Boltin’ On Responsibility

As part of a $143 million settlement in a price-fixing dispute between several large music companies and 43 state governments, the record companies were required to donate $76 million in CDs to school districts and libraries. But Rolling Stone reports in its August 5th issue that rather than give top-shelf stuff, many of the labels are dumping.

For instance, according to Rolling Stone, one librarian was happy to get some Johnny Cash and Herbie Hancock but perplexed about what to do with sixty copies of Jessica Simpson’s “Irresistible” (which is actually quite resistible). Likewise, the Puget Sound Education Service District got 25,600 CDs but they included 609 copies of Michael Bolton’s “Timeless: The Classics” as well as 1,355 copies of Whitney Houston singing the “Star-Spangled Banner.”

Nice bit of corporate responsibility. Besides, 600 Michael Bolton CD’s? Seems sure to drive drop-out rates absolutely through the roof…

Bonus Paranoia Afterthought! But wait! Isn’t raising dropout rates to create cheap labor what corporate types are all about anyway? Uh Oh! The Bolton gambit is devilishly clever…

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