 Just prior to graduating in late 1982, he started reviewing records for "Op" magazine, which marked the start of his career as a freelance writer.From 1985 to 1991, Unterberger was an editor for "Option".Since 1993, he has been a prolific contributor to AllMusic, the on-line database of music biographies and album reviews, for which he has written thousands of entries, and many of his on-line contributions have been printed in the AllMusic guide series.