Once the sleeve of a gatefold album was regarded as an integral part of the artistic truth of the music, to be studied by the committed rock fan.

Then technology took over and iconic artworks featuring prisms of light or colourful casts of characters gave way to postage-stamp-sized images on an Ipod screen.

Now one of Britain’s most visually conscious bands is starting a protest against the demise of album cover art. When Hard-Fi release their eagerly awaited follow-up to Stars of CCTV in September, there will be no design to rival the classic cover of their 2005 debut album Has the music died for classic album covers?, which had a surveillance camera image. The album will simply feature the title, Once upon a Time in the West, and the words No Cover Art, where a striking purchaser-friendly image would normally be.

The band’s view is that album art – once a concern for every self-respecting group – is no longer worth the effort and expense.

Richard Archer, Hard-Fi’s front-man, told The Times: “The significance of album covers is becoming little more than a centimetre square on an iPod screen. The sleeve used to add another dimension to an album, but that seems to be disappearing, which is really sad. An album is like a book, and the book cover is an important detail. We had the Sleeve of the Year in 2005 and we looked at every way of trying to top it. But perhaps the best way is to kill off the sleeve altogether.”

Record companies used to set aside up to £50,000 for the design of a leading band’s album sleeve. Cutting-edge artists such as Sir Peter Blake, designer of the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper sleeve, received regular commissions.

The pocket-sized CD offered a narrower canvas for designers. But the digitisation of music and the triumph of the iPod, where albums are gutted to produce a “pick and mix” shuffle, has resulted in the budget for the average sleeve falling to about £5,000.

However, it may be Hard-Fi’s sales that are killed off rather than the sleeve. Retailers hoping for a million-selling album still prefer an airbrushed shot of the artist to a confrontational sleeve that could be mistaken for a batch of unfinished CDs.

Archer said: “The record company might have wanted a cover picture of Hard-Fi jumping out of a helicopter to shift some units, but this is the statement we wanted to make.”

Bill Smith, who has designed more than 3,000 album covers since 1975, including those for the Jam and Ella Fitzgerald, said he hoped that other bands did not follow suit. “I hope they are just trying to make a point, rather than state that this is the beginning of the end. And I certainly hope that it doesn’t start a trend, because that would be a disaster for everybody.”

While digitisation means less space on covers, Smith said that strong images can still be used effectively on a band’s website or MySpace and Facebook pages. “The importance of putting an image with the music still stands. It has always been the case that most bands are as visual as they are musical. I think there is always room for cover art, no matter how small the canvas. You can still do an awful lot with a small space.”

Peter Saville, who pioneered sleeve designs for Roxy Music and Factory Music, hailed Hard-Fi’s move as a triumph. “The concept is an artwork in itself,” he said. “These days it is incredibly difficult to do anything in the context of pop music that matters. We haven’t had a cover with far-reaching significance for some time. So I think that the conscious decision to not add to the mound of insignificance is a very intelligent, pro-active stance.”

Mr Saville compared the idea to the change of direction taken by the Beatles when they followed up the iconic triumph of Sgt. Pepper with the White Album. “This is a ‘White Album’ for the digital culture. Within a culture of soundbites and visual icons, I think the rejection of a visual icon is a bold and very intelligent gesture. It is some sort of archetypal statement. I think it is brilliant.”

However, Apple believes that iPod users enjoy having a mini album sleeve displayed on their players; iTunes is using downloadable cover artwork and videos to encourage fans to buy entire albums, rather than single tracks.

The British Phonographic Industry said: “Digital album downloads are growing rapidly. Sales soared to more than 2.1 million units during the first half of 2007 and passed the 100,000 weekly sales mark for the first time in June. This has offset a 23 per cent drop in CD album sales.”

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