Most music magazines could learn a thing or two from Guitar World. It’s become an example of how publications should treat their readers, with writing that calls attention to its subjects, not itself; photography that truly engages; and design that routinely raises the bar for the rest of the genre. It’s no wonder guitar heroes can’t wait to be featured in the magazine and, on occasion, even write instructional columns.

Overseeing the content of the magazine for almost two decades, Editor-in-Chief Brad Tolinski has also recently been appointed Editorial Director of Future Network USA’s music division, which includes Revolver, Guitar World, Guitar One, Guitar World Acoustic, Bass Guitar and Guitar Legends. So how does one go from music writer to guitar media mogul? Brad was good enough to inform us:

How did you get your start…it seems like a pretty quick rise?
BT: It was a pretty quick rise…once I actually applied myself. I was a philosophy major at Wayne State University in Detroit. After I left school in ‘86, I played in rock bands, taught music and wrote about classical music for a city glossy called Monthly Detroit. After exhausting all those possibilities, I packed up and moved to New York in ‘87 and played in more bands and worked on 48th Street at a legendary Manhattan music store called “We Buy Guitars.”

That was right at the dawn of the rise of personal computers. I became interested in the idea of sequencing and sampling and started absorbing all I could about music-related software. I worked for a short time at a studio that gave computer tutorials to musicians, and our clients included people like Donald Fagen (Steely Dan), Elliot Easton (the Cars) and Carlos Alomar (David Bowie).

An editor from a start-up technology magazine called Music, Computers & Software rang up our studio and asked if I was interested in writing stories for them. Apparently satisfied with the writing, they asked me if I was interested in being an Associate Editor. I was completely broke and close to starving, and the modest salary sounded good so suddenly I was a magazine editor.

In 1989, Harris Publications contacted me to edit a proposed start-up sister publication to Guitar World called Keyboard World . That folded after four issues, but they liked my work and asked me to stay on as Managing Editor of Guitar World.

Guitar World was struggling at the time. It had become a little too jazz-oriented and serious for its endemic rock audience, so I volunteered to help them find their attitude again. My first move was to insist they put this band called Guns N’ Roses on the cover. The issue sold well, and subsequent issues featuring shedders like Joe Satriani, Steve Vai and Metallica helped put the magazine back on top. After the Editor-in-chief Joe Bosso left to pursue a career in A&R, I took over and have been the Editor ever since.

Guitar World’s content really stands out in the music publishing world. What do you look for in a music journalist?
BT: All I ask is to be entertaining, coherent and informative, which is unfortunately easier said than done. I’ve edited just about every major music writer in rock journalism, and in my 20 years have found only a small and precious handful that consistently deliver. It’s quite sad, really. Without sounding like a total shit, you really find out just how illiterate America is.

Another standout is your commitment to great photography, especially in a time when photographers are getting less and less respect, money and opportunities in music magazines. Why have you stuck to your guns when so many have taken the cheap route?
BT: My publisher asks me that all the time! There are two reasons:

I’m very involved in the design of the magazine, and I do see it as an art form. Nothing can depress me quicker than a bad layout, a fuzzy photograph or bad printing. I feel the look of a magazine is almost as important as the words in conveying an attitude.

On a less self-indulgent note, the reason to pay close attention to design and photography is that we truly are in competition with the Internet as an information service. It is more crucial than ever that a magazine delivers a unique and entertaining experience. Guitar World has to offer its reader things it can’t get online—in-depth stories, great writing and a truly tactile and visual experience.

How would you approach the business if you were starting today?
BT: They key to staying relevant is to ask that question every day. What I would do is what I’m doing right now. Make a great magazine, create a vibrant web site and use every means possible to expand the brand name. We are in the middle of several exciting collaborations with the Comcast cable network, and have at least three other very large web-oriented projects in the works that I can’t talk about at this time. Also our various DVD specials aimed at the newsstand that have done incredibly well.

Probably the best move we ever made is supplementing our magazine with our monthly CD-ROM. The video that we’ve been creating for the disc is fueling many or our future ventures.

How did you manage to convince so many guitar heroes to stop partying long enough to write columns for you?
BT: The great thing about working for Guitar World is that musicians look forward to talking with us. They would much rather talk about the nuts and bolts of music than the dumb shit most magazines ask them about. They take great pride in sharing what they know. I think “handing down” is actually something ingrained in the musical tradition.

I was just recently re-reading the phenomenal book Deep Blues by Robert Palmer, and he tells the story of how Robert Johnson learned his first chords by watching Willie Brown…in the rock world, little has changed. Now you get it from reading Guitar World and watching one of our CD-ROMs.

How has your life changed since joining the Future family of publications?
BT: Radically. It was Future’s idea for us to put a disc on Guitar World. While it created a lot of extra work and headaches, it probably secured our future. They are a very progressive company and are often willing to put their money where their mouth is.

What do you think of the future of print?
BT: Oddly, the more I work on-line, the more I’m encouraged about the future of print. It’s really two very different mediums. Magazines are about depth and the internet is about the quick hit, the good skim, and a little self-expression.

For example, we have some wonderful in-depth content on our website, but it rarely gets looked at. When our readers go to guitarworld.com, they either go to our forums or read the news or play around with little things like our “lick of the day.” Don’t get me wrong, magazines and the internet are related, but at the moment, it’s like movies vs. television. Each has its own rules and aesthetic.

Do you still play much? Record at all?
BT: Not as much as I would like. In addition to guitar, I also play the violin and mandolin, and last month I performed the fiddle part on “Baba O’Reilly” in a recreation of the entire Who’s Next album at Joe’s Pub in Manhattan with a spectacular power pop band, called True Love. That was really fun.

I keep hoping Jimmy Page is going to ask me to go on the Led Zeppelin reunion tour and play the mandolin parts on “Battle of Evermore,” but that doesn’t look like its going to happen.

What is the most important lesson you can teach a music journalist hoping to reach your level of success?
BT: The most important lesson is that you must always entertain. Magazine writing is on the lower rungs of show business, but it is show business nonetheless. You live and die by your ratings, and believe me, I’ve seen a lot of publications fall by the wayside because they could not draw a crowd. To paraphrase Bob Dylan, I consider myself to be just a song and dance man.