paidContent (via news aggregate The Daily Swarm) keeps us abreast with Stereogum news so we can keep you updated. But why should you care about Stereogum? Well, first of all, it's an influential (and, uh, promotion-heavy) music blog. Second, we love us some industry news, and Stereogum is a good example of the increasing corporate interest in online music coverage, which I think readers like you should know about. Besides, you probably read it anyway.
Late last year, we relayed the news that Stereogum traded an estimated $5 million worth of equity stakes to Buzznet, a social media network. Along with founder/ex-VH1 dude Scott Lapatine and ex-MTV guy Jason Hirschhorn, Stereogum is partly owned by former AOL executive Bobb Pittman, owner of investment firm The Pilot Group. (This guy's known for investing heavily in new media like DailyCandy, Thrillist, Double O radio, TV stations, the OTX net marketing company, and GarageBand.com.)
Just 3-4 months later, word has it that Buzznet now fully owns Stereogum. What's more is that Buzznet has recently raised something around $25 million, which includes a few million invested from Universal Music imprint Interscope. What does this mean? Well, aside from the fact that Stereogum's parent company has investments from crap label Interscope (oh wait, you probably like Feist), you can bet your ass that this is just the beginning of more "content acquisitions."
Alright, enough of that. Time to brand some indie rock artists!!
Oh wait, wait... oh shit... it's coming, oh fuck, it's.. it's.... BLEEECHHHHHH!!