FastCompany.com, September 28, 2010 -- Will the former KCRW "Morning Becomes Eclectic" tastemaker and "Star Maker of the Semipopular" find the next Coldplay, Interpol, or Norah Jones -- or just offer sweet relief from bland Internet music video? BUZZMEDIA has just launched a new music video site called The Live Buzz, under the curatorship of Nic Harcourt. How famliiar you are with Harcourt depends on whether you buy your CDs from Walmart or stream music from Hype Machine. Harcourt rose to indie-rock prominence over the last decade or so with his program "Morning Becomes Eclectic" on KCRW, the Los Angeles public radio station, by showing a knack for spotting up-and-coming talent. The New York Times dubbed him "The Star Maker of the Semipopular" in 2005. "He has impeccable taste," the Times quoted Coldplay's Chris Martin as saying--perhaps self-servingly, since Harcourt was the first to put Coldplay on American radio. He also was an early champion of Interpol, Nora Jones, Franz Ferdinand, and many others...
Variety.com, August 19th, 2010 - "American Idol" co-creator Simon Fuller has moved five wannabe stars into a house in the Hollywood Hills as part of his new online reality series, "If I Can Dream," for Hulu. Now he just needs to draw in some voyeurs to follow their every move. To do that, Fuller's 19 Entertainment paired with entertainment website operator Buzzmedia to produce a campaign in the form of a six-webisode series that revolves around the contestants and Ford Motor Co. As a promo tool for its own sites, the effort prominently features Jared, the name behind popular celebrity site JustJared.com, as the campaign's host, with the blogger appearing in several installments that launch today and roll out over the next two months. Buzzmedia had to juggle the goals of two companies as it hyped the goings-on of the "Dream" house: 19 Entertainment wants to drive traffic to its show and build a following with that viewership, while Ford, which has been a major sponsor of "Idol" over the years, wants t...
E! News, June 28, 2010 - The E! hottie, Kim Kardashian, gushes over the new look of her website kimkardashian.com, at her relaunch party hosted by Celebuzz and Sony Ericsson at the tea.room in Hollywood on June 25, 2010 Watch the video here....
Paste Magazine, June 2, 2010 - Buzzmedia, the company behind Celebuzz, Buzznet and Stereogum, added six more influential music sites to its music division recently. The newcomers, drawn by advertising partnerships and investments, include PureVolume, PopMatters, Gorilla vs. Bear, The Hype Machine, Concrete Loop and RCRD LBL. The addition of these properties makes BuzzMedia the single largest independent publisher of music content on the web, according to comScore Media Metrix. Buzzmedia is already a fast-growing entertainment publisher and is behind such properties as Go Fug Yourself. Services of the websites acquired range from providing fully legal mp3 downloads to live music coverage and introducing emergent artists....
The New York Times, May 31, 2010 - The Internet is full of topics ignored by traditional media, and a number of sites have capitalized by covering those uncovered subjects. (How to make a wheelbarrow, anyone?) But Tyler Goldman thinks the real moneymaking opportunity is in the deep dive, publishing endlessly about topics that lots of people care about. (Pop stars and music, anyone?) So far, the idea has worked out. After Mr. Goldman’s social network, Buzznet.com, went live in 2006, it spawned a company, Buzzmedia, that now owns three dozen music and celebrity sites, including Celebuzz.com (a celebrity gossip blog) and Stereogum.com (alternative music news). It’s akin to the financial world, said Mr. Goldman, Buzzmedia’s chief executive: “If you care about natural gas in Kazakhstan, you’re getting 60 articles about it. People have the same passion for Britney Spears.” Now, the network is adding six sites to its arsenal, either as a partner or as a full owner, including PopMatters.com ...
Tech Crunch, May 13, 2010 - Buzznet, a social network based around people’s interests (i.e. music, art, fashion, photography, movies, television, celebrities), is relaunching today with a more social layer on the platform. Buzznet, which is a property of pop culture media conglomerate BuzzMedia, allows users to share, curate and socialize content based on their personal interests. On the site now, users will be able create a custom content feed when they follow other users or follow communities around topics that appear on other contributors’ blogs. The ability to follow a user means tapping into their own content and sharing channel on Buzznet. Users will then see updates in a news feeds from the people they follow on their homepage and in the footer that follows them around the site. Users with the most followers will be trending under “most followed” on the Buzznet homepage. Buzznet has also included a trending topics section to their homepage that features the most popular features and top...
MediaPost, April 14, 2010 - Kimberly-Clark's Kotex brand is launching a new phase of "U by Kotex," one involving the Kardashians. Last month's launch of the new feminine protection brand comprised several products designed for 14- to-24-year-olds and packaged to look more like cosmetic products than tampons. The launch featured ads that made fun of the tampon-ad cliché of the menstrual period being a time to put on white gossamer gowns and dance on the beach. The company has begun a new phase of the campaign, a social-media push centering on it-girls the Kardashian sisters, stars of E!'s "Keeping Up with the Kardashians." The effort, developed with Web publisher Buzzmedia, includes a video series featuring Kris (the mother) and sisters Kim and Khloe. The five-video series is intended to express the idea that menstruation isn't something that one should be ashamed of or avoid talking about. The videos are running on the Kardashian's official Web sites and other Buzzmedia sites, including Celebuzz.c...
The New York Times, February 22, 2010 - Christopher Sanders and Judah Wiedre joined Buzzmedia in new posts. Mr. Sanders becomes vice president for ad sales, based in the San Francisco office; he had been vice president for the Western United States at About.com, part of The New York Times Company. Mr. Wiedre becomes senior director for sales, based in the Hollywood headquarters; he had been senior director for Western sales at Heavy.com....
LA Times, February 19, 2010 - The sisters have created an empire despite their lack of traditional talents that lead to stardom. And it's not all sex appeal and scandal -- their tight-knit family seems to be part of the draw. When a reality show about the Kardashian sisters of Calabasas debuted in fall 2007, most people had never heard of the family and what was known could scarcely be considered positive. Their late father, a lawyer, helped O.J. Simpson win acquittal at his murder trial; middle daughter Kim palled around nightclubs with Paris Hilton; and a graphic sex tape featuring the brunet and a former boyfriend ended up in the hands of a porn distributor. Two and a half years later, the Kardashians are an inescapable cultural and commercial force. Their series, "Keeping Up With the Kardashians," which concludes its fourth season Sunday on E, has shattered viewership records for the cable network and spawned a spin-off show. Kim Kardashian.com is the world's most popular official celebrity webs...
The Hollywood Reporter, September 30, 2009 - Buzzmedia, a publisher of pop culture websites, has launched Buzzmedia Talent Services, a unit that will look to match online programming opportunities for celebrities with advertisers. Headed by Craig Bland, who has been promoted to vp celebrity programming and development, the unit is charged with expanding celebrity-driven branded programming. "Our initial forays indicate that we have only begun to scratch the surface of this opportunity," said chief revenue officer Doug Rohrer. Buzzmedia manages websites on behalf of musicians and other celebrities, including Britney Spears, the Kardashian sisters, as well as Nicole Richie, among others. It also runs websites such as the Superficial, Celebuzz and Buzznet. Buzzmedia's first forays into celebrity-driven programming campaigns have included deals with J.C. Penney, featuring "The City" star Whitney Port, and Ikea US, featuring the Kardashians....