Cover tape

Covermount (sometimes written cover mount) is the name given to storage media (containing software and or audiovisual media) or other products (ranging from toys to flip-flops) packaged as part of a magazine or newspaper. The name comes from the method of packaging; the media or product is placed in a transparent plastic sleeve and mounted on the cover of the magazine with adhesive tape or glue.

Audio recordings were distributed in the UK by the use of covermounts in the 1960s by the fortnightly satirical magazine Private Eye though the term "covermount" was not in usage at that time. The Private Eye recordings were pressed onto 7" floppy vinyl (known as "flexi-discs" and "flimsies") and mounted on to the front of the magazine. The weekly pop music paper NME issued audio recordings of rock music on similar 7" flexi-discs as covermounts in the 1970s.

The covermount practice continued with computer magazines in the early era of home computers. In the United Kingdom computer hobbyist magazines began distributing tapes and later floppy disks with their publications. These disks included demo and shareware versions of games, applications, computer drivers, operating systems, computer wallpapers and other (usually free) content. One of the first covermount games to be added as a covermount was the 1984 The Thompson Twins Adventure.

Most magazines backed up by large publishers like Linux Format included a covermount CD or DVD with a Linux distribution and other Open Source applications. The distribution of discs with source programs was also common in programming magazines: while the printed version had the code explained, the disk had the code ready to be compiled without forcing the reader to type the whole listing into the computer by hand.

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