Is the NME about to die? – part 1
It’s sad but not in the least surprising to read that the NME as well as essentially all music magazines are facing difficult times as circulation plummets ever downward. When you combine an industry competing with a (primarily) free digital equivalent and add to the recipe an economy on both sides of the Atlantic in crisis it spells nothing but trouble for our old friend the music press.
Specifically the NME reports sales down by over 25% in a year and music
NME back then
papers as a market sector in decline by more than 10% overall. Did it have to be this way and was it inevitable? From the age of about 13 until my late 20′s I bought the NME and Melody Maker (and Sounds sometimes) on a weekly basis. Somewhere in the early 90′s I lost interest in the weekly music mags and it wasn’t because I lost interest in music, in fact I think I bought as many or perhaps more albums in my 30′s as in years prior. Probably because I had more disposable income.
Nor did I stop reading about music, but my tastes were better matched to Select (now defunct) Q Magazine and other montly magazines. Uncut is a title I still enjoy most months despite the horrific import price of $8.95. It leads me to asking some open ended questions and if you have always enjoyed music journalism also perhaps you can help me answer them. Before I tuck into that – I’ve always wondered about the questions beneath:
What did a 13-28 year old read in the USA/Canada/Australia? What was your music bible? Trouser Press? Rolling Stone? Were there great mags that came and went?
I’ll stick to the example of the NME as that seems to have been a constant through all of the decades in question. As a young teen I could count on the NME to provide 6 critical things for a young music fan:
- News – short snippets about rumours of albums and singles, potential tours, actual tours, breakups of bands and record label changes
- Charts - back when the charts really seemed to matter a pop and indie chart where you could track the success or failure of The Clash, Crass, Joy Division or even The Higsons. All of this with the passion of a modern day (until recent times) Wall St Trader
- Live listings - my favourite part especially once I was about 16 and seeing 4 or 5 concerts in 7 nights was not only possible but affordable too. London in the early-mid 80′s was a indie music fans playground
- Record Reviews - If you were on the fence about the new Comsat Angels album or a Railway Children single this was where you made your commitment. These reviews were a blessing
- Live Reviews – Concerts that sold out, American bands who didn’t come over to England, nights you were already booked – this was the place to catch up
- Interviews – This was the filling of the sandwich. Checking the cover of the NME to see who the cover star was could be the highlight of the week. Even if Adam and the Ants made the cover you could hope that in smaller text you’d read Killing Joke, Teardrop Explodes, Billy Bragg or something. So long as there were 3 or 4 good features out of the typical 5
In the case of the bottom 3 items (the most important ones) there was a common theme that was critical – the quality of the journalists. These guys (and girls) knew their stuff. By the time I was 15 I noticed who all the regular writers were, I knew if they were keener on Liverpool bands or the always
the NME more recently
evolving Glasgow scene. You understood if they championed the (then) avant garde soundscapes of early Simple Minds (when they seemed like the great white hope..honestly) or favoured the darker early work of The Cure. Some wanted the excitement of 76-78 to come again, others felt the guitar was finally dead and OMD and The Human League would take us through the century. So much great music was made from 77-89 and so many great journalists sold us ringside tickets to the bands that mattered. Just when it seemed post punk had led us all down a blind alley along came The Smiths, The Jesus and Mary Chain and at the end of the decade The Stone Roses to show new could be good…or better.
Before listing the reasons I think the NME is doomed I’d ask if you’ve looked at a copy recently? I’ll assess that and why I think the internet is a convenient excuse for the gravediggers of music journalism in part 2.
Tim
_20110619215502.png "World Service Bulletins")
Like you Tim, I grew up on the NME, MM etc. During the so- called “Punk Years”, I couldn’t wait for Thursday. Patiently waiting for Smith’s to open before going to work with at least the NME tucked under my arm and depending on content, MM, RM and Sounds too.
It would be a shame if the NME did go the same way as the others, but I think it’s inevitable to be honest. I rarely buy it myself these days, tending only to shell out if there’s something about the Clash inside. In fact there was a very short interview with Topper 2/3 weeks ago and that was the first time I’d bought one since they interviewed Mick around 6 months ago.
Mojo is my regular read these days, although I still haven’t taken out a subscription to it as I tend to flick through it first given the cover price (c.£4.50)
Thanks Karl….
Record Mirror! Yeah they had their own little niche…and lyrics too!! I was lucky I used to work in the West End – and knew that with Fleet Street so close I’d literally get a copy that was warm. Weds about 1215pm and the big 2 papers – lunch on a bench ahttp://www.theclashblog.com/wp-admin/edit-comments.php?p=1424#comments-formnd check the gig lists. I think they could have kept alive by keeping the standard of journalists they had – but also inevitably they migrated (with their audience) to Q, Mojo, Select, Uncut and all the others. You hit the other point I was thinking for the demise – the pricing is far far beyond inflation. The uncut ‘special editions’ go for about $13 – so they must be six quid back home?
As a 13 year old back then…and a 45 yr old now, Rolling Stone has always been my favorite magazine, and where I go for music news. I still look forward to the new issue hitting the newstand (conveniently within the bookstore where I work). I enjoy Mojo, Uncut and Q magazines as well, but as mentioned above the prices require that I only buy issues that have articles or photos of interest — 90% Clash/or Clash-member-related!
As a teen of 13-16 I devoured Cream and Tiger Beat mags, mostly for the Police pinups–they did not give the Clash much coverage. Come to think of it, neither did Rolling Stone, but that’s another story…However, they did give Sandinista 5 stars, which I’ve always applauded since that’s my fav Clash record and I am in the minority there.
Thanks as always Joanie – that’s the gig to keep up on the mags – working in a book shop.
So…was it Sting that had you hooked? I love Sandinista! more each year.
In answer to a slightly earlier question, I paid £ 4.50 for the September issue in Ladbroke Grove last week. Don’t know what the exchange rate is, but that’s quite a lot ! I handed over a fiver expecting a little more than 50p change. Mind you I paid £ 3.30 for a pint of Guinness about twenty minutes later ! Just to put this in perspective and to show what an old git I am, my first Clash gig was £ 2.50 !!
Off to Denmark Street to look at guitars I can’t afford….
NME has been dead for the best part of the last 5 years now. I long since stopped reading it regularly but I do pick up a copy maybe once every 6 months to see if there is any sign of life. It’s a corpse……sad to have to admit when I bought just about every issue from 1977 to 2004.
The recent issues I’ve seen just seems to lack anything other than photos, whereas the journalism was what made it (and the others).
Quote:
“NME has been dead for the best part of the last 5 years now.”
Try 20 years
I think it’s been a long slow decline….is it the music? I think it’s the journalism
[...] View original post here: The Clash Blog | Is the NME about to die? – part 1 | The Clash … [...]
[...] the table and Spurs are were losing to West Ham. Not a bad list to be getting on with. If you read part one of this story you’ll already know how the NME and most other music magazines are experiencing a brutal downturn in sales and potentially facing [...]