Enhanced CD adds twist to music magazine

By Eric R. Danton
Hartford (Conn.) Courant

Ah, but wait. A company called ASG Entertainment is changing all that with Mag-A-Music, a multimedia product affiliated so far with Rolling Stone magazine and Radio Disney. Mag-A-Music hopes to lure regular readers into impulse purchases of the glossy, four-color, three-panel publication. The product comes with a sheet of stickers, a poster and an enhanced CD featuring songs from six established artists and two lesser-known artists, along with music videos, downloadable screen-savers and more.

Maybe Mag-A-Music contributes to the shortening attention span of the American consumer. But it could also help buoy up the foundering music industry, says Elaine Trebek-Kares, president of ASG Entertainment.

"We feel, in looking at the industry and all the problems the industry is having today, that Mag-A-Music is certainly a way to excite the consumer and a way to expand fan bases for artists," Trebek-Kares says.

It's no secret that sales of singles have dipped precipitously in the United States — down more than 61 percent last year from the previous year, according to Nielsen Soundscan data — and music moguls howl piteously about how the Evil Internet is siphoning off their customers through illegal downloads. Mag-A-Music can help, Trebek-Kares says.

"Here is a new way for labels to be able to put out singles and have it generate revenue for them and promote the artist, especially if it's a new artist," she says. Furthermore, she thinks Mag-A-Music can help curb rampant downloading by offering enough extras to tempt Internet mavens into laying out some cash — $9.98, to be exact, at a newsstand near you.

"If we can offer them some added value and some information about the artist, they'll get to know the artist better, feel a sense of intimacy with them and be more inclined to buy their product," says Trebek-Kares, who started Mag-A-Music with money she made selling Scent Seal, the company that invented leak-proof perfume inserts for magazines.

Representatives of the Big Five music companies — BMG, EMI, Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group — didn't respond to requests for comment. Their lobbying group, the Recording Industry Association of America, likes the idea.

"It is great to see new and innovative opportunities arise that make it easier for consumers to enjoy music," spokeswoman Amanda Collins says.

Rolling Stone couldn't say yes fast enough when ASG Entertainment pitched the idea to Wenner Communications, the magazine's parent company.

"It's involvement in pop music, that's what Rolling Stone is about," spokesman Stuart Zakim says. "So it makes sense to marry ourselves with this sort of enterprise. No. 2, it's exposure on the newsstand. So the more times people see our name, it doesn't hurt."

The inaugural version of the Rolling Stone Mag-A-Music features a cover with photos of Avril Lavigne, Justin Timberlake, Beyonce Knowles, Tyrese, Lisa Marie Presley and Carlos Santana, each of whom has a track on the accompanying CD. The CD also includes bonus tracks from Chantal Kreviazuk and Raheem DeVaughn (whose name is misspelled on the back cover), five music videos, a screen-saver and text of interviews that have appeared in Rolling Stone. The artists receive royalties for songs that appear on the Mag-A-Music compilations, and the partner magazines — soon to include Cosmo and CosmoGirl, besides Rolling Stone and Radio Disney — have veto power over who is included.

"It's pretty much a yea or nay as to the artists they use," Zakim says. "We would not allow them to take a band that isn't consistent with the music we cover in the magazine."

The Radio Disney cover features Aaron Carter, Nick Carter, Jump 5, Lil' Romeo and other artists who are likely to appeal to the publication's pre-teen demographic.

Music is just the beginning for Trebek-Kares, who also plans to release Mag-A-Movie, which is likely to feature limited-play DVD versions of popular music, and Mag-A-Game, a teaser for video game enthusiasts. She has already applied for a patent on Mag-A-Music, and she has negotiated exclusive deals for placement on traditional newsstands and in drugstores and similar locations.

"I saw a hole in the marketplace, and I saw that the consumer really wants — and the fan really wants — to know more about the artists they like," she said.