Yesterday SpinMedia, a company that represents popular web publications such as Spin Magazine, TMZ, Gawker, BuzzFeed and numerous others, announced that they’d purchased 21-year-old entertainment magazine, Vibe. The acquisition also included related digital publications such as Vibe.com and Vibe Vixen.

According to the New York Times, Vibe and Spin joining forces is actually a reunion, as over a decade ago they were a part of the same company Vibe/Spin Ventures.

“[Vibe is] an industry leader in the urban and hip-hop category for decades. It’s really exciting to add this to SpinMedia’s collection of music properties and bring more digital DNA to the team and see what they can do,” said SpinMedia’s CEO, Steve Hansen.

“Joining with SpinMedia will enable ‘Vibe’ to continue to evolve and grow as a vibrant digital media brand,” said Vibe Media CEO Ari Horowitz.

Unfortunately, the acquisition could mean the end of Vibe’s print magazine as we know it. Last summer when the company bought Spin Magazine, they almost immediately shut down the print edition. Although this power play prompted Spin’s online traffic to increase significantly, it also resulted in the laying off of 1/3 of the publication’s staff. Hansen says that the company intends to shut down Vibe’s print magazine later this year as well.

“We are still trying to find a print model that makes economic sense in the digital age,” said Hansen.

Vibe Magazine was founded in 1993 by iconic music producer Quincy Jones.

Will you be sad to see Vibe go? Do you still read print magazines?

Source: WENN

From Style Blazer

Her name has been synonymous with the Chris Brown, Rihanna love triangle but somehow Karrueche Tran trying to stay above it all– while working with her ex. The 24-year-old has started a clothing line with Chris called The Kill that’s for a young, urban demographic. She spoke with Vibe magazine about the line, her current relationship with the singer and the attention she’s gained from the very public break-up.

Check out what she had to say in her interview on StyleBlazer.com.

From StyleBlazer

Love her or hate her (we love her by the way!) Mary J. Blige has always kept it real. In her songs and the way she carries herself as a woman, you know there are no smoke and mirrors. For VIBE Magazine’s 20th Anniversary and Style issue, the “Queen of Hip-Hop Soul”  reveals how she perceives her personal style and career now (that has spanned into acting), since she first debuted in 1993.

Check out excerpts from her interview on StyleBlazer.com.

Source: Thejasminebrand.com

On top of being on the cover of its latest issue with her fellow reality “role models,” Vibe magazine has also given Evelyn Lozada the role of guest editor for the month, and I’m assuming part of the agreement was for the basketball wife to get her own shine in an interview completely about her.

In a quick Q&A, Evelyn talks about her new book, Inner Circle: The Wives Association, how she handles so-called haters who question her as an author, and what lessons, if any, she learned from the show. But more importantly, the mag asked her if she can manage to be in the same room with Jen now without acting a fool. Here’s what she said:

“I think so. A lot was happening during that time. I’m one of those people, I said some things and I was just like, that was not cool. I live by loyalty and I feel like at that point I broke the friend code. I should have never broken that code and I should have never stooped down to that level. Like, if she wants to do interviews and slick comments, it is what it is. I don’t hate her. People just get caught up in this industry; you do interviews and say certain things. I truly don’t wish her anything negative, we’ve gone through a lot together as friends from moving out, men drama, all types of stuff. It’s just tough having to relive it then talk about it. You never have that time for healing. But now that the show is done and things are calming down, I’m not angry anymore about it and I don’t hate her at all. I don’t really hate anybody, I was just upset how things were handled.”

So does that mean she might actually miss Jen—even though I think it’s pretty clear Jen is not trying to be around her ever again in life?

“I miss her,” Evelyn said. “We were friends for 10 years. I was in her wedding, so you know yeah, and your thinking you guys are going to do this show together, your BFF, and then you’re kind of like what happened? And we are mutual friends with a lot of people, so everything else became weird energy. It was tough.”

But before you go thinking Evelyn may have come to her senses and has a heart—not that any of us were really thinking that—she went left again when she was asked about the naysayers for her book, which is essentially a literary form of “Basketball Wives.”

“I’ve learned, especially from Chad, that controversy is good. Nothing phases him and he’s like, ‘Why do you care?’ I’ve learned a lot of him: the more popular and more successful you become, the more haters and the more attorneys you need [laughs].

