NME to relaunch as “heavyweight” music mag
NME, the IPC Media music magazine, is being relaunched with a new logo, design and editorial content.
It’s the first major development of NME under Krissi Murison, its first female editor.
The relaunch comes after the title saw circulation drop 20.6% year on year to 38,486, and fall 6% period on period in the last ABC figures in February.
To support the relaunch, NME is launching a print and online marketing campaign targeting 15-34 year old music fans across IPC brands including Nuts, Loaded, Uncut, Now, Look and Marie Claire as well as NME TV and NME Radio and The Independent, Time Out, and AMG Music Academy venues.
The magazine now includes new front section, featuring ’The Main Event’ an in-depth article which looks at the week’s most pressing music news story and weekly “Talking Head” comment pieces from musicians and NME writers, including Gavin Haynes, Luke Lewis and Emily MacKay.
New regular features “First Night, On The Road” and “In The Studio” are designed to demonstrate NME’s “unrivalled access” to bands.
NME has overhauled its “Radar” section with more new band news, live reports and regular columns from Tim Westwood, Simian Mobile Disco and Mary-Anne Hobbs.
The magazine is also including a “This Week In” section, which looks back at stories from NME’s archive.
The first issue, available tomorrow (7 April), features 10 different covers starring Jack White, Rihanna, Kasabian, Foals, MIA, Magnetic Man, Florence + the Machine, LCD Soundsystem, Laura Marling and Biffy Clyro.
Murison says that the aim is to be “much more mature and aspirational” and make it a “more opinionated, entertaining and heavyweight music magazine”.
