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A 'gatefold cover' or 'gatefold LP' is a form of packaging for LP records which was popular in the mid-1960s and early 1970s. A gatefold cover, when folded, is the same size as a standard LP cover (i.e., a 12 inch, or 30 centimeter, square). The technique has been used for many notable LPs, in particular The Beatles' ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'' and Miles Davis's ''Bitches Brew''. The larger gatefold cover provided a means of including artwork, liner notes, and/or song lyrics that would otherwise not have fit on a standard record cover. Gatefold sleeves were also used when an album contained more than one record (for example, a double album would include one record in each half of the cover).
Gatefold packaging was invented, and first used, by band leader and studio recording pioneer Enoch Light, so he could fit prose he had written describing the sounds in each song on the album sleeve.