ViceNews.com Launches in Invite Only Beta

The edgy kids over at Vice Media, rolled out their new mega news website ViceNews.com in beta yesterday viewable by invited guests only. The site is authentic Vice with news and video footage from corners of the world that big mainstream legacy media fails to cover. Vice Media is raising the bar and oldschool newsies should take note. When on the site, you're not greeted by the usual stock images that many news websites owned by big media companies recycle. Vice News is taking you there for real. Check out a screenshot of the site below and if you want to get in and see for yourself, then request an invite and perhaps they will let you in.

Watch: Lyor Cohen and Twitter team up to find the next big music act

Lyor Cohen who launched a new digital music content company has been making the rounds talking up his new venture sharing details on how it will operate and how it will market artists etc. He recently gave the keynote at  Midem 2014 where he shared information on this and more.

#Vibe and #Spin Magazine Coming Back

Spin Media CEO Steve Hansen who controls two of the most recognized brands in music/pop culture in both Vibe and Spin, is planning to revive the print editions for both. The company said it would only produce 4 issues a year for both titles making them quarterlies. Hansen says they will produce the magazines in print as long as it makes economic sense, or cent$ depending on how you want to look at it.

"I have absolutely not made the decision to shut down print at Vibe," said Steve Hansen, CEO at SpinMedia. "We'll continue the print side of the business as long as it makes economic sense and if you look at this issue, it makes sense for us."

Vibe's quarterly print cycle begins with its 20th anniversary issue, on newsstands Tuesday at a cover price of $4.99. The issue -- which will contain ads from marketers including Bacardi, Colgate Palmolive, McDonald's and Nissan -- is also being mailed to the magazine's approximately 200,000 existing subscribers.

source›› Adage

#VibeMagazine is #Dead, Sorta

As the magazine industry continues to contract and roll to digital to keep up with a digital generation, companies like Spin Media are making sure to grab all the relevant content to offer across multiple platforms, excluding print. Their latest takeover is non other than Vibe magazine which was founded back in the 90's by legendary music producer Quincy Jones. Since then, the magazine has had about a half dozen owners and even shut down briefly at one point a few years ago due to lack of money. With the Spin Media acquisition the print edition will likely die as the focus will solely by digital. Even with the print edition the last owners were investing mostly online which is evident in the recent redesign of Vibe.com which was formatted for tablet reading. Vibe is now part of Spin Media's music group of websites along with other former print publications like Spin. Which will be the next magazine to move from print to digital only? Our money is on The Source. Here now are 10 past Vibe magazine covers for the hell of it!

MTV Launches Artists.MTV.com As Direct Challenger to Myspace

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Myspace may not be on top like it used to be, but the once mighty social networking platform has remade itself into a music driven social media destination for established and aspiring music stars. The site has been enjoying some success with its new focus and others are taking notice. MTV for example which was slow to embrace many possibilities online has rolled out Artists.MTV.com which is a clear challenger to the new Myspace by allowing aspiring artists to create pages and share and monetize their music. But of course MTV like Myspace plastered the front page with artists who are already successful and established which instantly commercializes the new service which encourages aspiring musicians to sign up.

source: Billboard

Is This Man an Asshole?

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Many may not know him, but Shawn Parker who was played by Justin Timberlake in the movie "The Social Network" is a billionaire  and is the man behind Spotify, the popular music streaming service. Well not everyone's a fan of Mr. Parker especially in the music industry. Patrick Carney of the Pop/Rock band The Black Keys believes Shawn Parker is an ass hole.

"Because he’s [Parker] an asshole. That guy has $2 billion that he made from figuring out ways to steal royalties from artists, and that’s the bottom line. You can’t really trust anybody like that. The idea of a streaming service, like Netflix for music, I’m totally not against it. It’s just we won’t put all of our music on it until there are enough subscribers for it to make sense."

[HP]

Gaga, 20 Million Strong

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Mega pop star Lady Gaga hit a mega milestone yesterday when she reach 20 million followers on twitter making her the first pop star to do so, blazing past fellow popsters like Justin Bieber, Katie Perry and Shakira to name a few. We think Gaga has the winning formula and here is why:

Unlike some other stars, the best-selling singer has said she personally updates her account. Last month, she revealed she was preparing to launch her own social network, Little Monsters.

[bbc]

Google Introduces Google Play, a One Stop Media Hub

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Google continues to expand its presence crossing into areas currently dominated by fellow web giants like Amazon. Microsoft and iTunes. The company rolled out GooglePlay which is its first move into building a digital entertainment hub for media consumers.

The Internet search giant says users can store up to 20,000 songs for free and buy millions of new tracks, download more than 450,000 Android apps and games, browse ebooks and rent movies. The initiative brings together Google Music, Google Books and Android Market. Visitors to those sites will be redirected to a single page that features tabs for books, music, games and movies, whether they are browsing the Web on a computer, tablet or smartphone. Google Play can be reached from any browser or mobile device.

[LAtimes]