columbia Records has promised to put out to pasture. The whole case is plastic, except for the paper inserts. (Album : 3 Inches of Blood- Fire Up the Blades)



The "digipack" is becoming more popular, and features a plastic CD tray glued to a paper casing. (Album: Quasi- When the Going Gets Dark)



The newest style is the "LP gatefold" design, which is made entirely of paper and is meant to resemble LP sleeves. (Album: Sleater-Kinney- The Woods)

Obviously, the paper "LP gatefold" design is the most eco-friendly of the three, since it contains no plastic and is even more "green" when made of recycled paper. But other than being bad for the environment, jewel cases are just bad packaging. They break easily, they come with those those obnoxious white stickers on the top that are hard to remove, and are thicker and slightly bulkier than the other two. Digipacks and LP-style cases can't be easily replaced if damaged, but they're slimmer and are a lot harder to break. Plus, they look nicer and allow for more creative and interesting ways to package CDs and display more artwork. So, maybe Rick Rubin is on to something here. Not only can we help the planet by ditching plastic CD cases, but we can make life a little less frustrating for music fans too.

You can read the entire Rick Rubin article here. Besides the part about going "green," it's a great read on one of the biggest icons in the music industry.