For the second time this week, the founder of a newly acquired Buzznet property is defending his editorial autonomy amid concerns that Universal Music Group's ownership stake in the company could affect coverage. This time it's
AbsolutePunk.net's Jason Tate, whose punk-rock community site has apparently been acquired by music-focused social network Buzznet.
Tate
tells Hypebot that UMG "will not have any influence or input into anything AP.net is doing editorially," emphasizing that UMG
took only a minority stake in Buzznet. (Redpoint Ventures, Anthem Venture Partners and angels including Jeff Clavier previously
invested $7.5 million in the company as well.)
Tate's comments arrive a day after Stereogum's Scott Lapatine
promised that his site's editorial voice won't change despite Buzznet's
acquisition of the company, adding that some coverage of the deal was inaccurate. (Buzznet has announced few financial details regarding its funding and investments, and declined to elaborate on the day the Stereogum acquisition was announced.)
Fair enough, although we're still
wondering where UMG's "
guest bloggers" will wind up. Readers, especially those in indie-rock and punk circles, tend to be extremely sensitive to the idea of a record label--particularly a major one-- meddling with a tastemaker's content. Labels haven't traditionally taken stakes in music magazines, and observers have long wondered how much their advertising dollars might affect record reviews and other content. Why, exactly, should bloggers be exempt from similar scrutiny?
-- Paul BonanosSee May 6 post on AbsolutePunk acquisition from HypebotSee May 5 story on Stereogum and Buzznet from Cnet News.comSee April 18 post from Tech Confidential
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