SPIN’s CEO: AI Can’t Break the Next Nirvana

My guest today is Jimmy Hutcheson — the CEO of SPIN and a private equity investor hunting for the next great media brand.

If you like music and tech, you’re going to love this one.

Jimmy bought SPIN from Billboard about six years ago — and since then the company has grown revenue 17X

Its TikTok following rivals Rolling Stone.

Today SPIN is far more than a magazine. – It runs major events, licensing deals, brand partnerships, documentaries — and even a record label.

SPIN might be as close to an AI-proof media company as any I’ve seen recently.

Jimmy shares why he’d love to buy Pitchfork from Condé Nast…

We talk about whether SPIN would ever go IPO – no one’s ever asked him in public.

He also shares how he would launch a media company today, from scratch.

And Jimmy tells some funny anecdotes about what he found when he first entered the storage locker holding SPIN’s entire archive (going back decades) — including a photo of a famous rock star that had to be touched up because they had a zit.

We of course talk about how SPIN is approaching AI — from blocking AI scraping to exploring new licensing deals with AI companies.

Please enjoy my conversation with Jimmy Hutcheson.

Thanks! Rob