Saudi Arabia and its neighboring Middle Eastern countries are notorious for censoring 'sexual' album covers by female artists in order to make the artwork more appropriate for a conservative audience. Record companies hoping to sell their artists's albums are ever-more sensitive to the beliefs and cultural traditions of each market they're selling to, and will often tailor album covers in order to avoid offence. In some extreme cases there have been reports of the Saudi government paying religious police members of the Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (CPVPV) to manually alter from covers. Scroll down for video . Who wore it best? Madonna's 2008 album was censored with many agreeing the second verison was actually better . Cover up: Countries including Lebanon increased the dimension of the ball in front of her in order to cover her breasts. They’ve also colored her legs black in order to give the impression that she’s covered up . Going ga-ga: Lady Gaga's behind was fully clothed when the album was released in the Middle East . The altered covers are found on music download sites such as iTunes as well as in regular stores. It has been reported in the past that police officers have unwrapped CD cases, removed the front and back inserts and carefully and painstakingly colored in with marker pen any photos baring exposed female flesh that is deemed objectionable. Some Islamic scholars specify which areas of the body must be covered; while others require all but the eyes to be covered, using garments. Most mainstream scholars say that men, in contrast, should only cover themselves from the navel to the knees . The CPVP is a government agency that employs religious police, called Muttawa, to make sure that citizens adhere strictly to the teachings of Islam, especially those pertaining to dress, socialization, morality and prayer. The commission comprises approximately 10,000 Muttawa and has nearly 500 centers within the country. However, while police officers operating within the Middle East are willing to go to extreme lengths in order to make sure any album artwork is appropriate, it is actually far easier for record companies to simply produce separate versions of well-known covers. On cloud nine: Katy Perry is seen floating on a cloud on her main album cover, but is completely swaddled in the picture for her Middle Eastern Teenage Dream front cover (right) Dreamy: Looking lush on a sunbed, this is the original Katy Perry album cover . Nightmare! Katy Perry's album One of the Boys was heavily doctored by Saudi censors . Many labels now offer two cover options, particularly for their most popular performers, ensuring that the artwork will require no further doctoring and can be sold without causing offence. There have been some memorable redesigns in recent years with Kylie Minogue wearing a wrap to cover up her white swimsuit, on the cover of her 2001 record Fever, Madonna swapping her revealing dominatrix outfit in favor of a one-piece leather body suit for her 2008 album Hard Candy, and Katy Perry being consumed by clouds on 2010 hit Teenage Dream, all in the name of Middle Eastern decency. Almost all of Mariah Carey's albums have been adjusted for audiences in Asia while Christina Aguilera has also been targeted by the censors. In Lady Gaga's 2013 album, the cover was also altered for its Middle Eastern release. The blue orb she holds in front of her was enlarged to cover what was visible of her breasts. It's a wrap! In pictures for the Glitter album, Mariah is shown wearing tops that cover virtually all exposed flesh . Spot the difference: Mariah has been censored on a number of occasions, with many of her album shots proving too raunchy for Middle Eastern audiences . Cover girl: Butterfly by Mariah Carey showed the singer wearing a top covering her shoulders and belly button . Her legs were also colored to make her appear clothed. Of course, America has its own history of moral censorship of photos too. However censors in the U.S. typically don't try to re-clothe people who are deemed to be wearing too little. Instead offending details such as belly buttons and exposed nipples are removed or blurred out. American Apparel is notorious for their ads of scantily clad 'amateur models' of all sizes and the company was known to accept model submissions from 'real women' around the globe. Earlier this week the company made a rebranding change that saw the company choosing to airbrush out some of the models' exposed nipples and body hair making them look more like plastic mannequins. Tasteful: Kylie Minogue's Fever album was redesigned to prevent anyone getting hot under the collar . Stripped: Christina Aguilera's attempt to be sexy was kept under wraps in Saudi Arabia .
Religious beliefs in a number of Middle Eastern countries require women to be covered . Designers 're-imagine' a lot of album art to respect local culture and traditions .