This Square Player Refuses to Stream Music, and That's the Point - Yanko Design

"Streaming services turned album covers into tiny squares you scroll past on your way to something else. Phones made music convenient, but also turned it into background noise competing with notifications, emails, and every app demanding attention at once. You used to hold a record sleeve and feel like you owned something specific. Now your entire library is just files in a folder somewhere, and nothing about that experience feels remotely special or worth paying attention to."

"Sleevenote is musician Tom Vek's attempt to give digital albums their own object again. It's a square music player with a 4-inch screen that matches the shape of album artwork, designed to show covers, back sleeves, and booklet pages without any other interface getting in the way. The device only plays music you actually buy and download from places like Bandcamp, deliberately skipping Spotify and Apple Music to keep ownership separate from the endless scroll."

"The hardware is a black square that's mostly screen from the front, with a thick body and rounded edges that make it feel more like a handheld picture frame than a phone. Physical playback buttons sit along one side so you can skip tracks without touching the screen. When you hold it, the weight and thickness are noticeable. This isn't trying to slip into a pocket; it's trying to sit on your desk or rest in your hand like a miniature album sleeve."

Streaming and smartphones compressed album art into tiny squares and turned music into background noise competing with notifications and other apps. Physical record sleeves once conveyed ownership and a tactile, focused listening experience that digital files lack. Sleevenote is a purpose-built square music player with a 4-inch screen that mirrors album artwork dimensions and displays covers, back sleeves, and booklet pages without overlays. The device emphasizes ownership by only playing music users buy and download from sources like Bandcamp, avoiding streaming services. The hardware favors a thick, handheld picture-frame feel with side playback buttons, encouraging deliberate, desk- or hand-based listening.

Read at Yanko Design - Modern Industrial Design News