Junkee Media, formerly known as Sound Alliance, is a

digital media Digital media is any communication media that operate in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital media can be created, viewed, distributed, modified, listened to, and preserved on a digital electronics device. ' ...

company based in Australia. According to the company, Junkee Media's websites attract a monthly audience of over 2 million unique browsers. Nearly 70 per cent of the website's traffic comes from

mobile devices A mobile device (or handheld computer) is a computer small enough to hold and operate in the hand. Mobile devices typically have a flat LCD or OLED screen, a touchscreen interface, and digital or physical buttons. They may also have a physical ...

and the biggest referrer to the network is

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

History

Junkee Media was founded in 2000 when Matt Callander, Libby Clark and Andre Lackmann launched their dance music website ''inthemix''. The website began as a part-time hobby for the three, who were soon joined by Neil Ackland. Ackland discovered the site online and got in touch with its creators. Sound Alliance acquired ''Mess+Noise'' in October 2008 from failed media group

Destra Corporation Destra Corporation Limited, previously known as Sprint Corporation and Ehyou, was an independent Australian owned media and entertainment company based in Richmond, Victoria founded by Domenic Carosa. Destra's interests spanned film, internet, ...

. ''Mess+Noise'' had been operating since 2005 when it began as a bimonthly print publication. In 2006, Tim Duggan co-founded national

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

site ''Same Same'' with Sound Alliance. Sound Alliance launched ''Junkee'' in March 2013, an online title aimed at an audience aged 18 to 29 years. The publisher told its audience that Junkee would be built on principles uncovered in a comprehensive youth survey of a few thousand 18- to 29-year-olds. Sound Alliance used ''Junkee'' to trial

native advertising Native advertising, also called sponsored content, is a type of advertising that matches the form and function of the platform upon which it appears. In many cases it functions like an advertorial, and manifests as a video, article or editorial. ...

which by October 2014 it used across all of its publications. Sound Alliance formally rebranded itself as Junkee Media in July 2015. CEO Neil Ackland told media the name change reflected the company's transformation from being a music-only publisher to becoming a youth-focused lifestyle publisher. In September 2015, Junkee Media sold LGBT title ''Same Same'' to Evo Media. In 2016,

oOh!media oOh!media Limited (sometimes written as Ooh!media, oOh! Media or simply Ooh!) is an Australian outdoor advertising and media company based in Sydney, Australia. The company was founded by Brendon Cook as Outdoor Network Australia in 1989, and ...

, a publicly listed Australian outdoor advertising company, bought 85% of Junkee Media for $11.05 million. It acquired the remaining 15% several years later. In April 2017, ''FasterLouder'' was rebranded to Music Junkee, and a new site targeting Generation Z, ''Punkee'', was launched the following month. In November 2018, Junkee Media closed down ''inthemix'' after 18 years. In December 2021, Junkee Media was sold to RACAT Group. oOh!media retained Junkee’s branded content and production arm, Junkee Studio. Junkee Media CEO Neil Ackland remained at oOh!media and Piers Grove became head of Junkee Media.

Publications

Junkee Junkee is an Australian popular culture and news website run by new media company Junkee Media. It covers various topics including film, university, food, TV, politics, travel, career, health and Internet culture. Its target demographic is 18- to ...

, a

pop culture Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * Pop (Gas al ...

and

political satire Political satire is satire that specializes in gaining entertainment from politics; it has also been used with subversive intent where Political discourse analysis, political speech and dissent are forbidden by a regime, as a method of advancing ...

site *Punkee, an

entertainment Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have developed over thousa ...

and

site aimed at 16 to 24 year-olds *AWOL, a

youth travel Youth travel is travel by youth. Unlike typical vacations, youth travel is motivated by several factors, including the desire to experience other cultures, build unique life experience, and benefit from formal and informal learning opportunities fr ...

site produced in partnership with

Qantas Qantas Airways Limited ( ) is the flag carrier of Australia and the country's largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations. It is the world's third-oldest airline still in operation, having been founded ...

, founded in 2014

Awards

''Junkee'' was named media brand of the year at the 2014 Mumbrella Awards. Qantas and Junkee Media's ''AWOL'' was named the content marketing strategy of the year in 2015. In 2011, Sound Alliance was named to the Digital Media Top 10 Power Index, lauded for disrupting their larger traditional media competitors. Sound Alliance was named one of Australia's best places to work in both 2010 and 2009 by the publication '' BRW''. ''Punkee'' was named the media brand of the year at the 2018 Mumbrella Awards. Junkee Media was named publishing company of the year - large publishers at the 2018 Publish Awards.

References

{{reflist Publishing companies of Australia