Scottish Enterprise invests in music magazine Team Rock as part of £4.5m funding round
Scottish Enterprise is investing in Glasgow-based heavy metal and rock magazine Team Rock, a move which marks the business’s shift in focus to digital audiences.
Scottish Enterprise joined as a new equity investor as part of a £4.5m funding round led by existing shareholder the North Atlantic Smaller Companies investment trust.
Team Rock is building its business and staff, with employee numbers rising from 40 in 2014 to 91 in 2015, thanks to the investment in the round and additional loans from the trust.
In its financial report Team Rock said it had managed to minimise the “continual decline” in the traditional magazine publishing sector while new revenue streams are developed. The magazine reported last year that pre-tax losses more than doubled from £4.3m to £8.8m from the previous year on turnover of £6.54m, down from £7.56m.
2015 saw investment in the systems and infrastructure of the magazine in order to “transform itself into a digital business and deliver on its long-term goals and business plan”, with the magazine claiming it had achieved “considerable success” in building its online presence and developing its audio services.
It reported 46 per cent growth in YouTube subscriptions, an almost doubling in Facebook activity and a 40 per cent growth in listeners to its TeamRock station.
Team Rock publishes magazines Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Heavy Metal within its empire.