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Wenner Media, the company founded by publisher Jann Wenner, is selling its controlling stake in the iconic music and culture magazine 

, citing a desire "to best position the brand for future growth."
The news comes one year after Wenner Media sold 49 percent of 

 to BandLab Technologies, a digital music company based in Singapore.
"

 is a uniquely powerful brand with enormous opportunities to succeed in today's environment," said Gus Wenner, president and chief operating officer of Wenner Media and Jann Wenner's son.
He 

 that the company has "made great strides transforming Rolling Stone into a multi-platform company."
Wenner Media says 

 reaches more than 60 million people each month through multiple platforms (from social media to videos), and that its online traffic has grown by nearly 50 percent over the past three years.
Since its founding in 1967, 

 has been a mainstay of music journalism and pop culture; it has also published in-depth features and investigative reporting. But the magazine has suffered the drops in circulation and revenue that have disrupted much of the print media industry in the online age.


 bank account and reputation have also taken hits over the magazine being forced to retract a 2014 story about an alleged gang rape at a University of Virginia fraternity house — a controversial episode that also saw the magazine settle a defamation lawsuit from the fraternity for $1.65 million in June. Months earlier, the magazine 

settled claims in a $3 million defamation case

 over a lawsuit filed by a U-Va. administrator who was a key figure in the story.
Wenner Media's move to unload magazines isn't limited to 

; in June, Wenner Media sold another home-grown title, 

, to American Media Inc., publisher of magazines and tabloids such as the 

. That sale came months after Wenner sold its 

 to American Media.
In an interview with 

, the Wenners said they plan to remain at the magazine. Gus Wenner, who is the president and chief operating officer of Wenner Media, said the magazine needs new investment to meet its ambitions. By selling, he said, the publisher is trying "to get ahead of the curve."


"Publishing is a completely different industry than what it was," Gus Wenner said. "The trends go in one direction, and we are very aware of that."


As for who might buy the magazine, Jann Wenner told the 

Arts and Culture

Business and Economic News

Wenner Media, the company founded by Rolling Stone publisher Jann Wenner, cites a desire "to best position the brand for future growth."

Rolling Stone magazine is put up for sale

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