Vinyl Group, Australia’s only ASX-listed music company, has entered into an agreement to fully acquire the youth publisher, Brag Media, including its network of mastheads and events such as Rolling Stone AU/NZ and Variety Australia & New Zealand.
The sale realises the exit strategy for Sam Benjamin who, as of November 2021, owned 90% of Seventh Street Entertainment while CEO Luke Girgis and wife, Christine, owned the remaining 10% through their family company.
Benjamin’s vision was to acquire a disparate array of youth titles – some in ICU and others in the morgue – and fashion them into a dynamic and bullish music media portfolio.In 2017 he acquired independent online music title Tone Deaf and independent Sydney street press title The Brag. The magazine was euthanised after just one edition yet the Brag moniker survived to proudly umbrella the group’s six-year stellar journey.
In 2018 Rolling Stone Australia publisher Paper Riot Pty Ltd entered external administration and ceased publishing forcing the US Parent to relinquish its presence in Oceania. The following year Benjamin made the first of his USA rights deals and announced the iconic masthead’s resurrection in Australia and New Zealand.
While no money-spinner, according to Girgis – "we didn't even expect it to break even", the move was the first high-profile manoeuvre to capture industry attention.
There followed announcements of building music venues and acquiring the media representation rights for a number of household names such as Rotten Tomatoes and Variety. The company recently announced representation rights for Bluesfest and it launched a gig guide app.
Benjamin’s partnership with record company marketing exec Girgis has served both well. The visionary and finance guy got the front man who knew the music industry and how to move within it – while Girgis enjoyed a phenomenal elevation, otherwise unlikely, from the platform of A&R and marketing at Shock Records. Girgis will stay on in full-time employment with the company as Publisher and Managing Director of The Brag Media.
Both men deserve this moment, being rewarded for bold and capable executions of their respective remits – especially considering the challenges of COVID – in the company’s six-year incarnation.
Vinyl Group acquired The Brag Media, following an $11M investment in Vinyl Group from tech entrepreneur Richard White. It remains to be seen whether the acquisition pays dividends. The new owners have identified strategic and operational opportunities beyond the 2023 unaudited $334,000 net profit for its $8 million outlay.Vinyl Group CEO, Josh Simons, said: “Vinyl Group’s suite of products work together to empower participants of the music ecosystem and reach all corners of the creator economy, and we can’t wait to start working with the iconic mastheads that Luke and The Brag Media have successfully developed in Australia.
“We’ve identified several impactful synergies between the two businesses that will deliver immediate cost efficiencies and revenue, including streamlining Vampr’s in-app ads business and leveraging The Brag Media’s impressive audience reach to bolster Jaxsta, Vinyl.com and Vampr in the market.”
White, the CEO and Founder of WiseTech Global, said: “I have watched closely as Josh has built Vinyl Group’s revenue and made substantial business gains since taking my initial investment. I’ve also noted that Luke and his dedicated team at The Brag Media have rapidly grown Brag into one of Australia’s most influential media and creative businesses.
The Brag Media joins Vinyl Group’s existing portfolio of properties that includes music credits business Jaxsta, the leading music industry social-professional network and talent marketplace Vampr, and online record store Vinyl.com.
