All Media Network

All Media Network was an American digital media-information company best known for operating consumer-facing entertainment databases, including AllMusic, AllMovie, AllGame, SideReel, and Celebified. Its roots go back to 1990, when popular-culture archivist Michael Erlewine founded the All Music Guide in Big Rapids, Michigan. The original objective was unusually broad for its time: to create a structured reference work covering recorded music, artists, releases, credits, genres, and related descriptive information. The All Music Guide first appeared in print in 1991 and later developed into the AllMusic website. The company expanded its editorial database model beyond music. The All Movie Guide launched in 1994 and supplied information about films, actors, directors, and other contributors, together with reviews, ratings, recommendations, and editorial descriptions. The All Game Guide began in 1998 and covered console, handheld, arcade, and personal-computer games, although the AllGame website closed in December 2014. SideReel, launched in 2007, focused on television programs and episodes and added a community-oriented layer to the company's reference portfolio. Celebified, introduced in 2012, concentrated on celebrity news and interviews. All Media Network's assets and corporate identity changed several times. The business operated within Alliance Entertainment from 1996 until the early 2000s and later had AEC One Stop Group as a parent company. Macrovision, subsequently known as Rovi and later associated with TiVo, announced an agreement to acquire All Media Guide in 2007. Rovi retained control of the underlying content and commercial licensing arrangements while consumer access to the properties changed hands. In 2013, consumer access was transferred to a newly established All Media Network, LLC, while Rovi continued licensing the databases to third parties. The company's principal value was its structured metadata and editorial content rather than physical media production. AllMusic and AllMovie supplied basic catalog data, credits, release identifiers, genres, biographies, reviews, rankings, recommendations, and relationship data such as similar artists or films. This information was made available through the public websites and licensed for use in retail point-of-sale systems, online stores, media players, music-identification products, and other digital services. AllMusic data was used by products including Windows Media Player and Musicmatch Jukebox and was also distributed through wider digital-media ecosystems. On April 16, 2015, Blinkx plc acquired All Media Network and placed its properties under the broader RhythmOne brand. This effectively ended All Media Network's independent corporate role, although the websites and databases continued to operate under successor ownership. RhythmOne later merged with Taptica International in 2019; Taptica was rebranded as Nexxen in 2023. The AllMusic and AllMovie properties are therefore best understood as surviving successor brands and databases rather than evidence that All Media Network itself remains an independent operating company.

All Media Network originated in 1990 in Big Rapids, Michigan, where Michael Erlewine established All Media Guide as a popular-culture reference venture. Its first major project was the All Music Guide, launched in 1991 in print form. The project sought to organize comprehensive information about recorded music, including artists, albums, songs, credits, genres, and critical descriptions. As internet distribution became more important, the guide's data and editorial work moved into online services and became the basis of AllMusic. The company expanded into adjacent entertainment categories. The All Movie Guide launched in 1994, followed by the All Game Guide in 1998. The movie service applied the music project's combination of structured catalog information and editorial recommendation to films, actors, filmmakers, and home-video releases. The game service covered major game platforms and attempted to build a broad U.S. release database. In 1999, the company moved its operations to Ann Arbor, Michigan, partly to access the area's technology and publishing workforce. From 1996 through the early 2000s, All Media Guide operated as a business unit within Alliance Entertainment. Alliance was acquired by Yucaipa Companies in 1999. AEC One Stop Group later became the company's parent organization. In 2007, Macrovision announced that it would purchase All Media Guide. The transaction moved the databases into the Macrovision organization, which was renamed Rovi. Rovi controlled commercial licensing and maintained the underlying content while the consumer presentation of the properties evolved through several names, including AllRovi. In 2013, Rovi sold consumer access to the properties to a newly established All Media Network, LLC but retained the right to license the databases to commercial customers. This arrangement reflected the company's dual business model: free or broadly accessible reference websites supported by a more commercially valuable metadata-licensing operation. AllMusic and AllMovie data could be supplied to retailers, media players, online music and video services, and recognition systems. The content combined factual catalog fields with descriptive and relational information, such as moods, themes, comparable artists, influences, reviews, and recommendations. The portfolio also expanded into television and celebrity coverage. SideReel, launched in 2007, provided information about television shows and episodes. Celebified began in 2012 as a celebrity-news and interview property. The AllGame service was discontinued on December 12, 2014. On April 16, 2015, Blinkx plc acquired All Media Network. Blinkx was subsequently renamed RhythmOne, and All Media Network's properties were integrated into that group's wider digital advertising and media portfolio. RhythmOne merged with Taptica International in 2019. Taptica later adopted the Nexxen name in 2023. As a result, All Media Network no longer operates as an independent company, while several of its consumer brands and data assets continued under successor ownership. The historical importance of All Media Network lies in its early creation of searchable, editorially curated entertainment databases and in the distribution of that information through both public websites and licensed technology products.

