No Rock And Roll Fun

OOOH, UNIQUE: Sadly, while we were away, the hammer fell on Craig David's shoes and so we never found out what the chance to make soup from his odour eaters went for - oodles, we bet. However, while poking around, we found this item on ebay, one of many attempts to flog cut-up copies of Billboard to the general public, page by page. Read the description, and then head for your Music Week stash:
You are bidding on a rare radio trade magazine advertisement promoting a CD single.
Rare? Now, I know that US radio might be almost entirely owned by one company, but I'd imagine that most people would still get their own copy of the magazine. Assuming they only sell one copy per ten stations, this magazine must have a circulation in the thousands at the very least. So, hardly rare...
This is an 8 1/2" x 11" trade magazine ad on slick paper stock. It is from a magazine that is intended for music business insiders, not the general public. The record companies use these ads to promote songs and artists to radio stations.
The general public is a slippery term, isn't it? To the police, the dj and the producer would be the general public. And since very, very few trade mags actually require proof of career before purchases can be made, it's not like this is in any way a limited edition.
Trade magazine ads are very collectible and perfect for framing. They are valued by collectors because they were produced in limited numbers (trade magazines publish much fewer copies than regular newsstand magazines) and they often contain photos, artwork and information that are unique to the ad.
I'm sure they're desirable to demented collectors, in the same way that people collect those little shoes that exist solely for the purposes of collection. But "perfect for framing?" - really? What usually amounts to little more than a pack shot, and a list of promo dates? It's hardly original album artwork, is it? Even a front page would be more desirable, surely?
What really surprises, though is not that the seller thinks that a Craig David advert from a generally available magazine is worth $5, but that he thinks he can find buyers for 1,007 adverts in total. Yup, theinsound has spent two hours cutting up a pile of magazines, and believes he's got a pile of clippings worth over $5,000 - at this rate, this week's Music Week must be a pretty solid investment...