As Director of Marketing and Artist Relations for NGW, it is my job to keep tabs on what are in the latest guitar magazines, and what guitarists are receiving the most attention. We advertise in all the major mainstream publications, and several niche magazines. It is interesting to me how the guitar magazines (which aren’t huge publications in the grand scheme of the magazine industry) are effected by the current economic conditions.
In speaking with our students at several campuses, I found out that younger students lean more towards Guitar World and adult students are split between Guitar Player, Premier Guitar and Fretboard Journal (which is an AMAZING new magazine). Acoustic Guitar Magazine seems to be split fairly evenly among the age demographics among the students I talked to.
This year we had 8 page spreads in both Guitar Player and Premier Guitar. As far as I know, no company in recent memory has had such a large presence in a single issue. Both PG and GP have considerably different circulations and even target audiences. I respect Premier Guitar for their focus on a missing aspect in the mainstream guitar media. They focus largely on gear with some educational content. Most of their covers feature some type of gear. Outside of Vintage Guitar Magazine (which has a smaller circulation, I believe) they have the most gear coverage than either Guitar Player or Guitar World.
How does the coverage that these magazines give to products or artists translate into popularity?
I can honestly say that if I wasn’t for my job, I would probably rarely read these magazines unless there was something very specific I was looking for. For products such as guitars and amps, it would be relatively easy to see if an increase in press coverage equals more sales of that particular product. For artists, it’s much more abstract.
If you read about a particular artist in the magazine, does that motivate you to either buy a CD or go to a show?
Obviously who is on the cover is very important to the magazines. How many times have you seen Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, or Eddie Van Halen on the cover? Trust me, it isn’t because they have something new to cover (for the most part).
My opinion is that there isn’t a single magazine that is representative of guitarists as a whole. Each magazine has it’s own niche and that is great.
What are your opinions are the current guitar magazines?
Yes, I do read one of them: Guitar Player. I supposed I fit their profile, too — male, 45 years old. I've subscribed steadily since 1994. I love all kinds of music but am really repelled by metalcore and rock posers, and frankly Guitar World just has too much of that. I also like the more conservative nature of GP, at least in its approach to language. I want my kids to be able to pick up the mag without learning a new variant of the F-bomb. I tried reading Premiere Guitar a couple of issues ago, but the quality of the writing itself was so sub-par that it distracted me from whatever good they do. I'll give them another chance, because I do like reading about gear more than about artists (unless it's someone I really have an interest in).
Yes but only in the screen!
Anthony, thanks for the your feedback on the mag and the second chance
I think you'd be interested in reading our Editor's Letter this month. We're always trying to get better as a magazine, and we appreciate feedback that helps us do that. Here's a link to the Editor's Letter, and I promise this isn't just a shameless plug for the magazine:
http://digital.premierguitar.com/premierguitar/...
I do. I'm older and in the demo that is still umbilically attached to print. I happen to ignore Guitar World and Guitar Edge, the mags that tend to feature metal and thrash players – not my style or interest. From time to time I pick up the Brit mags at the newsstand – 3-4 copies a year. I gravitate to the heritage mags – GP, VG, Acoustic Guitar, and I pick up PG for the gear. I happen to love Fretboard Journal.
I picked up the latest entry in the category, Guitar Aficionado, attracted by the cover blurbs about Joe Perry and Rev. Billy…even though thumbing through at the store I could discern what it was….another Robb Report-style rag for rich pricks. I get it though…the retailers and mfgs are in trouble and need to reach the people who can afford a $3800 La Cabronita Especial. That will be my last issue.
I've been finding more in Guitar World lately, but for years, I said “I don't play high-gain thudrock, so I don't need to read Guitar World.” This last cover, with the Allmans, made me buy it, but I am much more likely to pick up Premier Guitar (big ups, guys) and Guitar Player (love the mag, accept the websites). I follow Fretboard Journal online and read it in the store, but I only picked up the last one, with Clarence's (Marty's) Bender on the cover. I should've picked up the Lindley one, but oh, well.
The thing with Acoustic Guitar is, if you're into acoustic and not electric, what are your choices? Guitar World Unplugged is like MTV Unplugged, not really about folks who make all their music standing in front of an instrument mic. If you're that person, 14 or 40, where are you gonna go? If there's another game in town, tell me where it is.
Forgot about Guitar Edge. 90% of the content I could pick up on tab sites, if I wanted to play that stuff. But the columns, the John 5 and … used to be Pete Anderson, for get who they have now … are things I should be spending much more time with.
To be honest, it's been 2 years I didn't read french guitar magazines (yeah I live in France). Before that I was hooked on 'em (I even had subscriptions). One of the reasons I don't anymore is the narrowing down trend they operated to focus on mainstream stuff and/or kiddos fashion topics… Not that I have something against that (I even think of myself as an “adultlescent”) but a lot of things I dig were ignored.
As for the english written magazines, I sometimes buy one when I find it in my local stand which is pretty rare though…
I'm not sure that reading about an artist in a magazine would lead to sales. It does in my case because the only guitar magazine I read is Just Jazz Guitar, and as you are probably aware, there are COUNTLESS amazing jazz guitarists out there most of which no one has really heard of. It's different in the mainstream. I haven't seen Guitar World writing articles on obscure artists. It generally players that are well known, and because of this I don't think the magazine will swing people in the direction of buying a cd or going to a show. People are familiar with these artists and if they are going to make a purchase i doubt it will depend on the magazine.
I think there is a great reason why each magazine has its own niche. It generally doesn't pay to be a “jack of all trades master of none”. I doubt that there is a large market for selling a magazine that is all over the place regarding content. No one is at the store thinking “Well this magazine has some country, death metal, and smooth jazz…PERFECT!” Another thing to keep in mind is that most of these magazines have been around for some time. They more than likely wouldn't have made it this far with a terrible marketing team. They've done their research, found a demand, and filled it.
