Spin Magazine Sold To Buzzmedia
If you were a teenager or young adult in the 1990s and you listened to alternative rock there’s a good chance you read at least one copy of Spin Magazine and now if you read the music publication it will be produced by the team at Buzzmedia.
Since launching 27 years ago Spin Magazine has been sold 2 times, once in 1997 when the magazine racked in $42 million and then in 2006 when the sale price plummeted to just $5 million.
Under its new ownership Spin Magazine has found a home with an internet/tech based company that understands what it takes to succeed on the web. Buzzmedia currently runs top entertainment portals including Sterogum, Idolator and Celebuzz. The internet based entertainment portal also operationes the websites of Kim Kardashian and various other well-known names.
Under the deal Buzzmedia will gain access to the print magazine, its online web presence and access to the company’s iPad app and live events business.
Buzzmedia’s CEO Tyler Goldman says the Spin Magazine digital staff will grow in size while no decision about its print business has been made at this time. Goldman tells the New York Times:
“Spin to us is more than a print magazine. It’s a great media company for storytelling around music and music culture. People are using multiple platforms to consume more content and context from the brands they believe in, and we see the ability for Spin to bring more storytelling to digital platforms.”
Not all of Spin’s business has fallen apart, according to Forbes Spin “still has a circulation of 350,000. Along the way, it’s also added a website with 1 million monthly uniques, a sophisticated iPad app and an events business.”
In comparison Buzzmedia’s websites now reach more than 120 million visitors each month.
When asked about the future of the magazines print edition Goldman notes:
“We believe print has a role. We’re early on in defining what that role is relative to the other platforms.”
Exact terms of the Spin Magazine deal have not been disclosed at this time.
