Set that record straight! Cardinal line orientations in music album artwork boost market performance and music consumption

Abstract

In three studies, we examine the effect of music album artwork on album market performance and music consumption. Based on the perceptual preference for visual stimuli with cardinal (orthogonal) over oblique (tilted) line/edge orientations (a phenomenon known as the “oblique effect”), albums with a predominance of cardinal line/edge orientations in their artwork should perform better than albums with more oblique artwork, as indicated by the albums' market performance and consumers' listening behavior. Study 1, using secondary data, shows that the cardinality of album artwork is a positive predictor of the cover's esthetic appeal and of market performance as evinced by its position in the US charts, expert ratings of the album, and the number of weeks the album remained in the US charts. Studies 2 and 3 use experiments to show that consumers listen longer to music when album artwork is relatively more cardinal than oblique. These studies also explore whether the effect is mediated by higher esthetic appreciation of cardinal (vs. oblique) album artwork in turn affecting song liking. Overall, these findings underscore the importance of visual preferences in packaging design for music consumption.