You gotta hand it to Grammy winner Kanye West: He thinks outside the box.
"These magazines make money from ads and subscriptions," the 27-year-old hip-hop star mused during a recent media brunch in Beverly Hills attended by Daily News contributor Jawn Murray. "But I know that part of what drives subscriptions and ads is who these magazines put on the cover."
West continued: "So if you're putting me on the cover and people are buying your magazine because of me, why shouldn't I get paid to be on that cover? You are going to have to pay me to do magazine covers now!"
And how does West's bright idea play in the marketplace? According to Lowdown's spot survey of top magazine editors, no Kanye do:
Esquire's David Granger: "I think he's on the verge of creating a whole new industry, but I don't think he'll be all that successful. There's no chance of us paying him to do a cover, but I wish him all the luck in the world."
GQ's Jim Nelson: "Our West Coast editor, Chris Huvane, was at that brunch, and he sent me an E-mail that Kanye West is insane. When I read it, I did a spit-take. Kanye clearly does not understand the sacred economics of magazines. We're notoriously cheap."
Ebony's Lynn Norment: "I love Kanye, but we don't pay for covers. Never have and never will. He has a lot of learning to do." (West did agree to appear for free on Ebony's April cover.)
Blender's Craig Marks: "That's probably not gonna happen. I'll say this for Kanye West - he definitely has a healthy sense of self."
Only Playgirl's Michelle Zipp would even countenance West's modest proposal. "Usually celebrities pose on our cover for the publicity," she told me. "But I would certainly consider paying Kanye West. But he would need to take his clothes off."
