Has The NME Got Good?

Schooly G

The Music 1999 - 2011: Why They'll Be Missed

It came as a cruel irony today that midway through our first listen to the godforsaken new Brother record, news landed that The Music were splitting up.

RIP guys, heaven needed a ropey Verve knock-off.

Ropey Verve probably the worst era to knock off.

Has anyone read this:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/images/1907554483/ref=dp_image_z_0?ie=UTF8&n=266239&s=books

Briefly skimmed through it at Waterstones to see if Mr S1nk3r late of this parish was in it and he wasn't or any mention of his U2 review being spiked. So if it's missing something as key as that, I wonder how thorough it is with the rest of the history.

That's this book btw.

http://images.amazon.com/images/G/01/richmedia/images/cover.gif

Oh ffs, just click the link instead http://www.amazon.co.uk/History-NME-Worlds-Famous-Magazine/dp/1907554483/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1331055546&sr=8-1

I did suggest to mr S that there could be a fascinating book about the 'tribes' that inhabited NMEworld back in the day, and how they evolved/mutated. He seemed to srsly consider the idea, laffed even.

for those who, like me, didn't know the story:

U2/NME versus Sinker

is the full review anywhere online?

Pat Long was assistant editor at NME during the 2000s.

yyyyeeah, this doesn't sound more promising than re-reading the reminiscences in the 40th anniversary issue

Pat is a cool dude and a good writer iircimho

I also only skimmed it in aforementioned book chain but unless I totally missed it there was next to no coverage of the last 10-15 years

Don't think anyone cares or wants to read anecdotes from The Killers about the Conor McNicholas era, even taking into account declining relevance of print media etc etc. My guess is it ends post-Britpop?

I did suggest to mr S that there could be a fascinating book about the 'tribes' that inhabited NMEworld back in the day, and how they evolved/mutated. He seemed to srsly consider the idea, laffed even

I would definitely read that book.

I don't the NME has been relevant for a long time, so it makes sense that coverage would end about 10-15 years ago.

Pat's a sound guy, a great writer and I think it's reasonable to end the book at the start of the internet age.

There are severe problems with proofing, subbing though...

shame.

despite the fact i am no longer target audience, every time i have flicked through the nme recently have been impressed with the changes krissi has brought in :

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/apr/12/nme-krissi-murison-sunday-times?CMP=twt_fd

of course, if an ilm'r steps up ..

Yeah she made a decent job of it, it seemed a much less blinkered and, well, condescending publication over the last few years. Conor McNicholas tended to treat his readership like idiots who could only focus on three bands at once.

Co-signed. Sadly McNicholas had already wrecked that ship by the time she took over.

I'd be perfectly happy to send in my CV but unfortunately I am at least twice the age of whoever they're looking for.

It's a decent paper once again, even if not for me thesedays, yes.

oh well looks like marcello, didn't get the job.

from CMJ mailout :

IPC yesterday announced the promotion of NME's Deputy Editor Mike Williams to the role of Editor. Williams, of course, replaces Krissi Murrison, who announced this year that she was moving on to become Features Editor of The Sunday Times Magazine.

Williams joined NME in 2010, prior to which he founded and was editor of Kruger magazine for six years. Initially freelancing for the music weekly, he then took on the role of Features Editor before moving up to become Murison's deputy.

Upon the announcement, Williams told CMU: "I'm super excited to be the new editor of NME. As far as dream positions go, it really doesn't get any better than this. Krissi Murison has done an amazing job as my predecessor, and I'm totally honoured to pick up the baton from her. My challenge is to make NME magazine and the wider NME brand even sharper, our message more coherent and to engage even more with NME's audience of passionate music fans. With the brilliant team we've got in place, I can't wait to get started!"

Meanwhile IPC's Publishing Director Emily Hutchings added: "After an extensive recruitment process, I am absolutely thrilled to announce Mike Williams as the next editor of NME. He brings with him a wealth of editorial experience as well as knowledge in managing multiplatform brand extensions. Mike demonstrated a clear strategic vision and passion for NME that will help take the brand on to even greater success".

