posting in an epic thread

"We're pretty stoked about the new content we'll be able to bring you with this new partnership and we think you'll be too. " can you give some examples?

So this is all back end and the same general spate of bands you cover will remain unchanged? I'm ok with this and don't care if Aubin sells out and builds a money pit a la Scrooge McDuck.

So if we start posting slander about Jason Tate, will our comments be deleted and our accounts permabanned?

"Teamed up" is one way to look at it.

You mean we still get to hear about Matt Toka, and All Time Low, and Katy Perry? Except now, we'll get the option of downloading a mobile app too?

Oh happy fucking day!

http://i48.tinypic.com/28wpk74.jpg

DIY dollars, good job punk news. I'm sure this is the beginning of the end.

What the fuck? How long until aubin has a private gulf stream? What"s next, partnership with lockheed martin? Anarchy4life

Like I've said before, I'm just concerned about editorial quality when a paycheck is involved. I also hope that Aubin is sharing the revenue from the sale with the many unpaid staff writers, many of which helped him build this site and its reputation. Either way, I really hope we don't see anything change here, particularly with ad space, the moment I get a pop-up or something really annoying, I'm probably gone.

Against Me! signed to Sire Records

Since when did "team up" and "partner" equal "acquired by" and "purchases"?

http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/industry/publish ing/buzzmedia-purchases-four-new-sites-creates-1007897952.story

Are people who submit content going to get a cheque?

I'm in favor of moves that allow the site, and the people who do the most work, to make money. (Like it or not, it's a community enterprise only in part.)
That said, three major questions:

1) What content does this provide that readers of Punknews actually care about?
2) How is this not tone deaf, given the history of the other sites in the group?
3) Would the editorial staff be willing to post the terms of the agreement for community review?

"Does this mean you should worry about Punknews.org as you've known it? Nope. We all worked hard to craft a relationship which respects and encourages our independence. The Punknews team you've come to know and trust over the years maintain full editorial control. We're pretty stoked about the new content we'll be able to bring you with this new partnership and we think you'll be too. "

And the A&R guy said we get a huge signing bonus, and we still get complete control over our band, because Warner Brothers likes us SO MUCH!

Seriously, that paragraph reads like year one of any band's relationship with a major (or Victory. Or Revelation). Look what happened to Tooth And Nail when they gave the controlling share to a major label (And fuck anyone who says otherwise, T&N was AWESOME in the 90s and early 2000s). Fueled By Ramen is another example. The "principle" of it doesn't bother me nearly as much (though it does bother me) as the fact that I fully expect to have to start turning my bullshit detector on a lot more often when I come here, and not just whenever I see EchoesMyron's name above a comment.

How do I delete my account?

Acquired and now an equal with Property of Zack: a site that reprints press releases verbatim that started in 2009. The past 10 years has been so worth it.

AKA Aubin now has $2million.

Ì guess I'm stupid, but I don't understand what is this partnership for, exactly ?

What kind of "new media" they gonna bring up that they wouldn't have access to usually and that requires a "partnership" with a blognetwork company ?

me not understand

Remember when it was a joke that Columbia Records bought the Punknews domain?

http://www.punknews.org/article/3142/important-informa tion-regarding-the-site-please-read

It would be pretty funny to fuse AbsoluteDreck with the .org.
The two groups of commenters seamlessly merging would make for some work time fun.

Check out the front page: http://www.alterthepress.com/
FIVE All Time Low posts.

I don't understand April fools jokes that are intentionally obvious? I mean everyone knows it's April 1st.

They didn't sell out, they bought in.

This post explains absolutely nothing and reads like it was written by some publicist. What do you mean by working together with these other sites? Merging with them? For god sakes all those sites are awful.

Why not just explain tot us what is going on instead of all this smoke and mirrors bullshit.

Hey Aubin,

I'm not concerned about editorial independence, I'm concerned that the thing that's been volunteer-run and community-driven for more than 10 years has apparently decided, whose presumably meager profits have been going into servers and Fest hotel rooms is now going to Buzz Media.

(See also: What, pray tell, is the nature of this exclusive relationship?)

As I told Adam elsewhere on the internet: I'm not particularly interested in putting the stuff I would normally throw onto PN if going forward, it goes into BM's pocket for free.

