BuzzMedia Hires New President After Cuts At Spin Magazine

Music and celebrity blog publisher Buzzmedia Inc. has hired digital veteran Stephen Hansen as its new president, the company said Monday, a month after it acquired Spin magazine and laid off its top editors.

Hansen will focus on product, technology, sales, marketing and management and will be under Hollywood, Calif.-based Buzzmedia's CEO Tyler Goldman, the company said.

Hansen was previously president and COO of automobile commerce site TrueCar Inc. He was also at accounting firm KPMG LL, Comcast Corp.'s (Nasdaq: CMCSA) Universal Studios and GeoCities, which was sold to Yahoo Inc. (Nasdaq: YHOO) and subsequently closed.

"Buzzmedia is delivering on the promises of a new media company we have envisioned since the early days of the Internet," said Hansen in a statement.

Buzzmedia has expanded aggressively in the digital realm in recent years, buying music websites PureVolume, Gorilla vs. Bear and Concrete Loop in 2010 and partnering to sell ads for PopMatters, the Hype Machine and RCRD Label. In May, it purchased electronic music publication XLR8R, which closed its print operations last year. In addition to its music holdings, it operates websites for celebrities including Kim Kardashian.

The company's biggest move came in July, when it bought Spin magazine from the McEvoy Group for an undisclosed price. It subsequently laid off 11 of its 36 staffers, including editor-in-chief Steve Kandell and managing editor Catherine Davis. Buzzmedia told Billboard it was "committed to moving forward with print" but hadn't decided on the specifics. It also said it would double the size of the editorial team over the next year.

The company said it had also recently hired a new chief information officer and two vice presidents. In 2008, Buzzmedia hired former New York Times reporter Jeff Leeds as editor-in-chief of Buzzmedia Music.