May 13, 2020 • 2 min read

Sony Music launches online album cover colouring book

Sony Music launches The Colouring Sessions, free printable colouring pages based on album artwork from its catalogue, to help fans relax during lockdown.

Album artwork is good, but do you know what would make it better? Yes, that's right, if you'd coloured it in yourself. And it's with that universal truth in mind that Sony Music has announce The Colouring Sessions.

The major label has made a variety of album covers from its catalogue - including Foo Fighters' 'In Your Honour', Carole King's 'Tapestry' and Little Mix's 'DNA' - available in a colouring book style. You can download and print them off and then, on a break from home-schooling your children, grab the crayons out of their tiny hands and get to work.

Alternatively, you can do some online colouring, selecting colours from a palette and then using your mouse to fill the gaps as you wish - downloading a PDF of your work when you've finished to stick on the fridge. This way of doing it is incredibly frustrating though - with tiny gaps hard to get to and no undo option when you invariably colour a different area by accident - so I can't imagine they actually intend for anyone to do it this way.

There are all sorts of theories about the positive effect doing a little bit of colouring can have on your mental health and stress levels. So, by giving these templates away for free, Sony is keen to help you stay upbeat during lockdown.

Presumably the company is also hoping that you'll listen to the albums as you colour, thus bumping up its share of streaming revenues (Spotify players have been handily embedded on each template page). But I'm sure that's secondary to you just having a nice time.

"We're lucky to have a selection of some of the most beautiful, striking and creative album artwork of all time at our fingertips", says Heidi Boston-Thompson, Senior Digital Marketing Manager at Sony Music UK.

"We wanted to give our artists' audiences the chance to take a moment out, explore their own creativity, drive focus and ultimately aid relaxation" she adds. "By pairing music with the simple exercise of colouring in, we hope to create a mindful environment and a sense of calm for the audience".

See? Nice times all round. Other artists with album covers available for some champion colouring in include Jimi Hendrix, Elvis Presley, Jamiroquai, George Ezra and Judas Priest. More are set to be added over time. Check them out here.

Sony has also created a trailer to explain the concept of colouring, if you're unsure what all this is about.

Great! You’ve successfully signed up.
Welcome back! You've successfully signed in.
You've successfully subscribed to CMU | the music business explained.
Your link has expired.
Success! Check your email for magic link to sign-in.
Success! Your billing info has been updated.
Your billing was not updated.
Privacy Policy