Bustle(magazine)
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Editor-in-chief | Charlotte Owen |
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Categories | Women's |
Founded | August 2013 |
Company | Bustle Digital Group |
Country | United States |
Based in |
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Language | English |
Website | bustle |
Bustleis an online Americanwomen's magazinefounded in August 2013 byBryan Goldberg.[1]It positions news and politics alongside articles about beauty, celebrities, and fashion trends.[2]By September 2016, the website had 50 million monthly readers.[3]
History
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/12/Bustle_logo.svg/220px-Bustle_logo.svg.png)
Bustlewas founded by Bryan Goldberg in 2013. Previously, Goldberg co-founded the websiteBleacher Reportwith a single million-dollar investment.[4]He claimed that "women in their 20s have nothing to read on the Internet."[5]Bustlewas launched with $6.5 million in backing from Seed and Series A funding rounds.[4][6]
Bustlesurpassed 10 million monthly unique visitors in July 2014, placing it ahead of rival women-oriented sites such asRefinery29,RookieandxoJane;it had the second greatest number of unique visitors afterGawker'sJezebel.[7][2]
By July 2015,Bustlehad 46 full-time editorial staff.[4]That October, it launched the parenting sister siteRomper.[8][9]By that point,Bustlewas receiving 31.6 million unique visitors per month, and it had 200 part-time contributors and 40 full-time editors.[9]
In September 2016,Bustlelaunched a redesign using the company's $11.5 million series D funding round. At that time, the site had over 70 full-time editors and 250 contract contributors who posted more than 200 articles daily.[3]
In April 2019, Kate Ward resigned as editor-in-chief. She had worked atBustlesince 2013.[10]Emma Rosenblumreplaced Ward in June 2019.[11]
Content model
[edit]In 2013,The New Yorkerreported that Goldberg planned to hire writers fromBustle's target demographic (young women between 18 and 34) instead of professional writers. It noted, "He hopes that, by gradually hiring hundreds of these writers and asking them to 'create the content that interests them,' the Web site will become 'an accurate representation' of the larger demographic."[12]That year, Ward and her colleagues utilised the Bleacher Report's contributor model to increase traffic.The Business of Fashionwrote, "Under the approach, a vast network of writers did around-the-clock shifts for low hourly wages to deliver a quota of blog posts that often capitalised on trendingGoogleterms to attract clicks. "[13]
Bustle Digital Group
[edit]Formation
[edit]On April 17, 2017,DMG Media(publishers of the British tabloidThe Daily Mail) announced that it had soldElite Dailyto the newly-rebrandedBustle Digital Group.[14]
Sales and acquisitions
[edit]Goldberg said that the acquisition was done in part to increase Bustle's original video content, which generated an average of 10 million monthly views, compared to Elite Daily's average of 60 million monthly views.[14][15]
Bustle Digital Group purchased the inactive websiteGawkerin July 2018.[16]Bustle Digital Group bought the events website Flavorpill, owner ofFlavorwire,in August 2018.[17]On Nov 29, 2018,MicCEO Chris Altchek announced Mic was laying off most of Mic's staff while working on a deal to sell Mic.[18]Later on Nov 29, a Bustle representative confirmed that Bustle Digital Group had acquired Mic.[19][20]
In March 2019, Bustle Digital Group purchasedThe Outline,followed byThe Zoe Reportin May 2019. They also purchasedNylonin June 2019, with the intention to publish print magazines under the Nylon brand name.[21]Rather than monthly publications, the magazines will be published around large cultural events, like theCoachellamusic festival.[22][23][24]In July, Bustle Digital acquiredInverse,a science and culture site.[25]
In 2021, BDG acquired Some Spider, parent ofScary MommyandFatherly.[26]
References
[edit]- ^Malone, Noreen (September 16, 2013)."What Bustle's Funding Really Shows Us".The New Republic.Archivedfrom the original on September 19, 2015.RetrievedOctober 21,2015.
- ^abHess, Amanda (August 21, 2014)."The Bro Whisperer of Bustle".Slate.Archivedfrom the original on October 12, 2015.RetrievedOctober 21,2015.
- ^abSegran, Elizabeth (September 29, 2016)."The Women Behind The New Bustle On Reinventing" Women's Media "".Fast Company.Archivedfrom the original on March 25, 2018.RetrievedMarch 24,2018.
- ^abcBloomgarden-Smoke, Kara (July 22, 2015)."How Bustle Proved the Haters Wrong".The New York Observer.Archivedfrom the original on October 13, 2017.RetrievedOctober 12,2017.
