The naked baby on the cover of Nirvana's CD Nevermind is now 17 years old and recreating the cover,

And get this, His parents were paid 200 BUCKS to have the little 4 month old boy on the cover of the CD.

'Nevermind" sold HOW MANY COPIES and the parents were only paid 200 bucks???
http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1598985/20081110/nirvana.jhtml

Talk about exploiting your kid. was the 200 bucks really worth it, for the parents??

Here is the before and after picture
http://www.mtv.com/photos/?fid=1598984&pid=3375367

Justin-

I'm not sure what the process was in finding the baby in the first place. There may have been auditions or someone knew the family. Whatever the case it's very common for those who help in the marketing aspect of any kind of commercial product to be paid for their time and talent regardless how the product does in the mainstream market.

Think of a person who made the Nike Swoosh. My understanding is they were paid around $35. It may not seem fair now but at the time it might have been.

Our 12 year old son was recently hired for a photo shoot for some stock wedding photos. He got paid an hourly wage and the agency got an additional %20. He worked 1 1/2 hours. Who knows maybe his photo will end up on some big billboard somewhere or used in a national print advertisement? But he was paid for his time and ability. Not for the success of how it's going to be used.

I don't see it as exploitation if it the job was done through professional means and everyone knew what the kid was paid. And from what I read in the article everything was on the up and up.

Good points Chris, but I still think that its a bit weird that they put their NAKED 4 month old on the cover, which became one of the most famous rock albums ever.

Quick question Chris, would have you put your Naked 4 month old son on an album cover that could possibly become one of the biggest selling or most famous album covers ever?? And Remember you were only getting 200 bucks.

Justin it all depends on the situation. Again without knowing the process it's hard to make a judgement call.

So lets assume there was an audition of babies for the album cover. The audition specs would come from the talent agency that indicated your baby would be naked in a swimming pool. The fee is $200 plus 15 percent agency fee. Take out taxes and the child makes about $160. The photo shoot lasts maybe an hour.

Now from that description and if I received an email from my talent agency I'd probably not send my child to the audition even if I were a fan of the Nirvana.

It's all about the roll of the dice.

Maybe the kid would seriously enjoy that kind of baby picture!

I would!

It was far from clear ahead of time that "Nevermind" was going to be successful at all alone a smash. The album cover became one of the most famous of all time because of the music, not because of the baby pictured on the cover. "Nevermind" would surely have sold the same number of copies with a white cover.

$200 does sound a little low, perhaps, for a modeling fee for a baby, especially when the album was put out by Geffen, not exactly a label with no budget. But, I assume $200 was the going rate at that time for such modeling gigs for babies. Maybe a few hundred more would have been more appropriate but certainly no more, smash success or not.

Honestly, the kid should feel lucky to grace such a famous album. It's going to be a great pick-up line in a bar someday. Imagine he's in a club and "Smells like Teen Spirit" is played by the D.J. The kid can tell any hot woman he meets that he was the baby on the cover of the album. What are the chances he gets lucky that night or at least her phone number?

Andrew

Im sure the kid can get Plenty of ladies because he was the naked baby on one of the most famous rock albums ever. Hell, I might even try that the next time I'm trying to pick up a chick.

"You've probably seen my penis before, Infact you've probably viewed my penis many times! HA!

"Tens of millions of people worldwide have seen me naked. Can you guess where/how?"

Andrew

$200 does sound a little low, perhaps, for a modeling fee for a baby, especially when the album was put out by Geffen, not exactly a label with no budget.

Maybe Geffen found the photo in a file at photo stock house. $200 is perhaps generous when one considers the number of starry eyed parents looking to make a buck off their kids.

Having been paid to be a lifestyle model (not the pretty boy, hunky runway dudes) $200 is not bad. But today that's what an extra on a photo shoot can get for maybe a couple of hours of work just being in the background.

You do get gigs that pay more based on many factors. What you’re being hired for, how is the photo going to be used and what is the client willing to spend.

I was hired for a photo shoot from my headshot off my agencies web site a few years back to be Meriwether Lewis. Along with two other models, we were silhouetted for an annual report with the theme of pioneering. I put on a coonskin hat and other period clothing and spent less than two hours under the lights and got paid $300-400.

I was hired by National Geographic for a three-day photo on Mt. Hood to re-create a climbing disaster that happened on Mt. Everest many moons ago. I was told by my agent that I looked similar to the leader of the expedition. It paid $1600 a day, plus meals and lodging at Timberline Lodge. Unfortunately I was already contracted out for another gig and couldn’t do the photoshoot. That still burns me even now.

I was paid to be Jesus Christ too. 3 and half hours of make-up and costume changing and then an hour and half photo shoot. It paid about $450.

So as you can see the pay can really vary.

Justin said "You've probably seen my penis before, Infact you've probably viewed my penis many times! HA!

The girl's face suddenly turned pale, because the 17 year olds' penis still looked the same as it did on the 1991 Nirvana album.

Ok one more )I Promise this is the last one!

The Nirvana kid is talking to a new girl he just met at a bar.

"You've probably seen my penis before, it is on display at all music stores!' HA!

Sorry, I couldn't help myself!

Well maybe by the time penis boy is 21 years of age and can legally walk into a bar he'll have learned a few things about male protocol to a woman. And if he's really smart will edit himself.