The NME print publication, of course, is in terminal decline despite gallant efforts by Murison to overhaul the magazine, though the wider NME brand remains as strong as ever, with future potential almost certainly locked to online and digital innovations

I've known the dude for years - nice guy - no real idea what he'll be like editing the NME but it's cool by me

I didn't apply.

So, is it good, bad, somewhere in between, or who cares anyway?

Isn't it Libertiones one week 1980s Mojo Heritage the next atm?

Just the two Noel Gallaghers, one Kurt Cobain and one Richey Edwards so far this year.

Good grief they actually put the Prodigy on the cover this year, who on earth is that meant to please?

their record label who ponies up the advertising?

ooh .. you cynical b*stard.

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/jul/06/nme-to-go-free-with-larger-circulation

Confirmed.

Wonder if this will see the levels of Arctic Monkeys and Johnny Marr front covers plumetting

Wonder if this will see the NME basically becoming nothing more than an advertorial for whoever the industry needs to sell.

This move doesn't surprise me at all.

No magazine has ever become smarter after switching to free distribution (witness the miserable travesty that is Time Out these days), but the cover should be a non-issue given there's likely to be wrap-around advertising on every copy.

guess the writing really is on the wall when this rag can't even inspire much of an ilm point n'laff pile-on.

I remember when Zig-Zag magazine became a freebie given away at Our Price shops. lasted 2 editions, yeah?

more details from the NME of the new free magazine:

A statement to the media confirmed that music is "firmly at the heart of the brand" but there will also be "film, fashion, television, politics, gaming and technology".
Read more at http://www.nme.com/news/various-artists/86702#bycyB6vkzCsv1KW3.99

so could the new NME be like a combination of: The Guardian Guide, i-D, Dazed, New Statesman, Mashable, Engadget UK and Wired UK - plus the core Music coverage.

Seems the NME will also be more like Ireland's Hot Press magazine, that has always had a wider politics & current affairs / films / culture / sociology remit.

Maybe the NME will take inspiration from magazines from the past like,

The Face
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Face_(magazine)

e.g the end of year 1985 edition, dated jan 1986 had Grace Jones on the front cover and 1985 the year in review covering: Music Film Fashion Politics Television Design
see
http://fullscream.com/how-old-designers-are-wrong-and-new-designers-are-taking-risks/

so what NME are proposing in reality is reinvention of The Face magazine for modern times. in 1985: Music Film Fashion Politics Television Design in 2015: "film, fashion, television, politics, gaming and technology". gaming and technology rely on good design to succeed. It's the same remit.

additionally, the last relaunch of NME in October 2013,
http://www.theguardian.com/media/media-blog/2013/oct/07/nme-david-bowie-front-cover-music-magazine?CMP=twt_fd

..had a design that some suggested was inspired by The Face. red and white block graphics

so with the design and content - the NME could become The Face magazine for modern times.

another magazine with a similar style content was

Sleazenation
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleazenation
"An ideal for living through fashion, art, music and design".

The NME's closest new competitors in terms of content could be

i-d
http://i-d.vice.com/en_gb

dazed
http://www.dazeddigital.com/

...alternatively the new NME could be a disaster of The Fly magazine + Buzzfeed content lite + promotional branded "native advertising"

Or they could just slip it into copies of the upcoming Libertine album

s

and all future Noel Gallagher projects while they're at it.

when they say its not going to focus on indie guitar acts so much does that mean they will cover other music or does it mean less indie music as its covering politics/fashion/whatever in its place but the music focus is sill narrow?

Bump?

I'd like NME to carry on as a physical thing, just for 20+ year old nostalgia for my own youth, but I've not read it regularly in 13 years and I can't help but feel that this is a death rattle.

NME: 'Music is still what we stand for'
http://www.musicweek.com/news/read/nme-music-is-still-what-we-stand-for/062237

NME editor Mike Williams is "phenomenally pleased" with initial responses to the news that NME is going free, but is keen to emphasise that "music is absolutely, unequivocally, the heartbeat of the brand".

