Publisher Uses CDs to Put New Spin on Magazine

It’s a magazine for music lovers that’s the size of a compact disc. Each quarterly issue includes a music CD featuring up to 14 artists. Sean Perkin, the 25-year-old publisher and editor of “XSeSS Living,” calls it a CD-’zine for Generation X.

“People want to live better and they should live life to the fullest and that’s where the excess comes in. It’s good to overdo life, take risks and go above and beyond but not be greedy--though greed never goes out of style,” Perkin said.

The most recent issue of “XSeSS Living,” with television actress Courteney Cox on the cover, includes articles about Virtual World, a chain of high-tech, low-cost interactive entertainment centers backed by Tim Disney (Walt’s grandson); travel pieces about Bali and Egypt; a pocket guide to Los Angeles’ “hippest nonprofit groups,” and stories highlighting alternative music groups with names such as Dube, Sub-Trancience and Spooky-Ruben.

A slick, high-quality publication, the current “XSeSS Living” is a long way from what self-taught publisher Perkin created in October, 1993.

Perkin spent $2,000 of his own money and sold $1,500 worth of advertising to create the first issue of his magazine, which was originally called “LA EXtroversion.” Though this amateurish effort made a modest $500 profit, the design lasted just one issue.

“That first issue was an embarrassment to me,” said the UCLA graduate who majored in architecture. “I printed 50,000 copies and couldn’t get rid of it.”

With the second issue came a new, smaller size for the magazine and a new name: “XSeSS Living.” A dozen credit cards and $40,000 later, the magazine had been transformed from basic newsprint to glossy pages and an increased number of color pages.

These days, Perkin said the magazine is sold from thousands of stores, runs 168 pages and includes a promotional CD--basically audio advertising for up-and-coming recording artists--as part of its $8.95 cover price. Perkin said his last issue sold about 22,000 copies and that his business is in the black.

Several magazines in recent years have been distributed on CD-ROM, but Connie Connors, president and chief executive of Connors Communications in New York, said Perkin’s magazine is one of a kind.

“I haven’t seen anything like ‘XSeSS Living,’ ” she said. “I see all the [media] combinations and it’s mostly existing publications refitting to new media--like newspapers going on-line or new publications coming out on CD-ROM.”

Perkin said he resisted the idea of a CD-ROM publication. “Music is important and, at the same time, so is information. And there’s nothing like print--the touch of it and the visuals--to inspire readers,” said the Beverly Glen resident.

Avoiding distribution of his magazine on CD-ROM was probably a smart idea because few of those publications are succeeding financially, Connors said.

Lori Schwab, executive director of New York New Media Society, said Perkin appears to have come up with a fresh publishing genre by combining a music CD with a miniature magazine that sells in bookstores and record stores.

“Everybody who comes into my office loves this thing,” said John Rotella, regional sales director for Island Records, one of the magazine’s original advertisers. Rotella said he buys advertising in “XSeSS Living” because retailers, such as the national record store chain Camelot Music, give the distinctive magazine extended shelf exposure. “I like the concept of having three-month exposure for my artists.”

It costs a record company $1,200 to buy a single track on the “XSeSS Living” promotional CD, Perkin said. Along with record labels, advertisers for the magazine include local nightclubs, health clubs, cellular phone retailers, record stores and Chrysler Corp.

The Westwood location of Borders, a retailer of music and books, has been stocking “XSeSS Living” since October. Jennifer Davidson, periodicals manager, said sales are better than average for the new product. “We’ve sold 65% of our stock,” she said. “It’s got a catchy format and the cover is very appealing.”