B-Sides

What B-Sides does

B-Sides is a privately held, San Francisco-based digital music media publication that has been actively producing editorial content since 2012, covering new music, emerging artists, and live music experiences. The platform's core product is its website (b-sides.tv), which publishes news, artist interviews, album reviews, and photo reviews of concerts and major US music festivals such as Bonnaroo, Governors Ball, Austin City Limits, Outside Lands, and Lollapalooza. In 2022 the company extended into audio with the 'B-Sides with Pete Mar' podcast, distributed on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, and it has built a multi-channel social presence across Twitter/X, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook, plus RSS-based content syndication partnerships with Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, and Dancing Astronaut.

The platform is built on a standard WordPress content management system with multimedia hosting for video interviews, photo galleries, and podcast distribution, and it does not expose any public API or SDK. The company is led by CEO Eric Berglund and co-founder Stacy Daily and operates with a small editorial team of 11-50 employees. There are no patents, certifications, awards, or disclosed funding rounds in the input data, and ownership structure is not publicly documented.

B-Sides monetizes exclusively through advertising: third-party display ads on the website and potentially podcast sponsorships on the 'B-Sides with Pete Mar' audio feed. All editorial content is free to consumers, there is no subscription tier, no paywall, and no e-commerce. The target audience is a single horizontal persona — music enthusiasts and concert-goers, primarily in the US but with organic global reach through digital channels to audiences in the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Denmark, Sweden, and Japan. The business is therefore best characterized as a lean, ad-supported, lifestyle digital media outlet rather than a venture-backed growth company.

Name

B-Sides

Website

https://b-sides.tv

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

B-Sides is a San Francisco-based music media platform publishing free editorial coverage of emerging artists, concert photo reviews, and video interviews. Operating since 2012, it monetizes through display advertising and distributes content via its website, a podcast, and major social channels.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Music Media & Entertainment

NAICS

Broadcasting and Content Providers (516), Motion Picture and Sound Recording Industries (512)

SIC

Services-Motion Picture & Video Tape Production (7812), Television Broadcasting Stations (4833)

akta.pro primary industry

Podcast Networks & Studio Platforms (MPAIADAC)

Keywords

• Music journalism
• Concert reviews
• Artist interviews
• Music podcast
• Festival coverage

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Advertising: The website displays third-party advertising including display ads and sponsored content sections, generating revenue from ad impressions and potentially podcast sponsorships.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

B-Sides is a digital music media publication that produces and distributes original editorial content covering new music, emerging artists, and live music experiences. It publishes photo reviews, concert reviews, video interviews, and news articles on its website, and distributes a podcast ("B-Sides with Pete Mar") through Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube. The content is free to consumers and monetized through advertising.

Product overview

B-Sides is a music media platform operated as a single unified digital publication. The platform delivers original editorial content including music news, artist interviews (video and text), concert photo reviews, album reviews, and festival coverage. The site also features an embedded podcast 'B-Sides with Pete Mar' available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, and curates a Top 40 New Releases feed integrating Rolling Stone and Pitchfork content.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• B-Sides Music Media Platform
• B-Sides with Pete Mar Podcast

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Pitchfork: Leading independent music publication covering album reviews, artist interviews, and festival coverage. Pitchfork is the most direct editorial peer to B-Sides in the emerging/indie music media space, with overlapping audience and category coverage.
• Stereogum: Independent music blog and media outlet focused on emerging artists, mp3 downloads historically, and music news. Closely comparable to B-Sides in scope (emerging artists, music journalism, festival coverage) and audience (indie/alternative music fans).
• Paste Magazine: Digital media outlet with strong emphasis on music news, artist interviews, and festival coverage alongside broader culture. Comparable to B-Sides through overlapping music editorial focus, video interviews, and concert/festival reviews.
• The FADER: Music and culture magazine covering emerging artists, fashion, and live music experiences. Direct peer in the indie music editorial space, with overlapping emphasis on emerging talent discovery and festival/concert photography.
• BrooklynVegan: Independent music publication covering indie, punk, and alternative music with strong live show reviews and concert coverage. Comparable to B-Sides in editorial depth on live music, photo reviews, and emerging artist discovery.
• Consequence of Sound (Consequence): Music and entertainment publication featuring album reviews, artist interviews, and festival coverage. Directly comparable to B-Sides in editorial scope, audience (music enthusiasts), and ad-supported digital media model.

Broad incumbents

• Rolling Stone: Iconic mainstream music and culture publication covering established and emerging artists, festivals (Bonnaroo, Coachella), and music journalism. B-Sides even integrates Rolling Stone RSS content, highlighting its role as a broad incumbent that overlaps with but dwarfs B-Sides' editorial scope.
• NME (NME.com): Global music and entertainment publication covering indie, rock, and pop with strong festival coverage and emerging artist features. Comparable as a larger incumbent music media brand with overlapping coverage of festivals and emerging artists, but with much broader geographic reach.
• uDiscover Music (Universal Music): Music media platform owned by Universal Music Group offering editorial coverage, artist interviews, and festival content. Broad incumbent in the music media space with overlapping artist-discovery editorial, though label-affiliated and significantly larger scale than B-Sides.

Emerging players

• Dancing Astronaut: Digital music publication covering electronic/dance music news, artist interviews, and festival coverage. B-Sides even integrates Dancing Astronaut RSS feeds, indicating overlap as a similarly-sized emerging music media outlet with comparable editorial niche focus.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/BSidesTV
• YouTubeyoutube.com/bsidestv
• Facebookfacebook.com/bsidestv
• Instagraminstagram.com/bsidestv
• TikToktiktok.com/@bsidestv

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about B-Sides