OnReel, the beat of the east coast says they, is now offering up the cover of their magazine to the highest bidder:

We are now accepting bids for the front cover of the MAY and October issues of OnReel Music Magazine.

Don’t miss out on this GREAT marketing opportunity.
Place your bid today. The current bid is $600.

Bids are accepted via email. Minimum increase $100 CAD.

My immediate reaction to hearing about was less than flattering.
BUT - there could be plenty of great reasons for doing something like this. Keeping a music magazine going these days is tough for the best of them, so i can’t imagine what it takes to keep an east coast focused publication running. So even if it was purely financial I wouldn’t necessarily blame them - especially if it was 100% clear that the cover story was bought.

I sent some questions to the publisher to see why they started doing this and whether or not they have any concerns about how this would be perceived by their readers [and if their readers are even told], but no response so far.

a) Is it over yet?
Yes - bidding ended May 9th
b) If not what is the current bid at (or what was the winning bid)?
c) Is this the first time you have done this?
Might be the first, but the next issue’s cover is up for grabs now too
d) What motivated this idea?
e) Is it clear to readers in the issue the cover is for that the cover was bid for?
f) Do you have any concerns about how this may affect people’s views of the content/editorial of the magazine?

For the record I think the YoRodeo poster for the OBEY convention would have made a stunning cover for the May issue!

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