BrooklynVegan

*BrooklynVegan*
Type of site	Online magazine, music blog
Available in	English
Founded	July 2004; 20 years ago
Headquarters	Brooklyn, New York, United States
Country of origin	United States
Area served	Worldwide
Owner	Enrique Abeyta
Founder(s)	David Levine
Editor	David Levine
Industry	Veganism, Music
Parent	Townsquare Media ; (2015–2021); Project M Group ; (2021–present);
Subsidiaries	Invisible Oranges; BV Chicago; BV Austin;
URL	brooklynvegan.com
Commercial	Yes
Registration	No
Launched	August 24, 2004; 19 years ago
Current status	Active

BrooklynVegan is an American online music magazine founded in 2004 by David Levine.^[1]^[2] The company is headquartered in Brooklyn, New York, and originally focused on vegan food and the music community in and around New York City, before broadening its scope to covering musical artists and events worldwide.^[1] Since 2011, BrooklynVegan operates two subsidiaries dedicated to other cites: BV Chicago, which serves Chicago, Illinois; and BV Austin, which serves Austin, Texas.^[3]

In 2013, BrooklynVegan acquired German-American webzine Invisible Oranges, moving its headquarters to the United States.^[4] In 2015, BrooklynVegan and its subsidiaries became affiliates of Townsquare Media.^[5]^[6] In 2021, BrooklynVegan and its subsidiaries were bought out by Project M Group.^[7]^[8]

History

BrooklynVegan began in July 2004 as a blog that also covered vegan food options in Brooklyn, New York before founder and editor-in-chief, Dave Levine, shifted its focus to more exclusively documenting the live music community of the greater New York City area.^[2] The domain was purchased by Levine in early 2004,^[9] and the first blog article was posted on August 24, 2004.^[10]

The blog helps give exposure to new and upcoming artists, such as with its installment in the Artist Discovery Series of blog posts hosted by Austin City Limits and Lollapalooza,^[11]^[12] and their program on Sirius-XM.^[2] The blog also showcases artists at South by Southwest and at CMJ's annual music festival in New York,^[13] when in the summer of 2007, they invited the then-self-released Justin Vernon of Bon Iver to play the Bowery Ballroom.^[14] At the end of 2008, Stereogum considered it the best music blog of the year.^[15] In 2009, BrooklynVegan commissioned American journalist and editor of The Obelisk webzine JJ Koczan to cover Roadburn Festival on their behalf with a series of exclusive articles.^[16]

In 2011, BrooklynVegan expanded its locale with two new imprint blogs. BV Chicago was launched in early 2011 and is devoted to Chicago, Illinois, while BV Austin was launched in late 2011 and is devoted to Austin, Texas.^[3] On January 4, 2013, BrooklynVegan officially acquired Invisible Oranges, a German-American heavy metal blog, and writer Fred Pessaro, BrooklynVegan's heavy metal journalist, became editor-in-chief of Invisible Oranges.^[4]^[17]

In July 2015, BrooklynVegan and its three subsidiaries became affiliates of American mass media conglomerate Townsquare Media, under its division Townsquare Music.^[5]^[18]^[19] At the time, Townsquare Music also owned Consequence of Sound, Hype Machine, Ultimate Classic Rock, Loudwire, Gorilla vs. Bear and Noisecreep.^[5]

In January 2021, BrooklynVegan and its three subsidiaries were bought out by American digital media brand and e-commerce company Project M Group (which had previously bought out Revolver, The Hard Times, Metal Edge, Inked and Goldmine).^[7]^[20] As part of the new partnership, BrooklynVegan and Invisible Oranges launched a new webstore selling vinyl records, band shirts and apparel, as well as toys and collectibles.^[8] The stores are identical across BrooklynVegan, Invisible Oranges, Revolver, The Hard Times, Metal Edge, Inked and Goldmine, with content controlled and curated by Project M Group.^[8]^[21]^[22]

References

^ ^a ^b Plitt, Amy (August 12, 2012). "480 Pixels: An Exhibit of BrooklynVegan's Music Photography". Time Out Magazine. Retrieved September 29, 2013.
^ ^a ^b ^c Weitz, Emily. "Virtual Brooklyn: The Borough and Its Blogs". Park Slope Reader. Archived from the original on April 19, 2012. Retrieved September 29, 2013.
^ ^a ^b "About Us". BrooklynVegan. Retrieved August 28, 2020.
^ ^a ^b Islander (January 4, 2013). "Brooklyn Vegan Takes Over Invisible Oranges". No Clean Singing. Archived from the original on January 10, 2013. Retrieved August 21, 2020.
^ ^a ^b ^c "National Media & Premium Music Properties". Townsquare Media. September 20, 2015. Archived from the original on September 20, 2015. Retrieved November 14, 2021.
^ Yenicay, Claire (April 26, 2016). "Townsquare Announces Conference Call to Discuss First Quarter 2016 Results". Business Wire. Archived from the original on November 14, 2021. Retrieved November 14, 2021.
^ ^a ^b Welch, James (April 29, 2021). "Meet Project M's New Brand, BrooklynVegan". Wefunder. Archived from the original on November 14, 2021. Retrieved November 14, 2021.
^ ^a ^b ^c Levine, David (January 4, 2021). "BrooklynVegan launches a record, shirt & toy store!". BrooklynVegan. Archived from the original on January 4, 2021. Retrieved November 14, 2021.
^ "BrooklynVegan.com". BrooklynVegan. March 25, 2004. Archived from the original on March 25, 2004. Retrieved March 25, 2004.
^ Levine, David (August 24, 2004). "Greetings from Atlanta". BrooklynVegan. Archived from the original on August 30, 2004. Retrieved November 14, 2021.
^ "Artist Discovery: BrooklynVegan & Zola Jesus". Austin City Limits. Archived from the original on June 24, 2013. Retrieved September 29, 2013.
^ "Artist Discovery: Brooklyn Vegan & Polica". Lollapalooza. Archived from the original on August 1, 2012. Retrieved September 29, 2013.
^ "CMJ: Scenes from the BrooklynVegan Showcase". The New York Times. October 22, 2008. Retrieved September 29, 2013.
^ Bradley, Ryan (November 6, 2009). "Digital Tastemakers". New York. Retrieved September 29, 2013.
^ "The 2008 Gummy Awards: Best Music Blog". Stereogum. Archived from the original on December 10, 2008. Retrieved June 20, 2022.
^ Koczan, JJ (April 24, 2009). "Surviving Roadburn, Day One: To The Center Of The Universe". BrooklynVegan. Archived from the original on June 11, 2017. Retrieved September 5, 2020.
^ "About BrooklynVegan". BrooklynVegan. Retrieved September 29, 2013.
^ Levine, David (July 6, 2015). "About Us". BrooklynVegan. Archived from the original on July 6, 2015. Retrieved November 14, 2021.
^ Pepple, Rolf (December 12, 2017). "Townsquare Media Rochester Is Hiring!". KROC-FM. Archived from the original on November 14, 2021. Retrieved November 14, 2021.
^ Concrete, Bob (August 3, 2021). "Project M Acquires Vinyl Plant". Concrete. Archived from the original on November 14, 2021. Retrieved November 14, 2021.
^ Krgin, Borivoj (May 1, 2017). "Revolver Magazine Sold To Digital Media Company Project M Group; Brand Relaunch Planned For This Fall". Blabbermouth. Archived from the original on May 2, 2017. Retrieved November 14, 2021.
^ Abeyta, Enrique. "Project M: #1 E-commerce platform for tattoo and heavy metal lifestyles". Project M on Wefunder. Retrieved November 14, 2021.