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Uproxx

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Uproxx
Type of site
News and entertainment
Available inEnglish
Founded2008; 16 years ago (2008)
Headquarters
Culver City, California
,
United States
OwnerUproxx LLC (Warner Music Group)
Key people
  • Benjamin Blank (CEO)
  • Jarret Myer (Co-Founder, Publisher)
  • Kristopher Maske (Head of Publishing)
URLuproxx.com
Current statusActive

Uproxx is a popular culture news website. It was founded in 2008 by Jarret Myer and Brian Brater, and acquired by Woven Digital (later renamed Uproxx Media Group) in 2014. The site's target audience is men aged 18–34.[1] It was acquired by Warner Music Group in August 2018, with Myer and CEO Benjamin Blank remaining in control of the company's operations.[2]

History

[edit]

Uproxx was founded in 2008 by Jarret Myer and Brian Brater, who previously co-founded the hip hop label Rawkus Records in 1996.[3][4]

In April 2014, Uproxx was acquired by Woven Digital,[1] an ad network company.[5][6] In December 2014, Woven raised US$18 million in Series A funding with a portion of the capital allocated to growing Uproxx through staff hires and video development.[7]

Myer joined Woven Digital as general manager of publishing.[8] Uproxx was Woven Digital's largest brand, with a viewership of 40 million per month.[9] Then Headquartered in Culver City,[10] the company also had production facilities in New York City[11] and Chicago.[12] The Culver City offices housed a full production studio staffed by writers, illustrators, presenters and video editing staff; the company produced all of its own sponsored videos.[13]

In January 2015, Uproxx acquired Dime Magazine to expand its sports division.[14] Uproxx's coverage of film and TV was expanded with the acquisitions of HitFix in 2016.[10] Following these acquisitions, the company had 110 employees as of March 2017.[9] Benjamin Blank, who served as the chief creative officer, was also named CEO of the company in November 2016.[15]

In August 2018, Warner Music Group announced that it had acquired Uproxx and its properties.[16] While the acquisition was for an undisclosed sum, Uproxx had raised around $43 million (£33 million) from previous investment, possibly indicating the firm's valuation.[17]

Content

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Uproxx is a news and discussion website that is geared toward millennials, specifically males aged 18–34.[1][7] The site covers viral news stories related to entertainment and culture, with an emphasis on sports, film, TV, culture, and music with the tagline "The Culture of Now".[18][19][20] Uproxx is divided into verticals including Entertainment,[19] Sports,[20] and Life,[21] each of which comprises multiple blogs. These blogs include "With Spandex", about pro wrestling;[22] and Dime Magazine, which focuses on basketball.[20] In addition, Uproxx offers a platform for live Q&As with celebrities and creators to promote upcoming projects.[1]

Video

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Video makes up a significant portion of the site's content and Uproxx produces both original and sponsored video.[1][23]

In 2013, Uproxx partnered with 5-Second Films to produce longer content for Uproxx Video on YouTube.[24] Since its acquisition by Woven, Uproxx has placed more emphasis on video content and released several web series.[7][25]

The site launched "Luminaries", its first original series in January 2015.[26] The show profiles young inventors and the first two episodes generated 18.5 million views within the first four months.[8][27] The series was nominated for a Webby Award in 2015.[28]

The site's second series, a parodic news series called The Desk, debuted in March 2015.[25] The next month, in April 2015, Uproxx began a documentary series centered on pop culture called Uproxx Docs. It commenced with a three-part piece about rock band Guns N' Roses.[8]

Also in 2015, Uproxx launched several sponsored video series. Among these were "Uncharted: Power of Dreams", a show that profiles rising musicians, with Honda,[29] and "Human", a video series about artisans and others who preserve traditional work, sponsored by Coors Banquet.[30] Human won an OMMA award in 2015.[31]

