BUZZMEDIA Acquires SPIN Media

LOS ANGELES, July 10, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- BUZZMEDIA (www.buzz-media.com), one of the fastest growing digital media companies, has acquired SPIN Media LLC (www.spin.com), an iconic brand and pioneer in music journalism for more than 25 years—extending BUZZMEDIA's commitment to providing the most insightful and authentic coverage of music and culture. Under the terms of the deal, BUZZMEDIA gains SPIN.com, an industry-leading source of news and features; SPIN's print magazine; the award-winning SPIN Play app for iPad; and SPIN's established events business.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120710/NY37397LOGO )

"As music consumption continues to grow, there is an enormous demand for deeper context and engagement with thousands of diverse artists," said Tyler Goldman, CEO of BUZZMEDIA. "SPIN's category-leading editorial and photographic content provides the added social context that the audience is seeking by identifying, exploring and documenting the trends and scenes that shape music culture. While content is now being consumed across numerous devices, the key for all platforms is the type of great storytelling that SPIN provides."

SPIN complements BUZZMEDIA's existing suite of leading music offerings—including Stereogum, Idolator, Hype Machine, Pure Volume, Brooklyn Vegan, AbsolutePunk, Buzznet, Concrete Loop, Gorilla vs. Bear, Pop Matters, Punk News, RCRD LBL, and the recently acquired XLR8R. From a reach standpoint, these properties establish BUZZMEDIA as the fourth largest digital publisher of original music content in the U.S., alongside MTV, Yahoo! Music and AOL Music, according to comScore*. Adding SPIN builds on this reach and BUZZMEDIA's unsurpassed coverage of music and the surrounding culture through its in-depth and thoughtful narrative on issues that matter to millennials (18-to 34-year-olds) globally. BUZZMEDIA will continue to invest in this vision by expanding the overall SPIN editorial team and coverage areas in connection with extending digital distribution, so that audiences can better experience, consume and participate in SPIN's original content.

"As our audience has migrated to digital platforms, so too has SPIN, as evidenced by our growing audience of more than one million digital users and our award-winning iPad app," said Alan Nichols, CEO of SPIN Media LLC. "This deal greatly accelerates our digital transition, enabling us to not only tap into BUZZMEDIA's digital audience of 120 million unique monthly visitors, but also its ability to foster original, authentic and insightful voices in a digital world."

The SPIN acquisition is part of BUZZMEDIA's ongoing efforts to provide the voices that define popular culture for millions of millennials. BUZZMEDIA is among the top-40 most trafficked online destinations in the U.S. according to comScore, and more than one in four millennials consume content from BUZZMEDIA digital brands every month.

*"Original Music Content" category as custom-defined by BUZZMEDIA. BUZZMEDIA defines an "original music content publisher" as a publisher within the comScore Entertainment-Music category who creates original digital content focused on music reporting and criticism. Ranking is based on May 2012 comScore data release.

About BUZZMEDIA

BUZZMEDIA is the leader in pop culture and millennial audience reach, with more than 120 million monthly unique visitors and one in four millennials in the U.S. every month. BUZZMEDIA publishes more than 40 authoritative brands whose voices define categories and culture, including Celebuzz, Stereogum, Videogum, Buzznet, TheSuperficial, Idolator, PureVolume, Hype Machine, AbsolutePunk, What Would Tyler Durden Do?, SocialiteLife, Go Fug Yourself, Just Jared, Pink is the New Blog, Gorilla vs. Bear, RCRD LBL, TheFrisky!, Concrete Loop, Brooklyn Vegan and Punknews. As measured by comScore, BUZZMEDIA is the largest digital publisher in Entertainment News and the fourth largest digital publisher of original music content in the U.S. BUZZMEDIA uses its massive reach, deep audience engagement and understanding of the young adult audience to provide customized, innovative marketing and advertising solutions across its branded properties.     

About SPIN

SPIN provides an all-access pass to music culture via a portfolio of award-winning print and digital properties. Since 1985, SPIN magazine has given the first national exposure to many of history's most important cutting-edge recording artists, while vividly documenting the trends and scenes that have shaped the worlds of rock, pop, hip-hop, and dance music. SPIN.com features unique daily content, including breaking news, song and video premieres, concert and music reviews, and free downloads. The SPIN Play app is free to download and includes a steady feed of news and reviews delivered directly from SPIN.com. The monthly premium editions offer streaming songs and streaming videos curated by SPIN's editors, as well as the kind of forward-thinking, authoritative editorial content and stunning photography on which SPIN has built its brand.

SOURCE BUZZMEDIA