Rolling Stone Launches Twitch Channel

Longtime music magazine Rolling Stone has worked out the first original-content deal by a mainstream publication on a platform with their new deal with Twitch, according to the Wall Street Journal.

In the deal, Rolling Stone will launch a new channel called ‘Rolling Stone on Twitch’, which is set to officially go LIVE on March 1st, and will broadcast for several hours a day, five days a week, with content featuring intimate live performances from established and up-and-coming musicians.

The Rolling Stone Twitch channel will also air interviews of musicians by other musicians, shows detailing how famous songs came to be and news programming focused on music and culture, according to Gus Wenner, Rolling Stone’s president and chief operating officer, who spoke exclusively to WSJ.

Rolling Stone has built a studio inside its Manhattan, New York offices to use for the channel, however the majority of the early content will be remote feeds from artists homes, due to coronavirus pandemic restrictions.

“Though Twitch is primarily known for its gaming community, it is really a platform for creators of all sorts,” Tracy Chan, Twitch’s vice president in charge of music said. “Gamers also have a lot of interests beyond gaming; many love music and are into sports.”

It continues a mass effort for the folks behind Twitch to bring more variety content to their twitch channels and stream offerings.