NME

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Not to be confused with the Canadian music magazine Music Express.
For other uses, see NME (disambiguation).
New Musical Express
NME - New Musical Express - [Link]
Nme December 2020 [Link]
Cover of the December 2020 digital issue featuring David Byrne
Editor Charlotte Gunn (2018–2020)
Categories Music website and formerly magazine
Frequency Weekly
Circulation 289,432 (ABC Jul – Dec 2017)[1]
Print edition
Founder Theodore Ingham
Year founded 1952; 69 years ago
First issue 7 March 1952
Final issue 9 March 2018 (Print)
Ongoing (Digital)
Company BandLab Technologies
Country United Kingdom
Based in Southwark, London, England
Language English
Website [Link]
ISSN 0028-6362
New Musical Express (NME) is a British music, film and culture website[2] and
brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a
'rock inkie',[3][4][5][6][7][8] 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.[9][10][11]

As a 'rock inkie', it was the first British newspaper to include a singles chart,
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[citation needed] 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 [Link] was launched in 1996, and became the world's biggest
standalone music site, with over sixteen million users per month.[citation needed]
With newsstand sales falling across the UK magazine sector, the magazine's paid
circulation in the first half of 2014 was 15,830.[12] In 2013, its list of the "500
Greatest Albums of All Time" and the way it was conceived was criticized by the
media.[13][14]

In September 2015, the NME magazine was relaunched to be distributed nationally as

a free publication.[15] 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.[16]
By December 2017, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, average
distribution of NME had fallen to 289,432 copies a week,[17] 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.[18] In March 2018, the publisher announced
that the print edition of NME would cease publication after 66 years and become an
online-only publication.[19][20]

NME was acquired in 2019 by Singaporean music company BandLab Technologies. NME's
headquarters are in Southwark, London, England.[21] The brand's most recent editor
is Charlotte Gunn, replacing Mike Williams,[21] who stepped down in February 2018.

Contents
1 History
1.1 1960s
1.2 1970s
1.3 1980s
1.4 1990s
1.5 2000s
1.6 2010s
1.7 Free title
2 NME Australia
3 [Link]
4 NME covers
5 NME Awards
6 NME Tours
7 NME Originals
8 References
9 External links
History
The paper was established in 1952.[22] The Accordion Times and Musical Express was
bought by London music promoter Maurice Kinn for £1,000, just 15 minutes before it
was due to be officially closed.[23] It was relaunched as the New Musical Express,
and was initially published in a non-glossy tabloid format on standard newsprint.
On 14 November 1952, taking its cue from the US magazine Billboard, it created the
first UK Singles Chart, a list of the Top Twelve best-selling singles. The first of
these was, in contrast to more recent charts, a top twelve sourced by the magazine
itself from sales in regional stores around the UK. The first number one was "Here
in My Heart" by Al Martino.

1960s
During the 1960s, the paper championed the new British groups emerging at the time.
The NME circulation peaked under Andy Gray (editor 1957–1972) with a figure of
306,881 for the period from January to June 1964.[24][25] The Beatles and the
Rolling Stones were frequently featured on the front cover. These and other artists
also appeared at the NME Poll Winners' Concert, an awards event that featured
artists voted as most popular by the paper's readers. The concert also featured a
ceremony where the poll winners would collect their awards. The NME Poll Winners'
Concerts took place between 1959 and 1972. From 1964 onwards, they were filmed,
edited, and transmitted on British television a few weeks after they had taken
place.

In the mid-1960s, the NME was primarily dedicated to pop while its older rival,
Melody Maker, was known for its more serious coverage of music. Other competing
titles included Record Mirror, which led the way in championing American rhythm and
blues, and Disc, which focused on chart news.[26] The latter part of the decade the
paper charted the rise of psychedelia and the continued dominance of British groups
of the time. During this period some sections of pop music began to be designated
as rock. The paper became engaged in a sometimes tense rivalry with Melody Maker;
however, NME sales were healthy, with the paper selling as many as 200,000 issues
per week, making it one of the UK's biggest sellers at the time.

1970s

Cover featuring Patti Smith for the week of 21 February 1976

By the early 1970s, NME had lost ground to Melody Maker, as its coverage of music
had failed to keep pace with the development of rock music, particularly during the
early years of psychedelia and progressive rock. In early 1972, the paper was on
the verge of closure by its owner IPC (which had bought the paper from Kinn in
1963).[27] According to Nick Kent (soon to play a prominent part in the paper's
revival):

After sales had plummeted to 60,000 and a review of guitar instrumentalist Duane
Eddy had been printed which began with the words "On this, his 35th album, we find
Duane in as good voice as ever," the NME had been told to rethink its policies or
die on the vine.[28]

Alan Smith was made editor in 1972, and was told by IPC to turn things around
quickly or face closure.[29] To achieve this, Smith and his assistant edit