Goodbye to the days of NME in print. I’ll be among the indie teens, old rockers and new music lovers who will miss feeling the printed reels of smooth paper between their fingertips. Goodbye to those pages imbued with the passion of countless, brutal yet prestigious, music journalists. Being a long-time lover of NME, a publication which had survived 55 years in print, I found myself gushing with a sentimental sorrow: the simple satisfaction that I got from going out (solely) to pick up the latest copy of NME would also be scrapped.
I should have seen the demise of the publication in print, in 2015, when it was given out across the UK for free. Anyone is keen for a freebie but being a budding music journalist before that, I happily paid for it to keep more than just the posters; I often inspected each feature trying to figure out the formula to a perfect piece of music journalism. NME was the balance between fun, witty commentary and high-brow, well-written journalism which I felt I could eventually aspire to. I had promised myself that one day I would find my name on the by-line of a double-page spread interviewing my favourite musicians. The solemnity of such a promise has worn out now –much like the quality of NME since 2015. As I flick through the priced old copies (yes, I’ve still got some – no, I don’t hoard) in comparison to the latest ones I feel the thinning of the paper and see each piece increasingly sandwiched between an ad for DFS sofas or Sky TV.
I often inspected each feature trying to figure out the formula to a perfect piece of music journalism
Despite the physical quality of the print diminishing the content wasn’t necessarily rubbish: with popular cover stars, a list of the hottest new releases, and quick reads such as ‘Soundtrack of My Life’ which delved into the music taste of various musicians, or the ‘What’s on your headphones?’ page which would stop a few slightly fashionable people to see whether their style matched what they were listening to. I don’t doubt these sections will be scrapped with the movement onto solely online journalism. Whilst this makes me wish for the tangibility of print to be as appreciated by the masses and as affordable for companies, dissolving this old sentiment can shed light on online journalism: a medium more accessible for people who can’t afford to pay to read music news weekly or those who can’t get the opportunities to write for the print.
Back to the start: the print edition of the ‘New Musical Express’ has covered countless gigs and releases over the years
Sentiment aside, I believe the dissolution of this old print can mean the opportunity to hear more diverse perspectives in music journalism and in NME. I’m tired of hearing countless career stories from middle-aged male journalists who had ‘made it’ in journalism back in the ‘old days’ in their youth by strutting into offices of prestigious music magazines to demand a job. I congratulate them on their success and appreciate the wisdom they shared in their stories about the industry, but this information was ultimately useless to a young woman from an ethnic minority with half of the self-assurance and connections to get even a toe through the door of NME. The complete transferal of NME to online could mean more budding journalists don’t have to live in London or have a friend in the industry to ‘make it’.
No, I won’t ever get stopped in the street to say what was on my headphones for that one-page feature or read my name on the tiny by-line and feel like I’ve finally made it as a journalist, but perhaps the end of this sentimental era of print journalism will mean a new era of connectivity, new journalists and new readers for NME.COM.