If the people running this site gave a shit about the community's concerns here they'd be in the comments answering some of the legitimate questions posed instead of giving a vague, perhaps misleading, PR statement.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjB6r-HDDI0&feature=related

Will all the old stories,reviews, etc. disappear?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3-2IG_M6Bg

I dunno who's dumber for thinking punknews makes money, BUZZ MEDIA or the commenters.

any sort of business acquisition is all about money. distribution is king and buzzmedia just wants more avenues of it. absolutepunk hasn't been a credible site in years / ever, joining up seems like a step down all things considered.

also absolutevoices is the worst goddamn name for anything.

Will will the new "partnership" bring me any closer to the Bigwig review?

I don't know enough about anything to tell if this is a good thing or not, so in the words of Tom Paxton: "Ain't that news!"

Punknews should team up with Lambgoat.

Dante3000 (rich) (13 minutes ago)
The theory is being part of a collection (as it is) allows for more leverage when it comes to getting "exclusive" news or content (from almost any band or label). But the main goal (as a I understand) is basically to help land bigger exclusives (Streams, interviews, big news items), hopefully from bands our community already cares about (I.E. Matt Toka, Miley Cyrus).

adam (11 minutes ago)
I haven't been not privy to any particular content conversations yet, so I can't say what form this will take, but speaking completely speculatively it's a strength in numbers thing. It's theoretically easier for "Punknews & AbsolutePunk & etc" to get access to, say, a highly anticipated preview stream of a new album, then it would be for any one of those sites to do individually. Ditto things like major event coverage.

http://youtu.be/yUpbOliTHJY

I look forward to seeing even less coverage about bands I actually care about and even more clueless comments from Third Eye Blind loving e-punks.

"Major event coverage"? Like when Jennifer Lopez showed her ass on "The Back Up Plan"?

Writing staff, if you're not getting paid now I'd tell punknews to shove it.

We don't know the whole story, nor will we ever, probably, because things are often kept very hush-hush here. There's nothing wrong with Aubin turning this into a way to make money. It takes a lot of time and effort to keep something like this running, but a little transparency would be nice. And make sure you take care of the folks that make this whole thing possible for you.

This is the first I've heard of PropertyOfZack.com or AlterThePress.com and looking at their pages today, they have nearly identical content with a slightly different interface. Do kids really read this stuff?

"We're pretty stoked about the new content we'll be able to bring you with this new partnership and we think you'll be too."

To me this is the equivalent of when someone prefaces a story with, "I have a funny story."

Jadedpunkhulk has been in top form about this since last night. It crazy that @punknews not talk about buyout yet considering there nothing punk about it at all. That usually their thing, no? You think @punknews gonna get some tmz type show where they stalk laura jane grace with cameras & we have to watch them bullshit in office? Hulk worried about this @punknews buyout. Will this effect how hulk get his eve 6 news? Everyone update your browsers: @punknews change url to http://www. Pepsi. Tacobell. Mabeline. Bestbuy. Biz/punk_ "news". @mittromney bro, how about that @punknews & @absolutepunk buyout? Trickle down economics!
"this yellowcard tour news brought to you by fanta and sears" - @punknews headline from the future

So when can we start getting some news about Tim Tebow? That's what you were talking about by exclusive content, right?

I had a friends who worked at BuzzNets for a year doing web work. Based on what I heard about them, we can expect 100% more TweenTalk.

Honest question (for Adam, I guess): Why is there such an emphasis on getting "exclusive" content when it doesn't seem to matter much to your readership? Maybe I'm way off, but it seems like your readers are just as happy to see a Punknews article about an album stream on Spin as they are about an article that points to a stream on the Punknews band profile (and, from an ad perspective, you get views on that original news story either way). It just seems like the emphasis "exclusives" is a very old-media perspective, whereas no one here seems to care about the origin of a story as long we know it'll eventually end up on Punknews. Am I missing something?

Ben Weasel is pretty enraged by this, for some reason.
http://www.facebook.com/screechingweasel/posts/473158586041408

As always, an invaluable opinion.

Bunch of fuckin sellouts

How funny is it that douchebag Tate pops in to defend his "good" name?

Whats next, you losers gonna close the site down because you are expecting a child and all decided to take nursing jobs?

jadedpunkhulk keeping me updated about this, every 30 seconds on facebook.

