Wenner Media LLC

Rolling Stone was founded in 1967 by Jann Wenner and Ralph J. Gleason. It was named after Muddy Waters s1950’s song “Rollin’ Stone.” It was originally aimed at an older age group by focusing on music coverage and politics however in 1990 it was adapted to appeal to a younger audience by introducing television shows, actors and popular music.  Recently the magazine has returned to its old ways by incorporating political stories. The magazine shifted its focus in 1980 towards celebrity entertainment, this included celebrity gossip, television, music and pop culture. This led to the introduction of the annual “Hot edition.”

 

The magazine was created to distance itself from underground press magazines, this created a new genre of magazines and it was something nobody had ever seen before. Wenner believed the magazine was “not just about the music, but about the things and attitudes that music embraces.”

 

Rolling Stone has had a website running for several years. This includes articles, reviews, blogs, mp3’s, artist encyclopaedias and a new archive of every article ever published. This again widened the target audience as people that did not have time to sit and read a magazine were able to access the articles they wanted to read online as and when they wanted to.

 

The magazine is owned and published by Wenner Media LLC along with Men’s Journal and US Weekly. Wenner Media LLC is owned by Jann Wenner. However the company was only developed because of the magazine, Rolling Stone influenced Wenner to create this company which is now home to two other major magazines.