Uproxx Media Group, the owner of sites including Uproxx, HitFix and Dime, has been acquired by Warner Music Group (WMG). The group, which focuses on entertainment and pop culture news, includes both a publishing arm and a studio that works with marketers on branded content.

Founded in 2008, Uproxx is an influential media brand with a reach of more than 40m across the web and social media. The group and its properties (excluding BroBible, which will continue to operate independently) were acquired for an undisclosed sum, although Uproxx has raised around $43m (£33m) from previous investment, which provides some sense of the firms valuation.

Uproxx will continue to be run by current CEO and chief creative Benjamin Blank and Jarret Myer, co-founder and publisher. Its editorial and studio operations will function as stand-alone entities with journalistic and creative independence, according to Warner Music.

“Uproxx was founded with the mission to deliver the best daily content and programming that shapes the lives of youth culture and the world we are inheriting,” said Blank. “Over the past years, weve won the trust of our audience, along with numerous industry accolades, because of our understanding of culture, entertainment and marketing – an approach thats rooted in authenticity and transparency.

“With Warner Music Group, we just doubled down on that formula and are now able to deliver more to our audience and partners with even more access and at much bigger scale.”

The acquisition follows a number of consumer-facing initiatives aimed at diversifying WMGs business, including the acquisition of live music platform Songkick last year, and the UK launch of The Firepit, a creative content division, innovation centre and multimedia production studio.

“In the always-on, attention economy, its not enough to simply deliver amazing music to the world,” said Max Lousada, CEO of global recorded music at WMG. “Uproxx brings together prioneering personalities and credible brands in ways that move huge audiences to talk, listen and share. Itll be exciting to collaborate with Jarret again, along with Ben and their team, who will thrive in the creeative and entrepreneurial environment were building. Theyll be great partners as we redefiine what it means to be a dynamic, future-focused music company.”