Why are admins that "know nothing", the only ones who have commented or responded to questions? Does it take that long to get back from cashing a check at the bank?

Someone get Jason Tate a purple commenter account. He's family now.

Okay, so does this mean his voice will change with the steroids?

Does this mean will now have to lie and say Yellowcard doesn't suck?

I think I've been banned from AP.net twice? They report on Red Scare crap nowadays, and I guess that's good enough enough for me.

Also, Heisel is making perfectly valid points and being fairly professional about it, so I don't know why people get so nasty about him. It would seem that some of the PNO staffers even agree with him.

So I guess AP.net is the final victor in the long-running punk nerd battle royale? I always thought and was told Punknews was bigger.

Not really a fan of Jason Tate, but that's always just because he's been a douche to me personally on a number of occasions. So I guess I'm curious as to why the general consensus seems to be that he sucks. Is it just a bunch of people who have had similar experiences, or did he do something(s) that I just haven't heard about?

So I guess we'll soon be getting little LOL, FAIL, CUTE, and TRASHY buttons to click on at the bottom of each story?

ITT: Everyone sounds like an entitled cunt. Who gives a fuck about this merger, seriously? Does it really affect your life? You are the whiniest cunts I've ever seen on a news website and I visit Kotaku for fucks sake.

Make your own DIY news site and fill it with commenters that will learn to hate you over time. Holy fuck.

Strawberries.

Any reason for us all not to just move over to dyingscene.com? (Serious question, I don't know anything about that site, but it seems to have similar content without the corporate overlords)

I don't do the FACEBOOK,the TWITTER,the TUMBLR,etc, so I have to say PUNKNEWS.ORG has been a FREE service for me I have gladly used as my homepage for 8 plus years now. It has allowed me to get news on the bands I love,learn about tours, new albums, 7 inch/split releases,and etc and all has been done in a none bias way,well this is not 100% true but regardless i have kept coming back. I understand the moderators who take the time to run this site do it out of there love for music and for the punk community in general.
Many seem to be concerned on the fact of what has been going on with $ that rolls into the .org from advertisers, and what it is being used for and etc. I understand that a website like this and the amount of traffic it takes up on a server going to cost some money to maintain and that is 100% understandable. Even if people like Dante,Rich,and Bryne,and etc are even putting money in there own pockets,wouldn't you say they do deserve it for the amount of time they have invested over the years in making punknews.org what it is?
The problem now lays in the lies!!!! And people do have the rite to bitch and complain and question what the .org is up to when it comes to Buzz media. I use firefox as my web browser and I noticed when I added on the Noscript addon exstenstion and track punknews.org, i really did not like how they are phising on my computer. Added AVG do not track and what do you know when it comes to punknews.org using Buzz media they are basically spying on you.
I'm sorry advertising is one thing, bills got to be paid, but to lie and say your using these sub directors for advertising when in return your using them as spyware on your users and refusing to answer people like Skibz777,Misanthropee,and etc having been questioning whats going on, and it seems Dante gets all up in arms about it all.
Use No script add on, use avg do not track and then go to punknews.org. now see what they load to your pc,now monitor try and block it all, then try to use punknews.org without all the buzzmedia junk. You can't use www.punknews.org without letting them basically secretly spy on you.
Sorry if punknew.org is getting paid to basically spy and track on you and willingly knows this and hiding it as it seems at times, well it really is not everyones fault, it seems like it's ones own selfish needs and they seem to act stupid and over defend themselves when they have been called out on it.

I was totally fine with this until Jason Tate came here and started fighting with everyone. What a fucking hack.

Thanks Aubin, for hooking us up with this asshole. Thanks a whole fucking lot.

Punknews is where I go for punk news. That's not going to change because of this. It's like when bands sign a record deal. Everyone gripes and calls them sellouts. But if their musical integrity remains the same (ie - they continue to write/play music that's as awesome as what they released previously), I don't see anything wrong with wanting a bigger paycheck. Shit, anybody that's traveled around the country in a van eating granola bars every day knows what I'm talking about. Being able to afford a full meal can be pretty awesome when you're touring. Of course, it remains to be seen just how much punknews will change because of this, but I've been loyal to this site for a long time and I will give it the benefit of the doubt.

