This Friday's print edition will be its last, as the company expand digital presence.
Popular British music magazine NME will cease publishing its free print edition after 65 years as one of the most iconic music journalism brands.
Time Inc. UK, who own the publication, cited increasing production costs and a tough advertising market as the main reason. Managing Director, Paul Cheal said in a statement "it is in the digital space where effort and investment will focus to secure a strong future for this famous brand."
In a comment to Music Week, the Southwark based company did admit that there would be redundancies planned as part of the restructuring to focus on digital services. They said that as their global digital audience has nearly doubled in the last two years they hope to continue to reach users in the most natural way.
A spokesperson confirmed that as part of the digital expansion they will have two new audio channels available on DAB digital radio, the TuneIn App, and NME.com. They will also focus on a new ticketing service and music marketplace.
Despite being a free-read, NME has still managed to attract big name cover stars over the past years. They'll continue this with 'The Big Read' scheduled every week.
It's certainly sad to see a much loved magazine go.
Words by Alex Goldsmith
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