Has The NME Got Good?

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?

what the NME are proposing is very similar to Ireland's Hot Press magazine that has existed in that format for decades. However as Ireland is dominated by Dublin and has a much smaller population than the UK - it's much more easier to reflect music / culture / society.

Hot Press
http://www.hotpress.com/

about:
http://www.hotpress.com/1278263.html

For over 30 years, Hot Press has consistently rattled the cages of Irish society and broken exciting new ground in contemporary journalism. With an abiding commitment to music at its core, it remains the essential guide to rock, pop, dance and all the best in contemporary music, both nationally and internationally. That means the big names, of course, from U2 to DJ Shadow, but it also means the first coverage of new acts who might one day make big waves of their own.

But Hot Press is also about more than music. Its current affairs, cinema, sport, humour, books, fashion, politics, sex – everything that matters – receive the inimitable Hot Press treatment every fortnight. And in January 2008, an entire issue was devoted to the problem of drugs in Irish society – looking at all angles, from the point of view of the dealers, gardai, politicians and the addicts and their families.

In addition, The Hot Press Interview (much imitated, never equalled) has become a national institution, with a well-deserved reputation for being the most rigorous, incisive and talked-about forum in Irish journalism, as everyone – from UN human rights ambassador Mary Robinson to maverick novelist Will Self, from disgraced politico Charles Haughey to chameleon thespian John Cusack, and from model humanitarian Christy Turlington to Sinn Fein's Gerry Adams – will attest.

Through all of this, one constant remains: Hot Press is a writers' paper, with a thorough commitment to giving space to quality journalism: stuff that's sharp, smart, witty, informed, and, above all, written with style.

That commitment has also been carried through to Hotpress.com, making Ireland's finest music and pop-culture magazine available all over the world – at the press of a button! In addition to the staple Hot Press diet, hotpress.com offers new music to investigate, pop videos to watch, video interviews with a host of Irish and international artists to view, competitions, message boards, the indispensable Hot Press Industry Directory online in full, and the Hot Press Archive – our unrivalled collection of great writing and resource material, going back almost 30 years

Incisive and irreverent...humorous and challenging...sometimes controversial, frequently provocative, always a great read...and with hotpress.com fully interactive – now that you're with us, why not get involved, and become one of the growing Hot Press community!

Hot Press - wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_Press

The Distillers were an American punk rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1998.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Distillers

fronted by Brody Dalle, shouty angry punk singer, black hair, covered in tattoos, can't recall any of their tracks, not my thang - was covered by kerrang alot

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brody_Dalle

Dalle married Tim Armstrong, frontman of Rancid, in 1997 when she was 18. The couple divorced in 2003. Their divorce inspired some of Armstrong's lyrics on Rancid's 2003 album, Indestructible. After they divorced, Brody reverted to using the surname of her favourite actress, Béatrice Dalle, best known for Betty Blue. Dalle has had seven surnames since birth. In 2004 Dalle was re-united with her half sister Morgana Robinson, when the two met at a Distillers show. They share a father, who now lives "in Leeds or some shit".[10]
Dalle married Josh Homme in 2007. They had their first child, Camille Harley Joan Homme, on 17 January 2006. On 12 August 2011, Dalle gave birth to her second child, a baby boy, named Orrin Ryder Homme. The couple lives in Palm Springs, California.

Yeah, c'mon keep up!

the chick from Sourpuss's new band iirc

Who was it this week? I know last week was The Libertines (fair enough, new album, playing Glastonbury, etc)

this week,

Who killed Amy?
https://www.facebook.com/nmemagazine

tie in with the film

front cover
https://www.facebook.com/nmemagazine/photos/a.499102104166.300902.9577714166/10154022832309167/?type=1&theater
notice angry facebook comments

An interesting train of thought
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thought

http://www.nme.com/photos/nsfw-50-of-the-most-eye-poppingly-filthy-lyrics-ever/369707?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=filthylyrics

Scroll down to the entry for Chuck Berry's My Ding-A-Ling.

They put a picture of Little Richard.

Well done.

And that's from February. And still up. Maybe it's been discussed here already. Good grief.

i saw that on the kulks fb too. quite astonishing and apparently lots commented on the article at the time and on twitter as well yet they didn't change it.

It's just baffling.

It's easy to make a mistake, and there's any number of ways it could have happened - jnr staff member sourcing images for free from wherever, finds something incorrectly tagged, doesn't know any better - and that's OK, mistakes happen. But not to fix it?