1. 2015Acquired by Blinkx

   Blinkx plc acquired All Media Network and integrated the properties into the later RhythmOne group.

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2. 2014AllGame closed

   The AllGame website ended operations on December 12.

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3. 2013Consumer properties moved to All Media Network

   Rovi transferred consumer access to the properties to All Media Network while retaining content licensing control.

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4. 2007Macrovision acquisition announced

   Macrovision agreed to acquire All Media Guide, later placing the assets within the Rovi organization.

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5. 1998All Game Guide launched

   A game-information database covering console, handheld, arcade, and PC releases was introduced.

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6. 1994All Movie Guide launched

   The company extended its database model to films, performers, filmmakers, reviews, and recommendations.

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7. 1991All Music Guide launched

   The first major guide began as a print music reference and later developed into the AllMusic digital service.

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8. 1990All Media Guide founded

   Michael Erlewine founded the company in Big Rapids, Michigan as a popular-culture reference venture.

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A specialist entertainment-reference and metadata provider combining large structured databases with staff-written editorial content and commercial data licensing.

• AllMusicMusic database and editorial reference1991

  AllMusic is the company's best-known music reference property. It catalogs artists, bands, songs, albums, releases, genres, credits, styles, moods, and related artists. Its staff-generated biographies, reviews, ratings, rankings, and recommendations supplement the structured data. AllMusic information has also been licensed for retail systems, online music services, media players, and music-collection organization tools.

• AllMovieFilm database and editorial reference1994

  AllMovie applies the All Media Guide model to cinema and home entertainment. It provides information about films, actors, directors, and other filmmakers, together with reviews, ratings, recommendations, and descriptive classifications. Television coverage exists but is more limited and has historically emphasized productions released on DVD or other home-video formats.

• AllGameVideo-game database1998

  AllGame was a reference service for console, handheld, arcade, and PC games released in the United States. It included catalog information and editorial coverage and was intended to become a broad searchable game database. The website closed on December 12, 2014.

• SideReelTelevision community and information site2007

  SideReel is a television-focused property providing information about programs and episodes. Unlike the purely reference-oriented guides, it also incorporated community and tracking features around television viewing.

• CelebifiedCelebrity news and interviews2012

  Celebified was a celebrity-news and interview property introduced in 2012. By December 2023, previously existing URLs reportedly returned errors and the homepage functioned mainly as a feed of posts from other network sites.

• 2015Sell All Media Network to BlinkxM&A

  All Media Network operated a portfolio of entertainment-reference websites and controlled consumer access to properties whose data licensing remained associated with Rovi.

  What changed. Blinkx plc acquired All Media Network and subsequently unified the properties under the RhythmOne group.

  Aftermath. All Media Network ceased to function as an independent operating brand, while AllMusic, AllMovie, and related assets continued under successor ownership.

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• 2014Close AllGameOther

  The AllGame database had operated since 1998 but was discontinued before All Media Network was acquired by Blinkx.

  What changed. The AllGame website was shut down on December 12, 2014.

  Aftermath. The AllGame brand became a defunct part of the former All Media Network portfolio.

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• 2013Separate consumer access from retained content licensingStrategy

  Rovi controlled the underlying databases and commercial licensing but had developed a separate consumer-facing arrangement for the public websites.

  What changed. Consumer access to the All Music and All Movie properties was transferred to the newly established All Media Network, while Rovi retained licensing control over the content.

  Aftermath. The arrangement allowed the websites to continue as a distinct consumer operation before the properties were acquired by Blinkx in 2015.

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• 2014Blinkx adware allegationsControversy

  A January 2014 analysis by Harvard Business School associate professor Ben Edelman alleged that Blinkx continued adware-related practices connected with companies it had acquired, including Zango and Prime Visibility Media Group, and that advertisers may have been defrauded. Blinkx rejected the allegations, disputed the description of its Zango transaction, and argued that its software was not installed without user consent. Follow-up criticism addressed allegedly deceptive installers and advertising practices. The controversy concerned Blinkx, the acquiring company, rather than a separately documented All Media Network practice.

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• 2015Blinkx acquired All Media Network

  Blinkx plc acquired All Media Network and its principal web properties, subsequently presenting them within the RhythmOne group.

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• 2014AllGame website closed

  The AllGame reference site ceased operations after covering console, handheld, arcade, and PC games for more than a decade.

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• 2013Consumer access transferred to All Media Network

  Rovi transferred consumer access to the All Music and All Movie properties to the newly formed All Media Network while retaining control of content licensing.

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• 2007Macrovision agreed to acquire All Media Guide

  Macrovision announced an agreement to purchase All Media Guide, bringing the company's entertainment databases into the corporate group later known as Rovi.

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1. All Media Network
2. RhythmOne