NME Magazine

NME (New Musical Express) is a popular music magazine, origionally dedicated to the punk rock side of music. It was the first music newspaper of its kind and the first music associated media to hold the UK singles chart, during the 1950’s, its first ever number 1 being ‘Here In My Heart’ by Al Martino. Its contents followed through each musical revalations, through the 1960’s, which saw the rise of The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, and the 1970’s/early 80’s, through the New Wave of British Heavy Metal. In its original publication, it was set as a large newspaper, but as years have passed, its size and cover style has developed and been down sized to the magazine that we can find in stores today. It is published weekly.

Content

The modern content of NME ranges from pop styles and RnB such as Lady Gaga and Rihanna, to more alteranative groups such as Enter Shikari. In the past, the dedication to closer, more up and coming bands meant that NME was the only real newspaper available at the time that held all music related gossip, and was the only newspaper that advertised gigs.
Now, it’s function as a magazine is at risk of being over powered by bigger, more international companies, such as Kerrang! and Q magazine, but its contents have remained the same, spanning over all kinds of music that is popular in the modern age.
Its content is similar to that of Kerrang!, consisting of music reviews,  gig feedback, and interviews of popular or rising stars in the music business.

Publishing information

NME is currently published by IPC media, its website and advertisements are also processed through IPC media.

Typical reader profile

I think, the typical reader profile would be people in their mid 20’s possibly early thirties, with a fast moving sense of their musical tastes. The presence of different music styles suggests that it appeals to a wider audience, but the way it is set and written gives it the air of a much maturere magazine, more in the style of its original newspaper format.