Uproxx Music Critics poll

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Since 2018, Uproxx has held the Uproxx Music Critics Poll, a poll which tabulates the submitted lists of invited music critics, similar to the discontinued Village Voice Pazz & Jop poll. The following albums and songs have topped the poll since its introduction:

Albums
Year Artist Album Ref.
2018 Kacey Musgraves Golden Hour [32]
2019 Lana Del Rey Norman Fucking Rockwell! [33]
2020 Fiona Apple Fetch the Bolt Cutters [34]
2021 Japanese Breakfast Jubilee [35]
2022 Beyoncé Renaissance [36]
2023 Boygenius The Record [37]
Songs
Year Artist Album Ref.
2018 Ariana Grande "Thank U, Next" [38]
2019 N/A N/A N/A
2020 Phoebe Bridgers "I Know the End" [39]
2021 Olivia Rodrigo "Good 4 U" [40]
2022 Beyoncé "Break My Soul" [41]
2023 Boygenius "Not Strong Enough" [42]

Uproxx Media Group

[edit]

Uproxx Media Group, originally named Woven Digital, was the owner of Uproxx and its related properties until their acquisition by Warner Music Group in August 2018.[43]

History

[edit]

The company was founded as Woven Digital in 2010 by Scott Grimes[9] and Michael Laur[11] The network's intended audience was young men, 18–34-year-old. Woven's mission was to bring the passion points of guys together in one place via a platform agnostic network of websites, videos, and branded content.[5][6]

The company grew through purchases of websites with large followings.[7] Its first acquisition was lifestyle site[44] BroBible in 2012.[10] Following this were the acquisitions in 2013 of Animal New York, Guyism, and Brotips Media.[10] As Woven's CEO, Grimes drove the 2014 acquisition of Uproxx more than doubling Woven's viewership.[10][45] In that same year, Woven's reach, including its affiliated sites, exceeded that of Vox Media or Vice Media.[7] Woven was included in the top ten of Fast Company's list of "Most Innovative Companies in Hollywood" in early 2015 for "helping brands speak a young man's language".[46] In 2015, Woven Studios was built in Culver City to produce original digital content. The company expanded Uproxx's coverage of sports with the 2015 acquisition of Dime Magazine, diversifying in film and TV by acquiring HitFix in 2016.[10]

The company changed its name in 2017 to Uproxx Media Group, to consolidate under its most public-facing brand and to focus on Uproxx's original, long-form content.[9]

Operations

[edit]

Uproxx Media Group was a digital media company that owned multiple entertainment sites and created branded content focused on a male millennial audience.[9] As of 2017, it had six main brands: Uproxx, HitFix, Dime, Real Talk, With Spandex, and BroBible.[47] The company's sites reached more than 90 million unique viewers per month.[44]

Benjamin Blank was the company's chief executive officer and chief creative officer, and Colin Digiaro served as executive chairman for mergers and acquisitions and fundraising.[44] Other key personnel included Scott Grimes, executive chairman overseeing revenue,[44] Jen Sargent as president, and Uproxx co-creator Jarret Myer, who served as publisher.[1][48]

Original programming

[edit]

