NME (The New Musical Express)

• Popular music magazine in the UK.
• Published weekly since 7th March 1952.
• Initially non-glossy.
• It created the first UK Singles Chart.

1960

• NME sales were healthy with the paper selling approximately 200,000 per week.
• Tense rivalry between NME and fellow weekly music paper, Melody Maker.

1970

• NME lost its ground to Melody Maker as its music coverage failed to keep up.
• Nearly closed down in 1972 after sales fell to 60,000.
• Alan Smith was made editor and aimed to turn the magazine around by making it; smarter, hipper, more cynical and funnier than any other like it in Britain.
• By mid-1973, when Smith handed the editorial position back, the paper was selling almost 300,000 copies a week, beating its rivals.
• In 1976, it was felt that younger people were needed, so they employed Tony Parsons and Julie Burchill.
• The young pair knew all about the new Punk age and created a new tone for the paper.
• In the late 1970's , the paper covered some things other than music, such as politics - especially youth-orientated issues.

1980

• NME released a cassette tape in 1981, available via mail order and it featured bands that were featured in the magazine.
• A second tape was released in 1986.
• Sales began dropping and by the mid-1980's, NME were in danger of closing down.
• The paper split into 2, rock and hip-hop. Hip-hop seemed far more popular as it was new to the UK and the paper appeared to readers as if it had no set direction of what it was doing/covering.

1990

• The 1990's saw NME covering new British indie bands.
• By the end of 1990, NME was covering new bands from the U.S. creating a new movement called Grudge. It included bands such as Pearl Jam and Nirvana
• NME took very slowly to grudge but when "Nevermind" became popular,it became highly dominated by American Bands.
• 1991-1993 saw American bands becoming increasingly dominant, but NME didn't ignore British bands.
• 1992 saw NME covering different types or grudge, like heavy grudge.
• After Kurt Cobain died in 1994, the age of Britpop was introduced, with bands like Blur. By the end of 1994, Blur and Oasis were the 2 biggest bands in the UK and thanks to the Britpop effect, NME sales were increasing.
• 1993-1995, Glastonbury held a stage called "NME Stage", now it's known as the "Other Stage".
• As Britpop became the music genre of the 1990's NME saw their sales rise, but Britpop burned itself out, leaving NME directionless again.
• In an attempt to become popular, NME attempted to embrace DJ culture, but was only criticised for not supporting indie or rock music.
• NME sales saw a low point at the turn of the millennium.

2000

• From 21st March 1998 --> Present, NME became tabloid sized with fully glossy and coloured covers.
• Attempting to broaden its coverage, they covered artists like Jay-Z, Missy Elliot, Hear'say and Destiny's Child. This proved unpopular so they stopped.
• In 2002, with new writers, photographers, etc the paper began to increase in sales again.
• In October 2006, NME launched NME Ireland but poor sales resulted in it ending in November, the same year.
• In May 2008, the magazine received a redesign aimed at an older audience - less "poppy".
• In the second half of 2009. the magazine's circulation was down 34,486.47% on a 2003 figure or 74,442.