This Live! Tumblr blog showcases pictures that can be seen as darkly comedic. That’s because the site’s operators, Jean-Marie Delbes and Hatim El Hihi, have meticulously Photoshopped out dead musicians from album covers which they are featured in. That means you won’t see John Lennon or George Harrison on the cover of Abbey Road or Kurt Cobain on the cover of Smells Like Teen Spirit. It’s not laugh out loud outrageous, but I’m sure there are people chuckling quietly in their heads.
The manipulated photos on the Live! Tumblr are actually stunningly well done. The pictures definitely feel naked as key people are missing from each composition, but Delbes and Hihi manage to patch up most images so that they appear as though they are unaltered.
It's both an uplifting and a depressing site since you're reminded of your favorite musicians, but also of their deaths.
Missing Member Albums
The 'Live!' Tumblr Removes Deceased Musicians from Covers
Trend Themes
1. Album Cover Remixes - Opportunities for artists or designers to design new or modified album covers for popular music releases.
2. Virtual Memorialization - Potential for virtual memorials or curated digital experiences designed to honor and remember deceased musicians & celebrities.
3. Cultural Nostalgia in Design - Opportunities for designers to create products and experiences that evoke emotional nostalgia for cultural touchstones of the past.
Industry Implications
1. Music - The music industry can create new revenue streams by licensing virtual memorialization experiences or launching limited edition album re-releases with modified cover designs.
2. Design - Designers can capitalize on cultural nostalgia by creating clothing, home decor, or other products featuring designs from popular album covers missing key musicians.
3. Technology - The development of immersive technology like virtual or augmented reality can enable new forms of virtual memorialization for popular musicians that can be experienced by fans around the world.