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Heery: Loaded and Uncut sites chief

IPC Ignite! has appointed a head of online to bolster the presence of its music brands on the internet.

Kevin Heery, previously technical and production manager of IPC Ignite!'s NME.com, will oversee the websites for the division's flagship site NME.com and build on existing websites for Loaded and Uncut.

Neil Robinson, publishing director of IPC Ignite!, said that Heery's appointment was about "focusing core skills" rather than an "explosion of investment in the sector".

He hopes Heery will build and , both of which are still quite basic, into the commercial and user success that NME.com has achieved.

"The interface that NME.com has with users is incredible," Robinson said.

Over a third of NME.com's revenue comes from nonadvertising deals such as third party agreements, auctions through Ebay and ticket sales.

Heery said: "With the websites for Loaded and Uncut, the challenge is to get to grips with what typical Loaded and Uncut readers really want out of websites."

Robinson said that improved versions of both sites will be up and before the end of the year.

The news follows rival music publisher Emap Performance's recent decision to scale back its online operations and cut advertising across its five music websites.

"Emap websites will no loner be set up to support regular advertising revenues as they move towards an information support role for marketing and brand initiatives," said an Emap spokesman this week.

IPC, like many of the mainstream publishers, created its own online division IPC Electric during the height of the dotcom boom.

The standalone branch included NME.com, Country Life and Horse & Hound sites, which are still running.

IPC Electric was shut down in 2001.