Photo: Press
It would have been sad to see them go, but luckily Metal Hammer and Classic Rock and Prog have given another chance after Future Publishing bought them.
Future Publishing, a company with Guitarist, Total Film and T3 under their belt, bought the whole company, including the magazines, events and licence for the Team Rock digital radio service for £800,000 from Team Rock which went into adminsitraion in December, according to a report in The Guardian.
Tom MacLennan, joint administrator and partner with FRP Advisory said: “We are delighted to have sold the assets of Team Rock Limited to Future plc and wish the new owners every success. The deal took just three weeks to conclude, during which time FRP Advisory received extensive support for our efforts to find a buyer, for which we are very grateful,
Future Chief Executive, Zillah Byng-Thorne adds: “We look forward to developing further these iconic and much-loved brands and to continuing to serve their communities of dedicated enthusiasts around the world.”
Future plc will also be taking the Golden Gods Awards (a creation of Metal Hammer magazine) and the Classic Rock Awards, two award ceremonies that celebrate the rock and metal genres.
The publishing company was also responsible for selling the titles to Team Rock in the first place for £10.2m.
Having launched in 1986, Metal Hammer magazine has become an iconic title to the rock and metal world. Metal Hammer sold approximately 20,000 copies a month. Classic Rock also held a substantial amount of circulation. It launched in 1998 selling around 51,000 copies a month in 2015.
It was just in December 2016 when over 70 staff members at Team Rock were made redundant. With no severance pay in sight, British heavy metal band Orange Goblin, launched a Just Giving fundraising page that collected over £70,000.
The plea for help from Team Rock received donations from rock fans, and musicians such as Avenged Sevenfold, Black Stone Cherry and Asking Alexandra, as well as Frank Turner who created an auction to raise money.
2017 saw Orange Goblin continuing with their fundraising by hosting a gig at Camden’s Black Heart on 5 January.
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