Uproxx Media Group developed web originals, long- and short-form series and films through Uproxx Studios.[49] Specializing in documentary-style productions, the studio created a piece of branded content for fast food chain Checkers in 2017 featuring rapper Rick Ross.[50][51] The short documentary-style video received a positive critical reception[50] and was a featured entry in PR Week and Campaign's 2017 Brand Film Festival.[52] Uproxx Media Group also created a short documentary on Guns N' Roses in 2015, and as of 2017 it has released several original series.[10] The Uproxx series "Uncharted" was created in partnership with Honda Stage, and has won numerous awards, most notably a Gold Clio Award in 2016.[9] Uproxx worked with MillerCoors on "Human" and "Human Limits", a series of short documentary videos that profiled "inspirational" people, entrepreneurs, and artists that was nominated for several awards.[5] It was a MERIT winner for 2017 The One Show and a winner at the 2017 D&AD Awards.[5] Uproxx has also partnered with the United States Marine Corps to create sponsored content.[13]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e f Todd Spangler (April 17, 2014). "Showbiz Site Uproxx Acquired by Guy-Focused Digital Media Firm Woven". Variety. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
  2. ^ "WMG Acquires UPROXX". RAMP – Radio and Music Pros. 2018-08-02. Retrieved 2018-08-02.
  3. ^ "Bring Da Rawkus". Vibe: 64–65. July 1998. Retrieved January 15, 2011.
  4. ^ Varian, Ethan (2017-07-11). "Uproxx Media works with brands to make ads millennials actually want to watch". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2024-10-28.
  5. ^ a b c d Shields, Mike (June 30, 2016). "Male-Oriented Web Publisher Woven Digital Raises $18.5 Million". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved May 17, 2017.
  6. ^ a b Kozlowski, Lori. "Woven: Creating A Digital Network For Young Men". Forbes. Retrieved 2018-11-20.
  7. ^ a b c d e Anthony Ha (December 11, 2014). "Advertising Tech Woven Digital, Owner Of Uproxx And Brobible, Raises $18M". TechCrunch. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
  8. ^ a b c Bree Brouwer (April 22, 2015). "UPROXX Launches Documentary Series With Three-Part Piece On Guns N' Roses". Tubefilter. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
  9. ^ a b c d e f Spangler, Todd (March 3, 2017). "Woven Digital Changes Name to Uproxx Media". Variety. Retrieved May 17, 2017.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g Spangler, Todd (April 19, 2016). "Woven Digital Acquires HitFix". Variety. Retrieved May 17, 2017.
  11. ^ a b Jarvey, Natalie (August 18, 2015). "Uproxx-Owner Woven Digital Sees CEO Shakeup (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved May 18, 2017.
  12. ^ "Company Overview of Woven Digital, Inc". Bloomberg Businessweek. Bloomberg. Retrieved May 26, 2017.
  13. ^ a b Ethan Varian (July 11, 2017). "Uproxx Media works with brands to make ads millennials actually want to watch". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
  14. ^ Yang, Melissah (2015-01-22). "Woven Digital Scores Dime Magazine". Los Angeles Business Journal. Retrieved 2024-10-28.
  15. ^ Spangler, Todd (2016-11-01). "Woven Digital Names Benjamin Blank CEO in Latest Exec Shuffle". Variety. Retrieved 2024-10-28.
  16. ^ Halperin, Shirley (2018-08-02). "Warner Music Group Acquires UPROXX". Variety. Retrieved 2022-10-06.
  17. ^ Maytom, Tim (August 3, 2018). "Uproxx Media Group Acquired by Warner Music Group". Mobile Marketing Magazine. Retrieved August 4, 2018.
  18. ^ Julianne Tveten (December 11, 2014). "Woven, the company behind UPROXX & BroBible, raises $18M Series A round". Built in LA. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
  19. ^ a b Sam Adams (August 27, 2015). "The Dissolve's Keith Phipps Will Be Uproxx's Film/TV Editor". Indiewire. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
  20. ^ a b c Andrew Bucholtz (January 24, 2015). "Uproxx Aacquires Dime, Hires Chris Mottram From SB Nation To Run Uproxx Sports". Awful Announcing. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
  21. ^ Kierran Petersen (July 23, 2015). "Should you visit Cuba before Americans 'ruin' it?". Public Radio International. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
  22. ^ Matt Yoder (Apr 24, 2015). "AA Podcast #116 – Brandon Stroud, Uproxx". Awful Announcing. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