“You can’t do this and be sensitive. For example, you know Suzie [Ketcham], she gets a lot of s*** from the show. After she films the show, she doesn’t watch it or go on Twitter. She’s like, ‘I don’t know how you deal with it.’ I’ve accepted that this is a part of my life and apart of my world now. The more the show became popular, and I started dating Chad, and I got engaged to Chad, it’s been like chaos. I’m never going to hide and I’m always one of those people that say TV can be a gift and a curse, and at the same time it’s opened up a lot of doors for me that I never would have imagined.

“I can look at [the show] and say, Maybe I shouldn’t have handled it like that. Maybe I shouldn’t have thrown that bottle at Kenya, you know what I mean? If I’m blessed to be on TV for another five seasons, you won’t see Evelyn doing that. I’ve learned from that situation. Me and Tami do get a lot of heat because we are straight forward and in your face and controversial. It’s not always positive, but I know we can look back and say, ‘You know what, b****, that wasn’t cool.’”

Let’s just hope we don’t see her on TV for another five seasons period.

Could you ever reconcile with Ev if you were Jen?

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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I don’t know what type of relationship Evelyn Lozada and Star Jones have but it’s odd.

Yesterday we told you about the Vibe cover with the reality TV “role models”, and in the issue the ladies were asked for their opinion on Star Jones, who has been vocal about the negative portrayals of black women on such shows and wants to create a larger petition to get them off the air. Evelyn responded to that question by saying, “I think she’s going to have to get a whole lot of names. Actually, I like the petition and I like the controversy because I’ve learned controversy is good. But I think she’s irrelevant. And she’s using our coattails to get relevant again. Nobody gives a f**k about her.” But by the time the presses rolled around and the issue went viral, Evelyn decided to take it all back.

Yesterday she sent this tweet of apology out to Star:

The ladies were apparently brought together by media personality Jawn Murphy, and when Star saw Evelyn’s tweets, she responded with a couple of retweets from Ev and Jawn and then her own joking message:

So I guess that means they’re cool now and Star won’t be attempting to put Evelyn out of work anymore? I’m all for dialogue and seeing other people’s side but I think it’s interesting that this Vibe interview and photo shoot was less than a month ago and these two have suddenly become buddy buddy now. Maybe all the adoration is just a Twitter front but I think I just saw Star Jones’ anti-BBW coalition idea go poof and disappear into thin air.

What do you think about Evelyn and Star’s new-found relationship?

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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By Sheryl Nance-Nash

Can Magic Johnson work his magic yet again?  The smart money suspects yes, as does Robert Miller, who, along with Quincy Jones, founded Vibe magazine in 1993.

Johnson teamed up with Ron Burkle’s Yucaipa Companies earlier this year to invest in Vibe Holdings.  He became chairman of the New York-based company that owns Vibe, Vibe.com, Uptown and Uptown Professional magazines, the Soul Train TV show and library, as well as the Vibe Lifestyle Network, a collection of some 25 websites.

“Magic Johnson has a track record of success in developing businesses in the urban market. His credibility, resume and his knowledge in this space opens a lot of doors,” said Miller, chairman of the Vibe and Uptown Magazine group.

The infusion of capital will fuel expansion.  “This will give us a lot of flexibility to grow our businesses and the opportunity to acquire or invest in others in the urban media space,” said Miller.

Though Johnson will not be involved in the day-to-day operations, when it comes to setting strategy and direction, he’ll be the go-to guy, much as he was for the Lakers.

“In addition to participating in, creating and agreeing to the big picture, at any point he will also have four or five initiatives to focus on,” Miller added.

Johnson’s moxie could move the needle for Vibe Holdings, which in the last year has found its sea legs.  After advertising sales fell more than 40 percent in June of 2009, Vibe magazine shut down.  Six months later it relaunched, under the new ownership of Uptown Media and private equity firm InterMedia Partners.

(AdWeek) — The editor-in-chief of hip hop magazine Vibe wants to hunt down the anonymous author of an online rant who called his wife “an ugly wilderbeast [sic]” and accused him of using his position to steer business to her PR company, according to a recent lawsuit.  The poison pen poster, who goes by the name BETonBlack, also posted a photo of the couple’s child on the Web site.

Vibe editor Jermaine Hall and his wife, Leslie, slapped Lipstickalley.com, an online bulletin board dedicated to music, race, and celebrity gossip, with legal papers demanding the name of the phantom flamer who they say has libeled them.  On November 7, BETonBlack wrote that Leslie Hall “has a business called Iced Media where [Jermaine Hall] has hooked her up with contracts and clients”—an assertion that the couple denies.

