Fees, brains, and sounds

A few more articles from the last few days that are worth the read:

1. Advertising Age on agencies experimenting with different compensation models, because fees and commission make less and less sense.  This is something I've been interested in for a while, so I'm glad to see agencies starting to try new things, like licensing fees and royalties for ideas, or revenue sharing.  Of course it's the small independent agencies that are leading the way.  It's a bit harder for a big public company to start messing with its revenue streams, so we'll have to wait until things are really broken.
2. Time Magazine has a piece on brain science and marketing which is better than most mainstream media pieces on the subject.  There's no new information if you follow this stuff regularly, but it's a good primer for those who don't.
   
3. On a lighter note, the Guardian mentions a scientific study of the world's worst sounds.  The NY Times blog has a good follow-up.  In case you're wondering, the worst sound is someone vomiting.  The second is microphone feedback.  The third is many babies crying (although personally, I can vouch that one is no picnic either).