Lastly, I think premier guitar might have a problem. There is a trend right now of moving from print to online. I don't know if Guitar World has a website with content (it's not something I'm interested in), but if they do, I don't think they have the competition that exists for a magazine almost solely dedicated to gear. I know that I wouldn't pick up a copy over going to thegearpage.net That's just me though.
I've not read all of them, but I always preferred Guitar Player Magazine to Guitar World. These days, I'm kind of burned out on all guitar mags.
After reading the latest issue of whatever mag I pick up, I usually end up lusting after new gear I don't need and can't afford, and feeling bad about not practicing enough.
I love playing/writing/practicing, but maybe I'm just getting too old for the magazines.
ummm…no. I can't. Acoustic Guitar is a one-horse race. There are titles for the acoustic player out there, like “FingerPick” (which is as niche as it sounds) and Taylor's house organ “Wood & Steel” (ditto, except now 30%-40% of content addresses their electric line), and “Performing Musician” – which is, opposingly, diffuse (covering everything from keyboard and drums to DJing, with an emphasis on recording and stagecraft).
Good point.
I read pretty much all of them every month (as the boxes full of magazines in my study will attest). I like them all for different things. I see Guitar World as more of a magazine 'about' guitarists – there are gear reviews, of course, but the focus is on artists and I find that interesting. The style is fun to read too. I like the depth of coverage in Guitarist and Premier Guitar – the reviews go deeper than Guitar World and the style is more mature. I love Guitar Player because it's got a good mix of articles about guitarists, articles about gear, and articles about BEING a guitarist. And I like the freebies and bonuses with Total Guitar. I like the collector articles in Guitar & Bass… Basically I'm a guitar mag junkie and now that I write for a few here in Australia (Mixdown, Australian Guitar, and Australian Musician) I get a huge kick out of seeing my name in the contributors column next to guys who also write for mags like Guitar World, because when I was a teenager up my heroes were dudes like Alan Di Perna, Charles Shaar Murray, James Rotondi, Brad Tolinksi, Alan Paul, Joe Gore, etc.
I read Premier Guitar online, never seen it in print in Australia otherwise I would probably buy that most of the time. I also buy Guitarist regularly, a mag I grew up with in England and still really like. I miss Guitar For The Practicing Musician though… showing my age!
After reading this post I decided to call Premiere Guitar and ask whether I could get a sample copy mailed to me. The very nice young lady who answered the phone told me, no — too expensive to mail me a copy, go look at the digital version or go thumb through it at a bookstore. Customer service ain't what it used to be.
I still read Guitar World in paper form. Sometimes it's nice to just sit back with and actual magazine. I also read a lot of the online stuff from Premier Guitar and Modern Guitars.
I subscribe to and regularly read the big three mags here in the UK. Guitarist (http://www.guitarist.co.uk/), Total Guitar (http://www.totalguitar.co.uk/) and my fave Guitar Techniques (http://www.guitar-techniques.com). I have a whole shelf of Guitar Players from the 90s, Guitar Worlds, Guitar Schools, a copy of Young Guitar, and even some Guitar For The Practicing Musician mags!
Online, it's Premier Guitar and now the new GP2 from Guitar Player.
Rebecca,
Thanks for participating and posting a link to the new issue.
Jason
I was totally into Guitar for the Practicing Musician as well. I loved the columns.
I do see the value in actually holding the magazine and reading it. I wonder if any of the magazines would publish an electronic version that could be read offline?
Mark,
What do you think about the new digital GP? I haven't had a chance to really go through it yet.
Not Mark, but just saw it this morning.
It is better than the current take Guitar Player 1.0, but….
I get why magazines, who spend so much time laying out and carefully placing ads and pictures and such, want to put their layout online. I was news-ed in college and copy editor for the student paper, and that can be tough. But the web doesn't work like that. It's good that you can browse within, but say I said “I know you're about to tour small clubs and know you don't want to take your sweet pre-war D28 on the road, but GP2 has reviews from some nice cheap dreads you wouldn't be crazy to take on tour”, what link would I send? You can read Premier like a magazine with about the same tech, but you can also go back to standard linkable webpages, too. Which is good.
(Don't know if you have a sweet pre-war D28. If you do, I'd be so jealous.)
Rebecca,
Thanks for participating and posting a link to the new issue.
Jason
I was totally into Guitar for the Practicing Musician as well. I loved the columns.
I do see the value in actually holding the magazine and reading it. I wonder if any of the magazines would publish an electronic version that could be read offline?
Mark,
What do you think about the new digital GP? I haven't had a chance to really go through it yet.
Not Mark, but just saw it this morning.
It is better than the current take Guitar Player 1.0, but….
I get why magazines, who spend so much time laying out and carefully placing ads and pictures and such, want to put their layout online. I was news-ed in college and copy editor for the student paper, and that can be tough. But the web doesn't work like that. It's good that you can browse within, but say I said “I know you're about to tour small clubs and know you don't want to take your sweet pre-war D28 on the road, but GP2 has reviews from some nice cheap dreads you wouldn't be crazy to take on tour”, what link would I send? You can read Premier like a magazine with about the same tech, but you can also go back to standard linkable webpages, too. Which is good.
(Don't know if you have a sweet pre-war D28. If you do, I'd be so jealous.)
I've only read about 4 or so guitar magazines in my entire life. I find after reading any magazine I completely forget about it. I don't ever use them for reference
I've only read about 4 or so guitar magazines in my entire life. I find after reading any magazine I completely forget about it. I don't ever use them for reference
I've only read about 4 or so guitar magazines in my entire life. I find after reading any magazine I completely forget about it. I don't ever use them for reference