JJ Kramer Interview
JJ Kramer is the son of CREEM founder Barry Kramer. He’s among those bringing the magazine back after a years-long effort to untangle rights issues. This week has seen numerous profiles and interviews with Kramer that outline the story and the aims of the new magazine; I hopped on the bandwagon and sent Kramer a few questions myself.
Tell me all about the new CREEM.
It’s always been in my blood. My father, Barry Kramer, was the CREEM founder and publisher until his death in 1981. After he passed, he left CREEM to me—so at four years old I was the mag’s Chairman. For the better part of my adult life, I’ve been fighting to preserve the storied legacy of CREEM—and this relaunch is the culmination of those efforts.
CREEM is returning not as a media company, but as an entertainment company. While traditional media companies are hyper-focused on aggregating eyeballs and selling them to advertisers, we are focused on building a long term relationship with our audience through compelling stories and experiences.