MUSIC WEEK SOLD

U.K. publisher Future has acquired British trade title Music Week from NewBay Media as part of a wider package for $13.8m. NewBay owned Music Week for five years.

The Future buy will support the company’s “strategy of growth organically and through acquisition, global expansion and revenue diversification,” according to CEO Zillah Byng-Thorne. Future owns about a dozen music magazines and websites, among them MusicRadar and Classic Rock, and multiple events in London for musicians.

NewBay, which owns Guitar Player, Keyboard and other musician-centric publications, has been through a lengthy period of cost-cutting—in 2012 it sold its U.S. music media brands to, funnily enough, NewBay for $3m. In 2013, it divested a number of its UK titles for £10.2m to Team Rock, only to buy them back for a mere £800k in 2017 after Team Rock fell into administration. Sales and job cuts continued in 2014 before the company began acquiring again in 2016.

NewBay Europe was operating at a loss of £361,999 for its last financial year, 2016, according to company accounts. Profit in 2015 stood at £156,626. Its turnover was £7.57m in 2016—more than 50% of which came from print.

Music Week has been through four editors since 2010 and multiple revamps. Its current modus operandi under Mark Sutherland has taken a more consumer-leaning angle with its cover page—previously reserved for news stories—often featuring high quality photos of artists, and sometimes execs, alongside a feature style cover story. It also has events including the Music Week Awards and . Will its strategy change again under the new owner? Stay tuned.