Junkee Media
| Company type | Privately held |
|---|---|
| Industry | Digital media |
| Founded | 2000 |
| Headquarters | Surry Hills, New South Wales, Australia |
Key people | Neil Ackland, CEO |
| Products | Junkee AWOL.com FasterLouder inthemix Mess+Noise |
| Website | JunkeeMedia.com |
Junkee Media, formerly known as Sound Alliance, is a digital media company based in Australia. According to the company, Junkee Media's websites attract a monthly audience of over 2 million unique browsers.[1] Nearly 70 per cent of the website's traffic comes from mobile devices and the biggest referrer to the network is Facebook.[2]
History
Junkee Media was founded in 2000 when Matt Callander, Libby Clark and Andre Lackmann launched their dance music website inthemix.[3] The website began as a part-time hobby for the three,[4] who were soon joined by Neil Ackland. Ackland discovered the site online and got in touch with its creators.[5]
Sound Alliance acquired Mess+Noise in October 2008 from failed media group Destra Corporation.[3] Mess+Noise had been operating since 2005 when it began as a bimonthly print publication.[6]
Sound Alliance launched Junkee in March 2013, an online title aimed at an audience aged 18 to 29 years.[7] The publisher told its audience that Junkee would be built on principles uncovered in a comprehensive youth survey of a few thousand 18- to 29-year olds.[8] Sound Alliance used Junkee to trial native advertising which by October 2014 it used across all of its publications.[9]
Sound Alliance formally rebranded itself as Junkee Media in July 2015.[10][2] CEO Neil Ackland told media the name change reflected the company's transformation from being a music-only publisher to becoming a youth-focused lifestyle publisher.[11]
In 2016, Ooh Media, a publicly listed Australian outdoor advertising company, bought 85% of Junkee Media for $11.05 million.[12]
Publications
- AWOL.com.au, a youth travel site produced in partnership with Qantas, founded in 2014[13]
- FasterLouder, a music magazine site, focusing on local artists
- Junkee, a pop culture and political satire site
- inthemix, an online electronic music community
- Mess+Noise, a print and online music magazine, acquired in 2009
Awards
Junkee was named media brand of the year at the 2014 Mumbrella Awards.[14] Qantas and Junkee Media's AWOL was named the content marketing strategy of the year in 2015.[15]
In 2011, Sound Alliance was named to the Digital Media Top 10 Power Index, lauded for disrupting their larger traditional media competitors.[16]
Sound Alliance was named one of Australia’s best places to work in both 2010 and 2009 by the publication BRW.[17]
References
- ^ Sandev, Miro (19 April 2011). "Sound Alliance Boosts Network with 50 New Sites". B&T. Archived from the original on 25 March 2012.
- ^ a b Mason, Max (3 July 2015). "Half of Junkee Media's ad revenue coming from branded content". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media.
{{cite news}}: Check|archiveurl=value (help) - ^ a b Sinclair, Lara (22 June 2009). "Sound Alliance beats advertising blues". The Australian. News Corp.
- ^ McMillen, Andrew (7 August 2009), A Conversation With Neil Ackland, Sound Alliance Managing Director, archived from the original on 21 February 2014
- ^ Shrivell, Denise (31 July 2009). "Digital People - Neil Ackland". Digital Ministry. Archived from the original on 3 April 2012.
{{cite news}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ Toller, Annie (3 August 2015). "What went wrong at Mess+Noise?". Daily Review. Archived from the original on 8 January 2016.
- ^ "Youth publisher launches mobile-first title Junkee.com". mUmBRELLA. Archived from the original on 8 July 2015.
- ^ Duggan, Tim (11 March 2013). "Welcome To Junkee". Junkee. Sound Alliance. Archived from the original on 17 November 2015.
- ^ Micallef, Rachael (16 October 2014). "Sound Alliance formalises native advertising team". AdNews. Yaffa Media Pty Ltd. Archived from the original on 4 April 2015.
- ^ Christensen, Nic (2 July 2015). "Sound Alliance rebrands as Junkee Media, says half its revenue now comes from native". Mumbrella. Archived from the original on 30 July 2015.
- ^ Homewood, Sarah (2 July 2015). "Sound Alliance rebrands to Junkee Media". AdNews. Yaffa Media Pty Ltd. Archived from the original on 8 January 2016.
- ^ Hayes, Alex (24 June 2016). "Ooh Media buys Junkee Media in surprise move". Mumbrella. Archived from the original on 25 June 2016.
- ^ "Qantas and Sound Alliance launch youth travel title AWOL" (Press release). Qantas. 12 November 2014. Archived from the original on 16 March 2015.
- ^ "The Mumbrella Awards: 2014 winners". Mumbrella. Archived from the original on 17 November 2015.
- ^ "The Mumbrella Awards: 2015 winners". Mumbrella. Archived from the original on 8 January 2016.
- ^ Priestley, Angela (8 November 2011), "Digital Media , no. 9: Sound Alliance", The Power Index, archived from the original on 6 July 2015
{{citation}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ Gardner, Jessica (24 June 2010). "Labour of Love". BRW. Archived from the original on 14 March 2012.