Hmmmm, maybe I should try my punknews meme again

"The Punknews team you've come to know and trust over the years maintain full editorial control. We're pretty stoked about the new content we'll be able to bring you with this new partnership and we think you'll be too."..............................
So for the trust factor, if you where to block all the buzz media script,all the other analytical scripts that paying to keep the .ORG up and running it will work properly? Because I know the page will still load but will load as a empty page.
I love and respect the .org but if it comes down to my privacy being used for profit and .org is willfully doing this and refusing to own up to it, I'd have no problem exposing in full with a simple attack and short takeover really explaining in full detail what is really going. For me it all about honesty and it seems that something fishy has been going on recently and the ones who have been calling you out on it have been asking for a HONEST answer and getting nothing but lies in return. Actions speak louder then words and while I may not have the best way of expressing my words, i know how to take action, and I know how computers work to the deepest core and have no problem using this skill to expose the full truth. Why are you hiding the facts?

I've been here since around 2002-2003, and this is definitely an all time low...

Wow the mods are showing up in full force today on such a subject,wow do they all share a common interest for some odd reason? It seems like the editors,mods,etc here at the ORG refuse to be 100% honest on the simple fact because it would make them look like there selling out, and you know in the world of punk that is a big No ,No,well to the fake that actually means something,as long as you do whats best for the .org users and open and honest when questioned about it. I respect the .org and all who run it and devote all the time they do to it. Sorry Adam that it took what you see as a threat to get your attention. It is very obvious that more is going on, and has been going on for some time. As I said I care nothing about what you do with any income unless it involves my(our) privacy and a profit is being made on that invasion of privacy willingly. Yes Adam I would like you to look into how the site will not work with all your advertising scripts turned off.

So now they're getting paid to write biased news with little-to-no journalistic integrity! That's the way this world works now, I guess.

Serious question though: Was this to keep the site going (ie: you were running out of money to keep it up & running), or is it just because you wanted to get paid more?

the end as we know it probably

glad they've made some money though. Has led me on to some great bands and great gigs. Fair play guys

I do not really understand the reasoning behind this. I could care less about how they will now be able to get album streams of bigger bands when in the past a link to the site hosting those streams worked just fine. Also, will new articles and album reviews still be submission based? If I submit a review or article and it generates a lot of hits will I be paid for it? because it seems like a pretty dickish move to have a for profit site who's content is largely driven by the users who are not getting paid for their efforts. Well at least we can rest comfortly with the knowledge that the media conglomerate that now owns punknews also run the official website of Khloe Kardashian.

One song from every album I've ever heard-

1. Blink 182- Rock Show
2. Brand New- Seventy Times Seven
3. Taking Back Sunday- Cute Without The E (Cut From The Team)
4. Brand New- Sic Transit Gloria, Glory Fades
5. Jimmy Eat World- The Middle
6. Weezer- Beverly Hills
7. Motion City Soundtrack- The Future Freaks Me Out
8. Thursday- Cross Out The Eyes
9. Thrice- The Artist In The Ambulance
10. Saves The Day- At Your Funeral
11. Say Anything- Admit It!
12. AFI- Girls Not Gray

And so on

It'll interesting to see how this site ends up now. I'll withhold judgement til then.

Any other cool punk websites you guys get news from?

The big question that everyone is wanting to ask is: if I get a degree in print journalism will you guys hire me and flood me with free merch and thousands of dollars?

In my opinion, if Punknews is a non profit organization based on volunteer work, and all the money goes to maintaining the site, that is really great. If Punknews is a for profit organization and pay its employees and contributors correctly, that is ok, and I'll keep coming here as long as it talks about music that interests me. But if Punknews is a profitable company, someone is making money out of it (either Aubin or Buzzmedia), and is not paying its staff, that is just plain wrong.

Also, if editorial choices are going to be influenced by commercial/corporative interests, that's pretty lame. Let's hope that's not the case.

Man, this sure got the slow, old, strange people of Punknews talking, didn't it? I can't believe I paused Hot Water Music to read this.

I have had this site as my homepage for years. I relied on it for a no bullshit source. I never felt the need to create an account, I new it wouldn't make a huge difference if I did and I try to avoid the internet in general. Mainly for things like Buzz Media. This truly saddens me and I hope when you say things will not change, you mean it. I doubt it seeing as how you already have an advertisement for All Time Low. Why? Just why? We all know it's not for more "content". Fucking money.

