Music Aficionado

Building a Music Community

A social platform that removes all the noise, and only leaves the beautiful music

In 2013, Spencer played a central role in the launch and growth of Music Aficionado, a hybrid music magazine, social platform, and streaming service backed by Guitar Center, Sony Music, Gibson, and other major players. Built for high-income music lovers over 50, the platform combined original journalism with music streaming, reaching over 4 million users and 1.2 million unique monthly visitors, offering fans new ways to connect with the artists and music they love.

The platform was designed to reach an often-overlooked audience: music fans who grew up with record stores but were slower to adopt streaming. It blended editorial features and curated playlists with member collections, videos, forums, and reviews, giving fans new ways to cut through the noise and discover, share, and engage with the music they loved. At its peak, Music Aficionado drew long user sessions and high engagement from both regular listeners and celebrity users, with an average session time of 20 minutes, making it one of the most engaged communities of its kind.

As Content and Production Director, Spencer shaped the production and technical backbone of Music Aficionado alongside its editorial voice. He personally curated official playlists featured on Apple Music (many can currently be found on his Spotify page) and made sure the site ran seamlessly through QA testing, metadata organization, and backend management through its content management system. He also provided direct customer support, giving users a reliable experience while bridging the gap between technical operations and the community.

This operational backbone allowed Music Aficionado’s many elements to thrive, ensuring the platform delivered a polished, engaging, and functional experience to its fast-growing audience.

Editorial Direction & Voice

Spencer oversaw the editorial strategy for Music Aficionado, shaping its voice and guiding a team of veteran music journalists and critics. He managed the editorial calendar, commissioning and editing hundreds of articles, features, interviews, think pieces, and branded campaigns. His work blended rigorous editing with an instinct for credible and compelling storytelling that respected the readers’ deep knowledge for all things music… and their unwillingness to settle for anything less.

Under Spencer’s direction, the editorial output positioned Music Aficionado as more than a digital platform. It became the front page of online music for its community. He helped define the balance between deep dives into the classic rock era with coverage of contemporary artists, making the content as much about discovery as nostalgia.

Alongside managing the team, Spencer wrote a weekly op-ed column that offered sharp, personal commentary on the wide-ranging goings-on of the music world. Rooted in deep knowledge and genuine fandom, his pieces allowed him to offer the Music Aficionado community a distinct editorial voice and personality, melding a music lover’s passion with an editor’s authority readers could trust, all while sparking conversation… and the occasional flame war.

Editorial samples available upon request.

Impact at a Glance

4 million

Registered Users

1.2 million

Unique Monthly Visitors

20 mins

Average Session Time

Visuals & Banners

Partnering with agency THIS IS RED, Spencer helped produce a series of banner ads aimed at Music Aficionado’s core audience of classic rock and pop fans, sourcing imagery and shaping creatives to drive Apple Music subscriptions.

He also created social media banners that paired Getty Images with timely editorial moments. Some paid tribute to artists after their passing while others spotlighted new articles or interviews. Spencer curated hundreds of images from Getty’s library, covering artists spanning generations and genres, from household names to cult favorites, giving the platform a rich and compelling visual archive to match its editorial depth.

Sponsored Content & Clients

Among Spencer’s contributions at Music Aficionado was the development of sponsored and native content, which most often took the form of articles and custom playlists. Occasionally, it extended into video content, such as the Paul Reed Smith project featured above. He worked on branded campaigns with a wide range of clients, including Orange Amps, Gibson, Epiphone, Concord Music Group, Primary Wave, Yamaha, Elixir Strings, D’Addario, Line6, Mesa/Boogie, Roland, Thalia Capos, TrueFire, Universal Music Group, Fishman Transducers, and Rhino.

Community & Engagement

Beyond editorial and technical responsibilities, Spencer also shaped how Music Aficionado engaged and connected with its active community, making users feel like valued participants rather than passive readers. He curated the best member recommendations of songs, albums, playlists, and videos to feature on the front page and in weekly emails. Each month, the top three contributors were featured in a monthly email and rewarded with a Music Aficionado goodie bag, giving fans a tangible stake in the platform. By blending editorial polish with community input, Spencer helped foster an audience that was not only loyal but deeply invested in the platform’s success.

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