THE WORST NME COVER OF ALL TIME

the byline is "The Past, Present And Future Of Music" now
http://i.imgur.com/xqabL4A.jpg

There was no actual Bowie interview either.

wonder when Johnny Marr will be back on the cover again

There was no actual Bowie interview either.

Wait. What??

whoever said that cover looked like the face is otm. bottom half looks a lot like the wire too. but neither would have done that horrid underlining thing iirc.

twas me

the bowie stuff was on him by those mentioned on the cover (irvine welsh etc)

multiple x-post. Yes, had seen that. I guess what I am wondering is: who is the magazine for now?

Not sure they know

There was no actual Bowie interview either.

― pfunkboy (Algerian Goalkeeper), Wednesday, October 9, 2013 7:35 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

tbf the cover makes that as clear as possible short of actually saying "we tried to speak to him but no-one would let us"

Wasn't AG joking about being outraged by the absence of a Bowie interview? If he hasn't felt the need to do one so far this year he's obviously not going to start now.

I'm... sort of not outraged, but impressed by the chutzpah while also questioning the wisdom of NME's relaunch issue arriving with the subtext "We don't even have enough weight as a title anymore to get an interview with our cover star." Obviously Bowie's not doing any interviews, so its not NME's 'fault' that they didn't get to talk to him. But if so, why put him on the cover? Why 'bait and switch' your readership in the issue that's supposed to relaunch the brand and win a new, hopefully loyal consumer base? Why not put someone else on the cover? And why on Earth put an artist with a discography stretching back six decades on the cover of the issue that relaunches the New Musical Express?

I mean I know it's an obvious point to make and it's an open goal and whatever. And maybe it's a bit 'Get orff my land" coming from a MOJO contributor, but really.

[And once again, I want this relaunch to be awesome, even though I don't write for NME, partly because a healthy and successful NME helps all of us in the world of music journalism, and partly because I think there are some great people working there now]

I agree. I want NME to succeed and it's a tough market.

[Obvs I want MOJO and Kerrang! to continue to do much better than NME, obv. I want the sea level to raise all boats!]

haha I wasn't outraged

What are Kerrang and MOJO's circulation figures like? And Q? Does Uncut still exist?

I think MOJO's still the best selling monthly in the country, and I think K! still outsells NME, but I don't seek out ABC figures as they're rarely good news.

From what I can see:

Kerrang - 37,603
NME - 20,011
Mojo - 79,345
Q - 58,980
Uncut - 56,894
Classic Rock - 56,714
Mixmag - 14,602

Spot the pattern there.

Also the lead review this week is a page-and-a-half review of the new Paul McCartney album. Seriously.

I wonder how much those expensive "specials" mags cost by the likes of NME and Classic Rock. There's like 10 issues of Classic Rock Magazine Presents : AOR

cost? I mean SELL

For what it does on the tin Mojo's the worthy leader there

did that 80s pop mojo type magazine get to issue 2?

issue 7 and still going by the look of it.

Huh. I'd never seen its stablemate, Vintage Rock

Ive not even heard of that. Never seen the 80s pop mag in Smiths tbh

Ooh, Classic Pop looks pretty good tbh.

Spot the pattern there.

― Matt DC, Thursday, 10 October 2013 13:09 (28 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

The older the target readership, the better the circulation figure. Except for Kerrang.

From memory of Careless Talk, it's eye-wateringly expensive to get a magazine on the shelves of Smiths.

Kerrang!'s been at around double the circulation figures of NME since 2002 IIRC.

blimey its on issue 8

xps

Kerrang was selling over 70,000 5 years ago, mainly to teenage girls according to a survey apparently.

I remember an electronic mag launched but I cant find it but I did stumble across
http://electronicsound.co.uk/
Think its app only though no print version

http://electronicsound.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/cover4-01.png

Our latest issue features GARY NUMAN giving us the inside story on his new album, ‘Splinter’… JOHN FOXX remembers his Ultravox days and ‘Metamatic’… THE ORB’S ALEX PATERSON reveals his influences… Plus interviews with CAN founder IRMIN SCHMIDT, BORIS BLANK from YELLO, BILL LEEB from FRONT LINE ASSEMBLY, POLLY SCATTERGOOD, BOOM BOOM SATELLITES, ULTRAMARINE, CLARA HILL, ULRICH SCHNAUSS AND MARK PETERS and SIN COS TAN… BOY’S OWN guv’nor TERRY FARLEY on the early days of acid house, FINI TRIBE’S DAVY MILLER on the making of ‘Detestimony’, and JACK DANGERS on HENK BADINGS and the PHILIPS RESEARCH LABORATORY. We also review albums by FACTORY FLOOR, NYPC, CHVRCHES, VILE ELECTRODES, MARCEL DETTMANN, GIORGIO MORODER and loads more. Tune in and oscillate!

Electronic Sound is a new UK-based magazine dedicated to the very best in electronic music. We’ve drawn a line through the entire history of electronica and we’re intent on finding new ways to join the dots. Each month, we’ll features weighty interviews, in-depth reviews, great photography, and lots of video and audio clips. Tune in and oscillate!

Could you do that line over but sound a bit more worried please pfunk? I have been sat on a kerr-angst pun for so long now, it's going to split me in two when it finally pops out. Thanks!

oops xp

I think K! has had a mainly-female readership for a long, long time to be honest. And I think that's a good thing?

Kerrang was selling over 70,000 5 years ago, mainly to teenage girls according to a survey apparently. AND NOW ITS FALLING AND OH THE DESPAIR

xp

everyone's falling. it's a miserable time.

Pretty sure that teenagers have basically stopped buying magazines in their entirety.

but we might get a quality pun from nick b out of it!
xp

they have websites now. from a financial point of view it's hard to argue with.

xp oh i buggered that up there didn't i

it's all spoilt now!

I cant really imagine teenagers buying digital magazines for their phones/ipads

It's amazing that the NME website is still so poor, especially given that Pitchfork exists and, for all its faults, is still a pretty great example of how to structure an online publication.

former pitchfork uk person Laura Snapes is now NME's features ed iirc so hopefully that will lead to a perking up of the website. MOJO's website has recently had a relaunch, lots of ace stuff to read on there.

NickB, to make up for ballsing up the joke twice...

Kerrang was selling over 70,000 5 years ago, mainly to teenage girls according to a survey apparently. AND NOW ITS FALLING AND OH THE DESPAIR

I think I need to be the one saying it?

Kerrang was selling over 70,000 5 years ago, mainly to teenage girls according to a survey apparently. AND NOW ITS FALLING AND OH THE DESPAIR

Laura's good but she was editorial not technical; I can't see her exerting influence over interfaces and usability.

Kerrang was selling over 70,000 5 years ago, mainly to teenage girls according to a survey apparently. AND NOW ITS FALLING AND OH THE DESPAIR