NME Fact File

KEY STATS

Male: 74% 

Female: 26% 

Median age: 23 

Circulation: 33,875 

Readership: 325,000

NME Questions

In 1996 under the stewardship of NME editor Steve Sutherland and publisher Robert Tame, the NME started its website NME.COM. In November 1999 the site hosted the UK's first webcast, of Suede 'Live In Japan'. In 2001 the site gave away a free mp3 of The Strokes debut single "Last Nite" a week before its release. The site rallied around The Libertines after their debut single "What A Waster" dropped from playlists due to its profanity - giving away the single as a free mp3 download.
The website was relaunched and redeveloped the site in September 2005 and the focus migrated towards video, audio and the wider music community.
In 2007 NME.COM was launched in the USA with additional staff and plans to launch its Breaking Bands contest and the NME Awards across the Atlantic.
The site now provides news, photos, video, blogs, reviews, gig listings and videos as well as featuring downloads, merchandising and message boards. Over the last year, the focus of the website has also shifted to also include tabloid gossip alongside its traditional music news. NME.COM now has 5.3 million monthly unique users, making it the largest magazine website in the UK.
In 2010 NME.COM instituted NME Breakthrough, a new music community for artists, bands and fans.
The NME website avoids patronizing it’s readers and in a similar style to the magazine, some of it’s articles contain musical vocabulary. It approaches the reader in an informal manner.  

notes on article about NME

NME’s first issue was published on 7 March 1952 after the Musical Express and Accordion Weekly was bought by London music promoter Maurice Kinn, and relaunched as the New Musical Express. To begin with, it was published in a non-glossy tabloid format on standard newsprint. It created the first UK Singles Chart on 14 November 1952.
1960's - 200,000 issues per week sold, one of the UK’s biggest sellers.
1970’s- NME was overtaken by Melody Maker as it had failed to keep pace with the development of rock music. In early 1972 the paper was almost ceased by IPC (who bought the paper from Kinn in 1963). Sales were now at 60,000.
1980’s- new direction for the NME proved to be a commercial success and the paper brought in new writers such as Andrew Collins, Stuart Maconie, Mary Anne Hobbs and Steve Lamacq to give it a stronger identity and sense of direction. Sales were still dropping and NME was yet again threatened with closure. The magazine was being pulled in all sorts of directions.
1990’s- The start of 1990 saw more American bands published in NME, yet British bands were not ignored. Britpop began to fill the musical/cultural void that Nirvana left, and NME covered all of these new bands. Sales began to increase. However, at the end of the year, sales took a dip again.

2000's -  From 21 March 1998 the paper was no longer printed on newsprint, and was converted to glossy covers. Melody Maker and Select were shut down, narrowing down the music magazine market. New photographers and new writers were hired, which proved popular therefore increasing the sales. An Irish version of NME was released, later to be closed down. Circulation of the magazine has fallen continuously since 2003. In the second half of 2009, the magazine's circulation was 38,486, 47% down on a 2003 figure of 72,442

Two contrasting magazine brands published by IPC Media

Marie Claire

Overview - Marie Claire is a worldwide icon it epitomises style and substance, with fashion and beauty that embrace everything from catwalk to high street. Marie Claire is published in the UK in partnership with French publishing company, Groupe Marie Claire.


Frequency - Monthly 


Circulation - 280,021 (ABC Jan-Jun 10)


Readership - 821,000 (NRS Jan-Jun 10)


Target Market -professional women aged 25-34

Country Life

Overview - Quintessential English magazine, is undoubtedly one of the biggest and instantly recognisable brands in the UK today. It has a unique core mix of contemporary country-related editorial and top end property advertising. Editorially, the magazine comments in-depth on a wide variety of subjects, such as architecture, the arts, gardens and gardening, the countryside, field-sports and wildlife.

Frequency - Weekly 

Circulation - 36,836 (ABC Jan-Dec 09)

Readership - 220,000 (NRS Jul09-Jun10)

Target Market - Adults 

The first ever publication that could be classed as a magazine was created in England in 1709. The focus was mainly on entertainment and America started their own magazines too in 1941, based around politics as it was evolving into a democratic nation. The early 20th Century saw new styles of magazines, which included articles, stories and advertising. As the market got more competitive, it also expanded as television emerged, being able to base a magazine on a television programme e.g cartoons and listings. Since then, large publishing companies have gathered even more titles and are just getting bigger. They have different business interests, which means they are not fully dependent on only one media. The magazine sector accounted for 18.4% of the £15.3 billion that was made from the British Media spend in 1999. This means that there is such a lucrative media for publishers to exploit.

According to the article in THE GUARDIAN (Jan 2009) why are the major players in the British magazine industry better placed to weather the economic crisis?
The larger scale magazines are far more likely to survive the economic crisis as they have invested into extending their brands into things such as TV, mobile, radio etc. This means that they can deal with the impact far better than the smaller magazines.