You lucky lucky people - it's not every day we have CD packaging news. Universal Music Group International has announced it will launch a new 'three-tier CD packaging and pricing system' across Europe - hurrah!
The three tiers will be: a deluxe package coming with a bonus CD or DVD in addition to the main album, a standard package using a new 'super jewel box', rather than the standard CD box, and a basic no frills package using a streamlined slide-pack CD case, a format being compared by the record company to a paper back book.
Although Universal doesn't set the retail price of its album releases, it says it is recommending approximate pricing of €19.99 (about £14) for deluxe, €14.99 (about £10.50) for standard and €9.99 (about £7) for basic.
The major says the super jewel box packaging is stronger and more durable and that, while the boxes cost slightly more than traditional boxes, Universal will not pass that extra cost on to the customer.
Universal International boss Lucian Grainge told CMU: "As our digital business continues to accelerate, as we anticipated, this is also an exciting time to improve our physical CD offer – and at no extra cost to the fans. We've listened to their views about value and choice, and we're giving them more music-buying options than ever."