NME Revamp To Capitalise On Sales Rise
IPC’s high-profile music weekly NME will undergo a revamp this week, with both its printed and online editions receiving a facelift.
The activity, which marks the culmination of over a year of research and development, encompasses a new design and restructuring of the magazine, alongside a complete re-build for the website and a major investment in rich media capability.
The revamp follows a successful set of ABC results for NME in the January – June period, with the title adding 5.2% to its circulation year on year. The magazine now commands sales of 73,640.
Amongst other developments, the new look magazine will feature a “massive increase” in new music coverage, with an expanded Radar section now covering local music scenes across the country. The title will also feature demo reviews and insider knowledge from the music industry.
More music recommendations and a deeper delve into the magazine’s heritage, with Tales From The NME Archive, will also build more value into the title’s pages. Meanwhile, a new two-page Clubs section will feature UK club listings, the latest cheeky photos from Club NME and interviews with bands and DJs from the rapidly growing indie disco scene.
Elsewhere NME.com will see a complete overhaul of its design and navigation system, while a new media player will offer gig footage, exclusive interviews and previews of new albums. IPC aims to generate a “whole new world of opportunities for advertisers,” through its online innovations.
Weekly email newsletters will remain a staple of NME’s online services, as will its message boards which serve a community of music fans. NME will also provide a function for users to customise the website’s content, enabling them to hone the site to provide bespoke news on all their favourite artists
Commenting on the wide-ranging revamp, Conor McNicholas, editor of NME, said: “Sales are flying, with our ABC up 5.2% and some recent issues up as much as 18% year-on-year. When things are going well, that’s the time to innovate. Too many magazines wait until they’re obviously tired before thinking about changing, but for us development is a rolling process.
“The new-look NME has a load of new regulars to deliver even more hot new music and great rock music heritage. We’ve spent a long time refining the tone of the magazine and we’ve got a sharp new design throughout that delivers on the promise developed through our research – clarity with attitude.”
Ben Perreau, editor of NME.com, added: “While NME is the authority for music, NME.com is the vehicle to emotionally experience the music and give users an involvement on a community level. The redesign will support this, ensuring the site is more navigable and accessible and opens up further lines of communication for users to engage and interact with the site.”
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