Squeaking by

May 29, 2003

While leafing through a past copy of Communication Arts there was a featured ad whose copy caught my eye.

Squeaking by on a 4000% mark-up

Know this: Somewhere in a poorly decorated 23-bedroom home in Beverly Hills, a music exec lies curled in the fetal position on his $7000 Mies Van de Rohe daybed, quietly whimpering to himself because album sales are down. A CD costs roughly 40 cents to produce and package, and despite charging twenty bucks for it he's losing his Comme des Garcons shirt. Perverse salaries for too many industry top dogs, and premature record releases featuring one good song plus forty minutes to forget wont garner much sympathy, Won't help pay for that 42 ft turquoise cigarette boat either, What a shame- maybe you should charge more. No wait, you already tried that.

The ad by the way was from Bartle Bogle Hegarty in New York for Rolling Stone Magazine.