Leading magazine publisher Future has appointed new editors for two of its guitar magazines.
Damian Fanelli heads up Guitar World and Christopher Scapelliti is at the helm of Guitar Player.
Fanelli has been promoted from his role as online manager at Guitar World, where he boosted the brand’s Facebook following from 68,000 to more than 1m in one year.
He plans to push for fresher and more diverse content in his new role, according to a spokesperson for the magazine publisher.
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Scapelliti moves from Guitar World, where he was executive editor for nearly 20 years, and wants to give Guitar Player a “bolder look” with more artist features and in-depth tutorials, Future said.
The Guitar World website has 1.3m monthly unique users while Guitar Player has 400,000 (both own figures).
Fanelli said: “[Guitar World] has been part of my DNA for several decades – when I was a teenager, I sent GW a breakdown of one of (guitarist) Ritchie Blackmore’s scales – and they actually published it.”
He added: “My big push now – and the thought that drives me each day – is to make GW the number one authority on the guitarists, including (but not limited to) new names and virtual unknowns, that we should be listening to and learning from in the 21st Century.
“All this talk about ‘the guitar is dead’ is complete nonsense, and I’m out to prove it – it won’t be too difficult.”
Scapelliti said: “We’ll focus on the innovative guitarists and manufacturers who are shaping the instrument’s present and future, all while educating our readers about the players and innovators of the past who brought us where we are today.
“The guitar remains the single-most influential instrument in music today, and we intend to celebrate its ongoing relevance and evolution.”
Future’s new appointments follow other significant changes in its music portfolio. The publisher bought Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog magazines following the closure of owners Team Rock in early 2017, adding to a list of over 100 publications and a reach of over of 100m globally.
Chief Executive Zillah Byng-Thorne told Press Gazette at the time that the new titles bolstered Future’s “buy and build strategy”.
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