The popular music magazine Rolling Stone has been at the center of pop culture development for most American pop history. The magazine originally started in 1967 and left its mark in pop culture with its taste for controversial stories and often risque covers. Now, Google and Rolling Stone are hoping to open up opportunities for readers to read more about their cultural history.
Google Play and Rolling Stone are teaming up to provide readers with instant access to the Rolling Stone archives, Fast Company reported. According to Gus Wenner, son of Rolling Stone founder Jann Wenner, the project was inspired by the recent suicide of Robin Williams. After Williams' death, the website reposted three old cover stories about Williams to RollingStone.com. As soon as the articles hit the website, site traffic exploded. This confirmed an idea that Wenner had been mulling for a time - offering users access to old issues of Rolling Stone in a digital format.
That's why Wenner, Rolling Stone, and Google Play have announced that they'll be hosting old issues of the magazines on the Google Play Newsstand. Three or four stories from each issue will be available to read for free on the Newsstand's new Cover Wall and RollingStone.com. However, as time goes on, and past stories become relevant in the present, Rolling Stone hopes to promote old material and get people interested in it again.
The deal also included Rolling Stone paying for seven figures' worth of advertising. Google Play marketing head Brian Irving told FC, "Our goal is to help publishers succeed in a changing world....We're constantly looking for ways to partner with people who are content creators and help bring something to life."
Users should expect to see Rolling Stone's new Cover Wall arrive on the site on Friday.
