Music is a phenomenon that breaks cultural barriers. It does not make distinctions based on social status, and it is in constant renewal. This ongoing change has led to trap, rap, and freestyle competitions to gain recognition — especially among young people — and claim a place of privilege. They sought to become more than trends and are now genres that break metrics and fill stadiums.

Although the media replicate the news of this musical universe, few of them are fully dedicated to working on this issue. This is not the case with the most recent vertical of Vía País called Vía Urbano, which was created to give serious and complete coverage to this topic.

Vía País, a general interest digital media publication, has discovered a new audience through this specific vertical which, in a few months, has managed to prominently position itself.

Vía Urbano targets a digital native audience, which is used to connecting and learning about the news of their favourite artists through social networks but not directly through standard media channels. To capture this audience, we considered three issues.

1. Expanding music content 

It is important to highlight the type of coverage. A dedicated team follows urban music trends, releases, and news that arise around the artists and representatives of the genre. In that sense, the idea is to have a broad spectrum not only focused on the stars of the moment but also aspects that exceed music.

Even though the main theme of Vía Urbano is music, the vertical also addresses topics of interest to the audience that consumes this type of content, including interviews with artists, reports, and investigations. It seeks to practice journalism formats according to users’ needs, with novelty and immediacy as key objectives set from the first day of the project.

2. Prioritisation of journalism

Since Vía Urbano’s inception, complete and attractive articles have been prioritised. This includes audiovisual material and colorful data. In other words, journalistic content designed for consumption by a young audience.

3. Growth of the audience

Finally, something that has accompanied the project since its beginning is the growth of the audience. This has boosted both the journalistic commitment and voracity in the search for information. One of Vía Urbano’s objectives is for it to become a reference page for anyone who wants to know what is happening with this musical genre.

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