Salon hangs erotic art in paid service

Internet magazine Salon.com has launched a paid subscription service that gives readers access to an ad-free format and premium content such as galleries of erotic art in the site's sex section. The award-winning magazine has been under pressure to turn a profit and has looked to paid services as a way to survive the dot-com downturn and the ailing advertising market. The company unveiled the Salon Premium subscription service in March with the idea of giving readers an option to view exclusive content, with or without the ad banners. For an annual fee of $30, Salon customers can access content such as expanded editions of original columns, an MP3 download of the audio book, "The Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald," and an opinionated daily roundup of the activities of President Bush and his administration, "Bushed!"