- ^Rebecca Greenfield (September 16, 2013)."This Picture Says Just About Everything About Bustle".The Atlantic.Archivedfrom the original on March 25, 2018.RetrievedMarch 24,2018.
- ^Goldberg, Bryan (August 13, 2013)."I've raised $6.5 million to build and grow my new company, Bustle".Pando.Archivedfrom the original on September 10, 2015.RetrievedOctober 12,2015.
- ^Griffith, Erin (July 14, 2014)."With an audience of 11 million young women, Bustle raises $5 million more".Fortune.Archivedfrom the original on October 31, 2015.RetrievedOctober 21,2015.
- ^Shontell, Alyson."2-year-old Bustle hits 45 million monthly uniques, flirts with profitability, and launches a new website for millennial moms, Romper".Business Insider.Archivedfrom the original on July 6, 2019.RetrievedJuly 6,2019.
- ^abWiddicombe, Lizzie (October 29, 2015)."Bustle Has a Baby".The New Yorker.
- ^Hod, Itay (April 9, 2019)."Bustle Founding Editor-in-Chief Kate Ward to Exit After 6 Years".TheWrap.RetrievedAugust 27,2024.
- ^Hays, Kali (June 4, 2019)."Bustle Digital Pulls New Group Editor From Elle Magazine".Women's Wear Daily.RetrievedAugust 27,2024.
- ^Widdicombe, Lizzie (September 16, 2013)."From Mars".The New Yorker.ISSN0028-792X.RetrievedAugust 27,2024.
- ^Odell, Amy (January 11, 2019)."Is Bustle the Next Condé Nast?".The Business of Fashion.Archivedfrom the original on April 22, 2023.RetrievedAugust 28,2024.
- ^abShontell, Alyson."Bustle acquires Elite Daily from Daily Mail and rebrands as Bustle Digital Group".Business Insider.Archivedfrom the original on November 11, 2019.RetrievedNovember 14,2019.
- ^"Elite Daily lost a ton of money, but Bustle just bought it from the Daily Mail anyway".Nieman Lab.Archivedfrom the original on April 21, 2017.RetrievedApril 22,2017.
- ^Kludt, Tom; Darcy, Oliver (July 12, 2018)."Gawker sold to Bleacher Report co-founder Bryan Goldberg in bankruptcy auction".CNN.Archivedfrom the original on July 12, 2018.RetrievedJuly 12,2018.
- ^"As Publishers Build Experiential Events, Bustle Digital Group's Newest Acquisition Will Help It Compete".August 15, 2018.Archivedfrom the original on July 6, 2019.RetrievedJuly 6,2019.
- ^Kafka, Peter (November 29, 2018)."Mic has laid off the majority of its staff".Recode.Archivedfrom the original on November 30, 2018.RetrievedDecember 19,2021.
- ^Spangler, Todd (November 29, 2018)."Bustle Digital Group Acquires Mic Following Mic's Massive Layoff".Digital > News.Varietywebsite.Penske Media Corporation.Archivedfrom the original on November 30, 2018.RetrievedDecember 19,2021.
- ^"Pivoting to nowhere: How Mic ran out of radical makeovers".Digiday.November 30, 2018.Archivedfrom the original on December 1, 2018.RetrievedNovember 20,2018.
- ^"Bustle Digital Group Buys Nylon Magazine, Plans to Relaunch Print".Folio.June 27, 2019.Archivedfrom the original on December 24, 2019.RetrievedNovember 14,2019.
- ^Kafka, Peter (March 27, 2019)."Bustle Digital, the company that bought Gawker and Mic, has acquired the Outline".Recode.Archivedfrom the original on March 30, 2019.RetrievedMarch 31,2019.
- ^Bloomgarden-Smoke, Kara (March 26, 2018)."Bustle Digital Group Acquires The Zoe Report".WWD.Archivedfrom the original on July 6, 2019.RetrievedJuly 6,2019.
- ^Spangler, Todd (June 27, 2019)."Bustle Digital Group Buys Nylon, Plans to Relaunch Print Edition of Fashion and Culture Mag (EXCLUSIVE)".Variety.Archivedfrom the original on November 8, 2019.RetrievedNovember 14,2019.
- ^Spangler, Todd (July 23, 2019)."Bustle Digital Buys Digital-Media Startup Inverse, Its Eighth Acquisition to Date".Variety.Archivedfrom the original on December 31, 2019.RetrievedDecember 31,2019.
- ^"Bustle Digital Buys Scary Mommy's Parent Company for $150 Million in Stock".Variety.July 21, 2021.Archivedfrom the original on November 14, 2022.RetrievedDecember 19,2022.