New York, September 28, 2023 – Realm, a leading audio entertainment company with over 6000+ hours of content, announced last month that it had acquired the Lipstick & Vinyl podcast network – adding to their slate popular unscripted podcasts that appeal to women in their 20’s and 30’s including Rachel Uncensored, All Things Internet, The Only One In The Room and Broke Girl Therapy.
Lipstick & Vinyl was founded in 2018 by radio executive Allyson Marino as a strong force in the podcast space for underrepresented, mostly female voices. In 2021, the network was acquired by media executives Richard Marks and Rob Magaziner; under their management, Lipstick & Vinyl continued to expand its footprint that will now complement Realm’s extensive lineup, which includes a recently announced major entry into kids and family audio entertainment.
Realm Vice President Mary Assadullahi said “Lipstick & Vinyl’s unscripted catalog was built with an ethos that dovetails perfectly with Realm’s deeply-engaged audience across our network. We’re so excited to welcome these incredible creators to our community, together growing a hub for storytelling and audio entertainment.”
Outgoing Lipstick & Vinyl President, Richard Marks, added “This is a great deal for both sides. Our team could not be happier to see Lipstick & Vinyl in the capable hands of the Realm management team. During the closing process, we worked very closely with the Realm senior managers and we came away from that experience very impressed.”
As a long time senior executive in radio, traffic syndication and network, Marks held executive roles at Westwood One and Shadow Broadcast Services/Metro Networks. Magaziner joined Lipstick & Vinyl as VP in 2020. He had been in leadership positions at Westwood One and United Stations/Unistar before founding his own consultancy, Centerpiece Media Group. David Tolliver, of Castlewood Advisors, exclusively advised Lipstick & Vinyl in the sale to Realm. Castlewood is a leading boutique digital media M&A advisory firm based in New York City. Details of the transaction were not disclosed.
About Realm
Led by former book publishing executive Molly Barton, Realm is an industry-leading studio and global podcast network. Realm partners with top-tier talent and entertainment companies including Warner Bros, DC, AMC Networks, Marvel, and Spotify to develop, produce, distribute, and monetize immersive audio series that deeply engage audiences.
Realm has brought more top-charting fiction shows to audiences than any competitor with eight shows hitting #1 on Apple Podcasts. Realm’s podcasts have been nominated for and won numerous awards, including Audies, Ambies, Webbys, Signal Awards, and iHeart Podcast Awards. Realm Originals have been translated into 12 languages and eight Realm Originals are in development for Film/TV.
Notable titles include the #1 Spotify podcast HARLEY QUINN & THE JOKER: SOUND MIND starring Christina Ricci and Billy Magnussen, THE FLASH: ESCAPE THE MIDNIGHT CIRCUS starring Max Greenfield, and fan favorites OUTLIERS voiced by Rory Culkin, IF I GO MISSING THE WITCHES DID IT starring Oscar-nominated actress Gabourey Sidibe; ORPHAN BLACK: THE NEXT CHAPTER and POWER TRIP starring Emmy-winner Tatiana Maslany; MARIGOLD BREACH starring Jameela Jamil and Manny Jacinto; and ECHO PARK starring Harry Shum Jr. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram.
About Lipstick & Vinyl
Los Angeles-based Lipstick & Vinyl network was founded by Allyson Marino in 2018 to provide podcast network opportunities for underrepresented voices. From its humble beginnings with just a few podcasts, Lipstick & Vinyl now represents nearly fifty shows including All Things Internet’s podcast, Rachel Uncensored, Broke Girl Therapy and The Only One in the Room. In 2021, Lipstick and Vinyl was acquired by a group led by Media Executives Richard Marks and Rob Magaziner.