Maximum Rocknroll is probably the best source for legit punk coverage and reviews and is still non-profit. Columns can be a little annoying but the reviews especially are an excellent way to learn about new shit.

Of course they don't cover all of the same things here, but its not that hard to find out when bands are touring and shit like that.

hey everybody, this is my first time posting on punknews but I saw some traffic coming to my site from this page so I checked it out and have of course been sucked in. I should state now as a disclaimer that I RUN THE SITE DYING SCENE, which many of you seem to hate for its white text on black background and for its juvenile journalistic integrity. I won't argue either point; the former is plainly true and the latter certainly as true at times. Anyway, 2 things have drawn me into this thread.

First, I want to state that as much as I'd love to tell you that punknews getting bought by buzzmedia is going to make the site crap and therefor you should visit DS as an indie holdout alternative (albeit an occasionally juvenile one) for your punk news, I can't say I actually believe that. I don't think anything on punknews is gonna change except they'll sell more ad inventory and Aubin & co. will make a little extra well deserved cash for the years they've labored on this site. There might also be some more cross linking to AP.net and the other absolutevoices sites but I hardly see that as a horrible thing.

Second, I wanted to throw out a friendly competitive challenge to the newly formed absolutevoices punk network and its loyal readers. Call it the Dying Scene Challenge. All I ask of you readers is that you check out DyingScene.com once a day for a week and compare it to the coverage you find on this site or the other absolutevoices sites. At the end of the week if you don't think the punk scene coverage is better on DS then I will graciously accept defeat and all the heaps of shit talking that will surely follow. If you do end up liking what DS does then hopefully you add us to your regular blog consumption and sing our praises to all your punk friends.

That is all. If you would like to commence the shit talking pre-challenge I will do my best to answer back and participate. Ready... Go!

http://selfdefensemusic.com/post/30459116582/what-insider-info-d o-you-have-on-the-punknews-buyout

This is seriously all you need to know...

Oh and I don't know why anyone is surprised. Organizations get bigger and bigger if they're lucky, and then bought if they're lucky. If the staff didn't know about it it's because the owner didn't want to hear anyone else's opinion about whether or not he should make bank on the deal. So what if they are volunteers. They weren't expecting money in the first place and weren't going to ask for it otherwise. The owner saw his chance to wear sunglasses with dollar signs as lens and he took it. This is a glorious day for the culture.

I read three of these sites anyway. I'll reserve judgement till the final product, but I've been reading this site 10 years and haven't seen the quality go down.

Just shut the damn site down already. The editors don't actually make a living off this site, do they? No dents in their pocketbooks, a lot of extra free time for everyone involved. Win-win.

donno if any staff is still reading new comments here, but just came to say that all links to "aubin" 's account via "posted by" are now linking to www.punknews.org/users (which sends you either to login or to your account page depending on what role you are using) instead of www.punknews.org/users/aubin . however, this page can still be accessed by typing it in.

no conspiracy, not sayin, just sayin. maybe there is an odd site issue?

So is 'orgcore' gonna be 'comcore' now? And have you guys checked out the Jaded Punk website? I think it has pretty good potential. jadedpunk.com

all i really got out of this shitstorm is a) noone knows what's going on, about anything, ever. b) dyingscene is the most averagely good site on the internet and c) something about dante and a bag of dicks.

i think i'm ready for my badge now.

Hopefully, punknews.org can bring us our daily celebrity gossip. I'm looking forward to headlines like, "HWM EAST COAST TOUR DATES. ALSO, WHO'S HITTING RIHANNA NOW?! CLICK READ MORE FOR THE DEETS!"

sell outs.

http://www.scenepointblank.com

The hell is going on around here?

I wonder what the next generation of programed "so called punks" going to turn out to be like. I do know that punknews.org will play a huge role in the programing.

Well shit.

AP.net is terrible, I don't want to be tied to those teenyboppers and their boy band/eyelinercore bands. Half the other sites look just as bad.

I'm not willing to begrudge someone a little bit of income (I doubt this site is highly profitable) but don't let this turn into the old Alternative Press forums or into anything similar to Absolute punk. I just don't feel like letting any of the AP.net or Buzzmedia folks any say will do anything good for the site, I feel like it'll most likely be negative.