Rolling Stone Sells 49 Percent Stake To Singapore’s BandLab

Wenner media announced that a Singapore based music sharing media site called BandLab, has just bought a 49% stake in Rolling Stone. BandLab is an expanding social media platform where “musicians and music fans from all over the world can come together to make, collaborate on and share Music,” as their website says.

The sale doesn’t include any interference with Rolling Stone’s parent company Wenner Media, who controls several other notable magazines including US Weekly and Men’s Journal. The Singapore site also has no say in the magazine’s editorial content. What it will do, is assist in creating Rolling Stone International; a branch of the magazine meant to expand Rolling Stone’s international presence.

“We have the quality that most matters, a brand that means something to people and elicits an emotional response,” said Gus Wenner to the WSJ, son of magazine founder Jann Wenner and the alleged future Editor in Chief.

Rolling Stone is also interested in stepping up their involvement with merchandising, live events, and hospitality as a result of the purchase.

It is the first time in the magazine’s history where they allowed outside investors to own a stake in the company. However, with BandLab’s undeniable potential, the future is bright for the rapid changing magazine. The new site is already reported to be the 123 most used iOS app in America, according to Applyzer.

Of course, BandLab chose to invest in Rolling Stone because of their amazing track record and globally recognizable brand. For decades the magazine has outlasted any others of its kind, remaining as the only music magazine to do so. Readers can look forward to what the magazine has in store for the future, now on an international level.