What Sound Publishing does

Sound Publishing is a newspaper publishing company founded in 1987 and headquartered in Everett, Washington, that provides marketing and advertising services through a network of community newspapers and associated digital properties. The company's underlying technology is a media publishing platform supporting both print publication and digital advertising delivery across its portfolio of local news brands, including titles such as American Press, The Daily News, Picayune Item, Salisburypost, The Farmville Herald, and Heraldnet, among 250+ media properties collectively reaching 11M+ print readers and 25M+ digital users.

Name

Sound Publishing

Legal name

Carpenter Media Group

Website

https://soundpublishing.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1987

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Sound Publishing, founded in 1987 and headquartered in Everett, WA, operates 250+ community newspaper and digital media properties across the US and Canada, selling print and digital advertising to local businesses and serving more than 36 million combined print and digital readers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Everett

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices13 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Print and Digital Advertising: The company generates revenue through an extensive array of print and digital advertising solutions, enabling local businesses to reach potential customers within communities served by their 250+ media properties.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Sound Publishing is a newspaper publishing company that operates local community newspapers and digital publications, providing print and digital advertising solutions to local businesses. The company reaches 11M+ print readers and 25M+ digital users across 246 communities in the United States and Canada, enabling advertisers to target engaged local audiences.

Product overview

No product or service information for Sound Publishing was found in the provided source data. The source data contains information for Carpenter Media Group, which operates print and digital advertising solutions across 250+ media properties, including newspapers such as The Daily News, American Press, Picayune Item, and others, serving communities across the US and Canada with over 1,700 employees reaching 11 million+ print readers and 25 million+ digital users.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Print Advertising Solutions Print advertising placements across Sound Publishing's network of 250+ community newspaper properties, enabling local businesses to reach 11M+ print readers in their local markets.
• Digital Advertising Solutions Digital advertising placements across Sound Publishing's network of local digital publications, reaching 25M+ digital users in targeted community markets.
• Local Community Journalism Local news, information, and editorial content published across the company's community newspapers and digital platforms, serving readers in 246 communities with journalism that informs, inspires, and entertains.

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Adams Publishing Group: Adams Publishing Group is a family-owned multimedia company with a large portfolio of community newspapers and digital media products across the Midwest, South, and Pacific Northwest. It directly competes for local advertising budgets and operates with a similar decentralized community-newspaper model.
• Boone Newspapers: Boone Newspapers is a privately held community newspaper group operating daily and weekly publications across the Southern US. It shares a very similar operating model—local journalism serving SMB advertisers in small and mid-sized communities—and is a strong direct comparable.
• Lee Enterprises: Lee Enterprises operates a large portfolio of local newspapers across the US Midwest, Mid-Atlantic, and South, with a similar print + digital advertising revenue model. The company is one of the most direct comparables in community newspaper publishing, with overlapping customer base of local SMB advertisers.
• Paxton Media Group: Paxton Media Group is a family-owned community newspaper company with publications across the South and Midwest, sharing a similar multi-title, community-anchored business model. It has pursued an active acquisition strategy of small-market newspapers comparable to the implied roll-up approach.
• Community Newspaper Holdings Inc. (CNHI): CNHI is one of the largest community newspaper companies in the US, operating daily and weekly publications across more than 20 states. Its scale, multi-state footprint, and SMB-focused advertising model make it a very close direct comparable to Sound Publishing/Carpenter Media Group.
• Ogden Newspapers: Ogden is a family-owned community newspaper chain operating dozens of daily and weekly publications across multiple US states, with a print-led, community-focused GTM approach very similar to Sound Publishing/Carpenter Media Group. It is a strong comparable in terms of operating model and scale.

Broad incumbents

• Gannett Co. Gannett is the largest US newspaper publisher (USA TODAY and 200+ local publications) with a similar print and digital advertising model targeting local businesses. It is the dominant incumbent in community newspaper publishing and competes for the same SMB ad dollars across overlapping geographies.
• Tribune Publishing: Tribune Publishing operates metropolitan and community newspapers with a print and digital advertising model. While more concentrated in larger markets, it competes for the same regional and national SMB and branded ad budgets, making it a broad incumbent comparable.
• McClatchy Company: McClatchy operates a portfolio of daily and community newspapers across the US, with a print + digital advertising model. As a former public company that emerged from bankruptcy in 2020, it is a relevant comparable for monetization challenges in the community newspaper space.

Regional players

• Emprise Media: Emprise Media is a regional community newspaper operator in the Mountain West and Western US, with a similar mix of print and digital products serving local advertisers. It is comparable in operating model and customer segment, though smaller in scale and more regionally focused.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/sound-publishing

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A1 record

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about Sound Publishing