Agreed. They just dont give a fuck

NME goes free, world shrugs

or, in the case of the irish times, publishes a 'think' 'piece', which is hardly shrugging, is it?

There have been shitloads of thinkpieces. Well, a few.

Similar to the Chuck Berry and Little Richard mistake. I saw this last month that made me laugh. The entry for Teen Wolf Too. This time it's the text that has the error.

http://www.nme.com/photos/10-terrible-comedy-sequels-which-make-us-look-back-and-cringe/366343#/photo/1

Kendrick Lamar is on the front cover of the NME this week
https://www.facebook.com/nmemagazine/photos/a.499102104166.300902.9577714166/10154039186974167/?type=1&theater

FREE AT LAST, FREE AT LAST

About fucking time, but cringing at the way they've led with the B*****s mention

xp

cover says £2.50, when does it start being free?

september

That's a great cover.

So this week will be the last ever paid for issue of NME. or as the NME state "the first chapter" ends. re 1952 - 2015

NME magazine: front cover
https://www.facebook.com/nmemagazine/photos/a.499102104166.300902.9577714166/10154076158264167/?type=1&theater

Bumper 132 pages "Massive Collectors Issue" looking back on the history of NME. with a price tag of £3.50

The NME are also asking what is your favourite NME cover? 50 choices
http://www.nme.com/ratemy/383583/what-s-your-favourite-ever-nme-cover

There then will be a break in publishing the NME until 18th September. Presumably to give staff and the editor time to produce a few dummy copies of the new look magazine. Whilst carrying on with new updates on the website / twitter / facebook / email newsletter etc. There is a lot of celebrity lite Buzzfeed type trash on the NME facebook feed.

The last time there was a break in publishing the NME was due ta a NUJ strike in 1984, you'd have to ask Uncle Sinker about the details.

NME list of covers
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_NME_covers

1984

NME was not published in June and July this year due to a NUJ strike.

Predictably boring/same old shit selection of covers in that farewell montage.

do you mean the final front cover? i wouldn't say PJ Harvey, MIA and Public Enemy was the same old shit if so.

FREE NME available everywhere *not including Scotland or Wales, South West England...
http://i.imgur.com/LoOR6D6.png

http://www.nme.com/map

When?

Will London get them a day early like before?

Why not as its the only place you can get it!

http://i.imgur.com/yJcdrcW.png
http://i.imgur.com/jQOgGvV.png
http://i.imgur.com/mam5KJ6.png

seriously, i have to make a trip to topman in the shopping centre if i want to read the nme now?

xp bunch of whiners, oh wait

from Cosmic Slop's map:

Head
84 The Mall, Golden Square Shopping Centre, Warrington

promisingly, this place went out of business last week

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!! I LIKE WHITE GUYS PLAYING GUITARS!!! WAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!! RHIANNA ISN'T REAL MUSIC!!! WAAAAAAAAAAAA!!! WHAT'S THIS, NME!? WAAAAAAAAAAAA!!! YOU'VE LET ME DOWN YOU'RE MEANT TO BE ABOUT WHITE GUYS PLAYING GUITARS!!! I'M COMPARING NME WITH SMASH HITS AND CLEARLY I NEVER READ A SINGLE FUCKING ISSUE!!! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!! NOEL GALLAGHER THE LIBERTINES ARCTIC MONKEYS OASIS THE STROKES!!! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!! I'M GLAD I LIVED THROUGH THE GOOD OLD DAYS WHERE NME WAS ALL ABOUT PROPER MUSIC AND REAL WHITE GUYS PLAYING GUITARS AND MUSIC WAS SO MUCH BETTER BECAUSE IT WAS REAL MUSIC NOT THIS CRAP POP DANCE CRAP!!! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!! YOU'RE SO HIPSTER, NME! WAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

There was someone on there complaining about the rihanna cover but also about the amount of morrissey/arctic monkeys/libertines/oasis covers. Maybe the NME isnt for them?

just do what my pal is doing and post the spice girls cover when people post about how nme was great in the britpop era and never covered "manufactured pop music"

NME is dead.
XFM is dead.
There's nothing left to live for.

^this guy is taking the piss, surely?

Looks like it is Friday's NME will come out

Gotta get down (London) on Friday

"A great man once said to me he loves all music from A to Z... Abba to Zappa" clearly the best bit of that sheet of nitwit flypaper above