  23. ^ Mike Shields (April 17, 2014). "The Edgy Male-Targeted Digital Media Company Woven Acquires Uproxx". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  24. ^ Sam Gutelle (February 12, 2013). "UPROXX and 5SF: YouTube Channel Was Years In The Making". Tubefilter. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
  25. ^ a b Natalie Jarvey (March 16, 2015). "Uproxx Launches Daily News Show 'The Desk' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
  26. ^ Sam Gutelle (January 16, 2015). "Uproxx Debuts 'Luminaries', Its First Original Web Series". Tubefilter. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
  27. ^ Mike Shields (April 17, 2015). "Here's How Fast a Web Series Can Take Off on Facebook". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  28. ^ "This Teen Created The World's Safest Gun: Luminaries". NepHub. May 21, 2015. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  29. ^ Tim Baysinger (September 24, 2015). "This Uproxx Series Will Spot Emerging Stars for Honda: 10 episodes bring new music to Honda Stage". AdWeek. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  30. ^ Tim Baysinger (August 4, 2015). "How a Web Series About Tradition Helped a Beer Brand Reach Millennials". AdWeek. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  31. ^ "Omma Awards Winners". MediaPost Communications. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  32. ^ "Uproxx Music Critics Poll 2018: Albums". UPROXX. 9 January 2019. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
  33. ^ "The 2019 Uproxx Music Critics Poll". UPROXX. 19 December 2019. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
  34. ^ "The 2020 Uproxx Music Critics Poll". UPROXX. 15 December 2020. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
  35. ^ "Uproxx Music Critics Poll 2021: Albums". UPROXX. 10 December 2021. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
  36. ^ "Uproxx Music Critics Poll 2022: Albums". UPROXX. 6 December 2022. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
  37. ^ "Uproxx Music Critics Poll 2023: Albums". UPROXX. 15 December 2023. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
  38. ^ "Uproxx Music Critics Poll 2018: Songs". UPROXX. 10 January 2019. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
  39. ^ "The 2020 Uproxx Music Critics Poll: The Best Songs Of The Year". UPROXX. 15 December 2020. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
  40. ^ "Uproxx Music Critics Poll 2021: Songs". UPROXX. 10 December 2021. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
  41. ^ "Uproxx Music Critics Poll 2022: Songs". UPROXX. 6 December 2022. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
  42. ^ "Uproxx Music Critics Poll 2023: Songs". UPROXX. 15 December 2023. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
  43. ^ Admin_Wmg (2 August 2018). "Warner Music Group Acquires Youth Culture Powerhouse, UPROXX – Warner Music Group Official Blog". Warner Music Group.
  44. ^ a b c d Abbruzzese, Jason (December 11, 2014). "Woven Digital, a quiet giant in online media, raises a cool $18 million". Mashable. Retrieved May 17, 2017.
  45. ^ "Digital Publisher Woven Acquires News Site Uproxx | Los Angeles Business Journal". labusinessjournal.com. 17 April 2014. Retrieved 2018-11-20.
  46. ^ "The World's Top 10 Most Innovative Companies of 2015 In Hollywood". Fast Company. 9 February 2015.
  47. ^ Main, Sami (May 11, 2017). "Uproxx Showcases 'Young Thinkers, Doers and Creators' at Its NewFront Event". Adweek. Retrieved May 17, 2017.
  48. ^ Barr, Jeremy (September 30, 2016). "Is There Such Thing as a 'Men's Media Company' Anymore?". Advertising Age. Retrieved May 17, 2017.
  49. ^ Guaglione, Sara (March 2, 2017). "Woven Digital Rebrands, Pushes Uproxx's Longer Content". MediaPost Communications. Retrieved May 17, 2017.
  50. ^ a b Natividad, Angela (January 12, 2017). "This Documentary About Rick Ross Is Actually a Pretty Impressive Ad for Checkers". Adweek. Retrieved May 26, 2017.
  51. ^ Schonbrun, Zach (January 8, 2017). "Rick Ross Documentary Video Doubles as Ad for Checkers". The New York Times. Retrieved May 17, 2017.
  52. ^ "Slate of films for Brand Film Festival New York announced". Campaign Live. March 29, 2017. Retrieved May 26, 2017.
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