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Barry McIlheney has done a lot of living in his 50 years. In his various incarnations as music hack, magazine editor and lads' mag publisher, the colourful character has partied with The Pogues, interviewed film director Oliver Stone, launched Empire magazine at Cannes, and met Kylie, Bono, and Bros.

But now the former punk singer from Belfast has decided he has "served his time in the punk rock wars", which is why his new role as chief executive of the magazine trade body the PPA feels - "by a strange, circuitous route" - exactly right.

He says: "I have had an amazing, very exciting career and having had those experiences it feels right to be doing something like this. I hope I can put some of my 25 years in magazines to good use for the industry. There has never been a better time to try to shape the magazine industry because it is all up for grabs."

There have been two consistent themes in McIlheney's life - a love of music and a passion for magazines - and the two combined to comic effect when, as the teenage singer of a Belfast post-punk band called Shock Treatment, he released a soulful commentary on the local media scene called ‘Belfast Telegraph'.

However, the young McIlheney quickly realised pop stardom was not for him and instead started writing about it, cutting his teeth on Hot Press before moving to London in 1983 to do a postgraduate journalism qualification by day and review bands for Melody Maker by night, eventually being taken on as a staff writer.

From there, his big break was being appointed editor of Smash Hits at the age of 26, before a meteoric rise through consumer magazines that took in the roles of launch editor of Empire, launch managing director of Heat - where he took copy sales from 65,000 to 650,000 - and editor-in-chief of Emap Consumer Media.

Regaining focus

His award-winning career in magazines and his love for the medium - he wanted to be a magazine journalist from the age of 11 and by age 13 he was writing letters to the NME - make McIlheney a sound choice to lead an industry body that has, according to magazine publishers, "lost momentum and focus".

The PPA's recent troubles are well-documented. Former chief executive Jonathan Shephard left under a cloud last September amid accusations he wasn't doing enough to market the medium, swiftly followed by his chief operating officer and former colleague Sarah Tunstall. Redundancies and restructuring ensued, and the AOP and the APA confirmed their splits from the body in January this year.

But McIlheney, known in the magazine trade as "Barry Mac", is keen to distance himself from the PPA's history, stating that 1 February, when he joined the organisation, was "year zero". "I have chosen not to dwell on [the PPA's troubles]," he says. "What's done is done." There have been no job losses from the 20-strong team since McIlheney started, nor does he plan to appoint a COO.

He also says relations with the AOP and the APA are amicable, with all three affiliated bodies based on the same floor of the PPA offices near Holborn. "The PPA is not a monolith; it is a federate structure," he says. "All three groups have certain degrees of autonomy, and that is quite right. But we constantly talk to each other about how we can work together as there is an overlap of membership."

The PPA has about 250 consumer and business-to-business publisher members, who between them produce about 3,000 magazines, from Zoo to Improve Your Coarse Fishing. Next Thursday (29 April), about 500 members will gather in Westminster for the PPA Annual Conference, which this year has the focus of "inspiration and innovation" to help publishers understand the move towards digital delivery, finishing with a session on the iPad.

Some publishers have raised concerns that McIlheney, with his "mainly consumer and lots of print" background, may not represent the digital side of the industry as fully as they would like. But McIlheney, who hosted a presentation on the iPad for members last Friday (16 April) says he is "platform agnostic" - his concern has only ever been to reach as many people as possible, whether through print, online or mobile.

He says: "When I was editing Empire in 1991, somebody gave a presentation on the internet, and from day one I thought that sounded exciting. Digital is not the death of magazines; it is another evolution for the magazine experience. Media owners must take advantage of the fantastic opportunities digital provides - how the magazine experience can be replicated on an iPhone or iPad."

Making noise about magazines

McIlheney has spent his first three months in office talking to senior publishing executives and, based on their concerns, has drawn up a list of four battles to win for the magazine industry: digital delivery, research and marketing, training and skills, and lobbying government to preserve the zero rate of VAT on magazines.

Over the next few months, he is keen to start promoting magazines to media agencies, alongside Matt Teeman, chair of the PPA's marketing board. He says: "Consumer magazine publishers have told me loud and clear they need their share of noise with the senior press buyers at media agencies - reminding the Steve Goodmans of this world why magazines are unique and brilliant."

He adds: "Sometimes we are our own worst enemy. Magazines are incredibly robust - the last ABCs showed magazines were down 1% in total circulation year on year, so it is not all doom and gloom. Magazines are now so more much than magazines, and Empire is a crystallised example of that - it has just achieved its record circulation and it has launched a paid-for iPhone app containing every film review the magazine ever done."

Most PPA members currently interact with the PPA through training, conferences and awards, but McIlheney is extending this with a new monthly networking event for consumer members called Live at the PPA, to add to the First Wednesday event for business magazines, run by director of business media Jerry Gosney. The PPA also hosts 36 forums for members - "the life and soul" of the organisation - including the relatively new Independent Publishers Advisory Council, which McIlheney hopes to develop beyond awards and conferences.

Meanwhile, he is upgrading the PPA's communications through Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and a planned PPA iPhone app, and trying to avoid the biggest temptation of the job - spending all day reading magazines.

"All magazines fascinate me, even Rubber and Plastics Weekly," says the self-confessed media addict, who unwinds by listening to Johnny Cash in his caravan in Southwold, walking his Staffordshire Bull Terrier and watching Arsenal games. "The dog, the caravan and the football save me," he says. "Otherwise I would be on media all the time."

A far cry from drinking whisky in LA hotel rooms with Shane McGowan, but although McIlheney's larger-than-life personality has tempered with age, the obsession with magazines that struck as an 11-year-old boy remains.

Summing up his agenda as "an external focus, a member focus and an energised approach to magazines", he says: "I will tell agencies and advertisers how bloody brilliant magazines are - dismiss magazines at your peril."

Lives: In Stoke Newington with his wife Lola Borg, features editor at Mother & Baby and their two teenage daughters, Frankie (17) and Mary (14)
Favourite bands: The Pogues, The Beatles, Roxy Music (the first three albums)
Favourite magazines: "They are all my children"

CV

2010
Chief executive, PPA

2007
Consultant and writer for companies and magazines including the Radio Times, The Word, Bauer Consumer Media, Haymarket Network and Sport Media Group

2003
Editor-in-chief, Emap Consumer Media

2000
Chief executive, Emap Elan

1999
Launch managing director, Heat and oversaw launch of FHM in France

1994
Managing director, Emap Metro

1992
Publishing director, Emap's music and film titles

1989
Launch editor, Empire

1986
Launch editor, Smash Hits

1984
Staff writer, Melody Maker

Barry McIlheney is a speaker at this year's Media 360 conference. For more information, please visit .