The iconic British music publication NME has appeared for the last time in its print edition, owners Time Inc. announced today. The title is to continue as an online-only outlet, 66 years to the day after it began as a music newspaper called The New Musical Express on March 7, 1952.
Frequently outspoken and at odds with many of its readers’ opinions, NME nevertheless generated a reputation for being a place to find new music during the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s. The weekly title gradually transformed from a newspaper into a magazine, changing from newsprint to glossy paper in 1998. Writers including Tony Parsons, Paul Morley and Julie Burchill achieved notoriety in its pages. After launching an online edition in 1996, the print version became free in 2015 and achieved a peak circulation of 307,217 copies in February 2016. The latest editor-in-chief, Mike Williams, left the company last month.
