Trans World dude rips Amazon promo in NYT

MYSTERY ACHIEVEMENT: People on both sides of the Lady Gaga blitz—in particular Amazon’s 99-cent promo—are weighing in pro or con, a number of them speaking out in the N.Y. Times’ post-mortem on the Born This Way marketing plan. Trans World VP for Music Merchandising Ish Cuebas said that his stores sold about half as many units as he’d expected. “I don’t think it sends a good message,” he said. “I can understand what Amazon did, but I think it devalues music even further. In the customer’s mind it’s worth 99 cents.” Interestingly, the Times’ Ben Sisario reported in the piece that “the Gaga team knew nothing about” the radical Amazon Daily Deal, a contention that others dispute. (6/2a)