Speaking to Music Week after news broke yesterday that the magazine would drop its retail price from September 18, Williams (pictured) said: "The headline news is that NME has gone free as a weekly magazine, but the story as far as we're concerned is that this is a total brand transformation. For us, this is about developing all of the platforms and making sure we're really strong right across them; making sure we're able to produce great content that people really want to enjoy and share, regardless of whether that's on their mobile or via a print product."

Williams, who took on the editorship of the Time Inc. publication in 2012, downplayed reports that the magazine would be expanding its content remit to include the likes of film, video games and politics at the expense of its music coverage. He said: Music is absolutely, unequivocally, the heartbeat of the brand. It's absolutely what we stand for. What we're saying with this is that we're making more of a noise about the things we already do. We already talk about film, TV, politics and social issues - whatever we think is interesting to the audience.

"What we're going to do is really galvanise that and make it more important within the brand, and make sure everyone knows that we do it. All of the things that inspire music and inform music, and all the things that music inspires and informs - that's part of the music world, and for us to be able to talk about the things that are happening that aren't just music is a natural thing for us. You can't say strongly enough that music is still what we stand for. We can use music as a gateway into a wider world of culture, entertainment, and all of the different subject matters that we mentioned in the press release."

The editor couldn't discuss whether new staff would be hired, instead claiming: "We'll address other issues as it gets closer to launch time."

He added: "We wouldn't go into something so monumental without spending a lot of time talking to the audience and researching this inside out. The overwhelming response from the audience was that there really is still an appetite for print, it's just not necessarily a product people are used to and in the habit of paying for. People felt that free press is attractive, NME doing free press is really attractive, so for us, as we rethought what the brand could stand for and how big we could make it, it was a no-brainer to make print a part of that."

There are many unanswered questions from the above comments.

However, lets look at the NME under the last 3 editors,

Wilkinson - NME heritage era - reliance on the past, no much going on in new guitar music, particularly in a British context. Declining sales, no risk strategy - stick to the familiar past.

re "when they say its not going to focus on indie guitar acts" - this is a statistical fact of the past few years, only one new landfill band has emerged over the past few years the dreadful Catfish and the Bottlemen - most of the sorry losers on that ilm swagger page are rightly ignored.

Murrison - Post-landfill Pitchfork exists era

McNicholas - Landfill era, any rubbish scruffy British guitar band lauded and given coverage.

what of the future, now going free the NME doesn't have to worry about putting a new / emerging / this decade artist on the front - at the risk of losing sales. I can see a gradual shift back to the Murrison era. More front covers for in the next year or so for the likes of Wolf Alice, Courtney Barnett, Alvvays, Chvrches, Tame Impala etc. Shifting away from the 60s / 70s / 80s / 90s/ 00s - front covers.

however looking ahead to forthcoming releases, what could the NME promote to the front cover? the media is reliant on the release schedule, it's difficult to identify artists the NME is likely to put on the front cover that they previously haven't featured.

http://pitchfork.com/news/60083-pitchfork-guide-to-upcoming-releases-summer-2015/

correction, Wilkinson should be Mike Williams

Jim Carroll, The Irish Times, is pessimistic about the realities of the new NME

NME goes free, world shrugs
http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/ontherecord/2015/07/07/nme-goes-free-world-shrugs/

more discussion,

Sink or swim for NME as long-running music weekly goes free from September
http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/jul/06/sink-or-swim-for-nme-as-long-running-magazine-becomes-free-from-september
Magazine will also branch out into TV and film, fashion, politics, gaming and tech in a move described as the ‘last throw of the dice’

Wolf Alice had the cover two weeks ago.

yes, Wolf Alice is an example of gradual change - away from heritage

as this blogger mentions,

http://xrrf.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/what-pop-papers-say-nme-pulls-surprise.html

Wednesday, June 10, 2015
What the pop papers say: NME pulls a surprise
This week's cover band is Wolf Alice.

Last week's cover band was Florence.

That's two female-fronted acts in two weeks.

The last time that happened? November 2003, when Kylie followed The Distillers.

If you don't think Kylie counts, and are looking for the last time two rock acts with female leads followed each other on the NME cover, you'd have to go back to the end of September 1998, for Hole followed by PJ Harvey.

If you don't think Kylie counts whuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut?

also who the heck were the Distillers?