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Guitar media companies announce new joint venture

By Tim Kenyon

Premier Media will soon add Guitar Edge to its publishing repertoire.

The Mount Vernon-based company, which publishes Premier Guitar magazine, has announced a new joint venture with Hal Leonard Corp. of Milwaukee.

The deal results in expanding Guitar Edge as a multimedia tool for guitarists, much like the approach used for Premier Guitar.

The retuned Guitar Edge will debut in September, says Joe Coffey, Premier editorial director.

“We found a great fit,” Coffey says. “From our end, it’s one more way we can grow through this partnership to become a one-two punch.”

Premier Guitar focuses on equipment along with some profile interviews.

Guitar Edge concentrates more on sheet music. It originated in July/August 2006 with the tagline “Less Talk, More Tab.”

Early impressions about Premier Media and staff made a likeable impact on Jeff Schroedl, vice president of pop and standard publications at Hal Leonard.

“It was evident from our early discussions that Premier Guitar is an innovative and forward-thinking publisher. They not only have the vision; they actively carry out their plan each day,” Schroedl says. “We’ve been working on a number of digital initiatives, many of which synergize. Our interest in taking the next step with Guitar Edge started in the fall of 2008.”

Like Premier Guitar, the revamped Guitar Edge will include a free online magazine, web site and weekly e-newsletter.

Plans call for running a digital edition online — featuring a viewable tab for 10 free songs alternating with the bimonthly print magazine, Coffey says.

The venture gives Premier another boost to reach more players and readers as well as Guitar Edge.

The niche guitar magazines complement each other well, he says.

“Guitar World is good at what they do — appealing to younger players,” he says. “Our readership is usually older, experienced players more interested in learning from other players not necessarily who’s the new band.”

Fender and Martin are recognized names of guitar makers.

“Our audiences are very interested in boutique brands and considered tone connoisseurs,” he says.

Thus, Premier features cover amp makers such as XITS, owned by Michael Koski in North Liberty.

Generally, he says, magazines have been managed in a dated way.

“With web sites — they were too scared to put print content online or do exclusive web stuff and didn’t invest in video,” Coffey says. “We turned that old-fashioned thinking upside down. Readers are saying changes have been so much fun that ‘it’s not my grandfather’s guitar magazine, they’re taking me to events and giving me so much more.’”

The media is still in transition, Coffey says.

Premier Guitar came out in 2007. The recession followed with layoffs and consolidations at well-known trade publications such as Guitar World.

“The guitar magazine industry is in a state of flux right now,” he says.

Reaching out through multiple outlets is the key to Premier Media’s success and ability to join forces with Guitar Edge, he says.

“We wanted to make sure we defined our self as the best magazine company out there even though we’re in a recession. So we redefined the magazine’s business model,” Coffey says. “We’re in the business of selling eyeballs not just the print magazine so we’re trying to find readers in any way that they’ll engage in the media.”

He says receiving correspondence from readers and interviews on an international level is one of the fun parts of his job at the Mount Vernon office.

“I’m always surprised by the number of times when a guitar or amp maker says ‘hey, I used to live in Mason City or Elkader…,’” he says.

This article originally appeared in the Corridor Business Journal.