Read More…

(Bloomberg) — Retired basketball star Magic Johnson agreed to invest in Vibe Holdings LLC, a magazine and television company focused on the urban market, along with billionaire Ron Burkle, according to a person familiar with the deal.  As part of the deal, Johnson, 51, will become chairman of New York-based Vibe, said the person, who declined to be identified because the deal isn’t public. Johnson and Burkle, head of the investment firm Yucaipa Cos., will join Leo Hindery, the former cable and telecom executive, whose InterMedia Partners LP already owns a stake in Vibe.  An announcement could come as early as tomorrow, the person said. Tammy Warren, a spokeswoman for Magic Johnson Enterprises, didn’t immediately respond to a phone call seeking comment. Frank Quintero, a spokesman for Yucaipa, didn’t immediately respond to a phone call seeking comment.  Vibe, which targets multicultural markets with entertainment and general-interest news and content, includes Vibe magazine, Uptown magazine, media websites and the Soul Train TV show, with its library of 35 years of musical performances, according to the company’s website. Last month, Vibe began publishing Uptown Professional, a multicultural business title.

Read More…

(Target Market News) — Vibe Magazine has announced the appointment of Jeff Mazzacano as Publisher & Integrated Sales Director. The issue to be released in August is the first under Mazzacano’s leadership. ”Jeff brings a wealth of experience in magazine advertising, having successfully lead ad sales for Vibe, Giant, Russell Simmons’ OneWorld and Interview among others,” said Len Burnett, Vibe Magazine Group Publisher. Mazzacano will be charged with repositioning the Vibe brand, creating integrated programs across the print title and online network and spearheading the sales and marketing departments. Joining his former publisher and mentor Len Burnett, Mazzacano will help grow the VIBE brand across multiple platforms.

Read More…

by Rahwa Asmerom

One of the things that made the recession so real was seeing the fall of established brands and businesses. Along with Lehman Brothers , Washington Mutual and several other financial giants, the magazine industry took a serious hit with the folding of iconic publications like Gourmet, Domino and Vibe to name a few.  Len Burnett, one of the original publishers of Vibe magazine, witnessed how the magazine that he spearheaded 17 years ago devolve from being one of the most authoritative publications about hip-hop and urban culture to becoming one of the last victims of the recession when it ceased publication in the summer of 2009.  “It was the perfect storm,” he said. “The ad market really hit Vibe hard. Music advertising went from a high of about 200 pages to about 30 or 40 pages in the course of a year.” Years after he left the company, oddly enough, it was Burnett’s company Uptown Media Group, with Intermedia Partners, that bought the brand in November 2009 and re-launched it as an online publication and quarterly magazine.

Reaffirming Vibe’s presence online and in print is no easy feat but as a leading pioneer in the translation of urban music and culture to the mainstream print medium, this challenge represents just another chapter in his long career. For Burnett and his friend and business partner Keith Clinkscales, the journey began in Florida in 1987. At that time, the roommates had graduated Florida A&M and moved to New York where they decided to launch a magazine called Urban Profile. They came up with the idea mainly due to the fact that it was the cheapest way to break into their desired industry. It was the dawn of desktop publishing and it was a way for these young entrepreneurs to make their mark on the media market.

“We decided to launch a magazine that was targeting young African-American social political history from the young

A page from a 1992 issue reveals the conscious tone of the book

black perspective, “ he said. “It was a time when there was a lot of racial tension in New York City, it was the advent of rap music with meaning and lyrics that were speaking to fighting against the establishment, there was the Tawana Brawley case going on and there was a sense that the media wasn’t portraying the views of young college educated African-Americans.”

The effort was sustained as a labor of love. To keep it afloat, they held down full-time jobs and worked on the magazine at night out of their shared apartment. The only money that came in was from the parties they threw, where they passed out magazines with subscription form inserts. “We designed it ourselves, shot the photography ourselves and to fund it, we threw parties,” he said “It probably cost us $5000 [to launch].” By the end of the first full year of business, they had garnered four paid ads.

Eventually, they moved the operations to Baltimore and received an investment from Clinkscales’ business school classmate and delved further into the now full-time business. “Our circulation at its peak was about 25,000 copies,” he said. “It was very crude publishing, but it was the way we cut our teeth and learned the business. We had some well known and well written articles on everything from the war in Iraq to [caricature sketches] of how not to get pulled over and arrested by the police.”

After another year and a half, they sold their debt to Career Communications Group. “We never became profitable but we didn’t lose money either in the end,” he said. What they did gain was the credibility and rare experience of having started and sustained an urban publication in a time when that market was especially under-served. At the time, The Source, even as different as its audience was, represented the only competitor.