NME
New Musical Express (NME) is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website[1] and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie',[2] the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a free publication, before becoming an online brand which includes its website and radio stations.[3][4][5]
Not to be confused with the Canadian music magazine Music Express.Categories
Music and pop culture media
Weekly (1952-2018)
Bimonthly (2023-present)
Theodore Ingham
1952
7 March 1952 - 9 March 2018, 2023 - present (print)
1996 (online)
NME Networks
United Kingdom
London, England
English
As a 'rock inkie', NME was the first British newspaper to include a singles chart, adding that feature in the edition of 14 November 1952. In the 1970s, it became the best-selling British music newspaper. From 1972 to 1976, it was particularly associated with gonzo journalism then became closely associated with punk rock through the writings of Julie Burchill, Paul Morley, and Tony Parsons. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s and 1990s, changing from newsprint in 1998.
The magazine's website NME.com was launched in 1996, and became the world's biggest standalone music site, with over sixteen million users per month. With newsstand sales falling across the UK magazine sector in the early 21st century, the magazine's paid circulation in the first half of 2014 was 15,830.[6] In September 2015, the NME magazine was relaunched to be distributed nationally as a free publication.[7] The first average circulation published in February 2016 of 307,217 copies per week was the highest in the brand's history, beating the previous best of 306,881, recorded in 1964 at the height of the Beatles' fame.[8] By December 2017, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, average distribution of NME had fallen to 289,432 copies a week,[9] although its then-publisher Time Inc. UK claimed to have more than 13 million global unique users per month, including 3 million in the UK.[10] In March 2018, the publisher announced that the print edition of NME would cease publication after 66 years and become an online-only publication.[11][12] However, this decision was reversed in 2023, with NME announcing that it would revive its print magazine as a bimonthly release.
NME was acquired in 2019 by Singaporean music company BandLab Technologies, which put all of its music publications under the NME Networks brand in December 2021, when the company was restructured.[13]
NME Australia[edit]
In December 2018, BandLab Technologies announced the launch of NME Australia.[64] Initially a website only, new interviews were given covers and numbered as issues, with Amyl & The Sniffers on the inaugural cover. At the time BandLab announced the Australian edition would not have a local editor, and would instead be controlled by a team in London and Singapore, with content from Australian contributors.[65]
A print edition was announced in April 2020, beginning with issue #5, following their online covers numbering.[66] Tash Sultana became the first cover artist for the print edition,[67] which have gone on to feature artists such as The Avalanches, Jaguar Jonze, Tkay Maidza, and Lorde on future covers.
The magazine publishes six issues each year, with new content added to the website regularly.
NME Originals[edit]
In 2002, the NME started publishing a series of themed magazines reprinting vintage articles, interviews and reviews from its archives. The magazine special editions were called NME Originals, with some featuring articles from other music titles owned by IPC, including Melody Maker, Rave and Uncut magazines. Notable issues so far have featured Arctic Monkeys, Radiohead, the Beatles, punk rock, gothic rock, Britpop, the Rolling Stones, mod, Nirvana, and the solo years of the Beatles. The series has had several editors, the most prominent of whom have been Steve Sutherland and Chris Hunt. The most recent issue of NME Originals was published in 2005, as these themed archive magazines have been issued under the Uncut associated titles The Ultimate Music Guide and Ultimate Genre Guide instead.[81]
NME Networks[edit]
In December 2021, BandLab Technologies became Caldecott Music Group (CMG) with the publisher's former name now being used for CMG's music technology division.[82] The NME brand was put under a new division called NME Networks,[83] which also includes Uncut magazine (and its spin-offs), Guitar.com, and MusicTech.
In 2022, NME Networks hired Jeremy Abbott as Managing Editor, a role in which he would be "responsible for leading the day-to-day editorial operations for all titles such as NME, NME Asia, NME Australia, Guitar.com and MusicTech, with the aim of building and maintaining a world-class music and pop culture new media group."[84]