Guitar Aficionado Courts Wealthy Music Lovers
As the NY Times mentions, one would think that Guitar Aficionado was the new kid brother to Cigar Aficionado magazine. Both have covers with celebrities proudly showing off their toys, be it cigars or guitars. But Guitar Aficionado doesn't come from Marvin Shanken's empire but from the same people who created Guitar World and Guitar Legends, Future US. Guitar Aficionado courts the more upscale guitar fan, the person who buys an expensive guitar in concert with other fine goods such as a fine watch, a good Scotch, and perhaps a good cigar (maybe these magazines should swap ad space?). Guitar Aficionado will launch its first issue with celebrity chef Tom Colicchio on the cover and will publish quarterly. The NY Times quotes publisher Greg Di Benedetto as saying that the title's similarity to Cigar Aficionado was not intentional although he does point out that the two titles rhyme. The similarities are striking though.
