PDA

View Full Version : NME dead and buried



Pete The Cat
07-03-2018, 22:46
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-43318898

You could say it died in September '15 when it became a freebie, but as a reader for over 30 years I'd say that in spirit it passed away around 1998. The shift from paper to mag accompanied a blatant editorial play for mainstream readers and the cover artists went from being up-and-coming to proven headliners and global pop stars. You can't blame them for trying since the writing was on the wall when Sounds folded in '91 but I carried on reading it long after it meant much.

Still, along with the sloth lemur it's another little piece of the world that's lost for good.

Pete

Macca
08-03-2018, 08:13
I never liked it or most of the people who wrote for it. Burchill and Parsons spring immediately to mind. Even so it is sad, but it belonged to a world that no longer exists.

walpurgis
08-03-2018, 08:52
I'm indifferent. I last bought NME about the same time I last bought coal.

struth
08-03-2018, 08:57
thought it died years ago.. used to buy it when a teenager, but not since

walpurgis
08-03-2018, 09:18
thought it died years ago.. used to buy it when a teenager, but not since

I used to buy MCN and Exchange & Mart each week too. I don't think either of those are still available in paper form now.

User211
08-03-2018, 09:40
J. Rotten had this to say circa 1977:

How many ways to get what you want
I use the best, I use the rest
I use the N.M.E.
I use anarchy
'Cause I want to be anarchy
Its the only way to be

:)

R.I.P. N.M.E.

You could say it was guilty of being full of pseudo intellectual pretentious twaddle a lot of the time. Sad to see it go though. I'd like to say they introduced me to quite a few cool bands, but John Peel and a cassette player set to record did a far better job really.

Audio Al
08-03-2018, 13:48
I dont think it dead , Just modernised , its the way of the world these days , You now need to buy a reader (ipad kindle ) and pay for a download ( Nothing physical ) Just like downloded music nothing in your hand :)

User211
08-03-2018, 17:43
I dont think it dead , Just modernised , its the way of the world these days , You now need to buy a reader (ipad kindle ) and pay for a download ( Nothing physical ) Just like downloded music nothing in your hand :)

Ah OK didn't follow the link just assumed it was gone entirely from the OP text.

I'm actually quite pleased it still lives, even after the above remark.

Pigmy Pony
08-03-2018, 19:36
Used to buy it in the 70's and 80's, mostly for the crossword. My work colleague did the same, we'd get each about 3 or 4 answers short of completion then pool our answers. And people called us sad!

I once bought an album based solely on the review in NME. The man in the record shop had never heard of it, and I had to order it (3 weeks wait). When it arrived, I hated it. The record was "The First Born is Dead" by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. I still have it (played once). Maybe I should give it another go, to find out if the reviewer was a visionary, or just wrong.

Macca
09-03-2018, 07:35
It was always a good guide. If they liked it, I avoided it. If they hated it, I would check it out. It was pretty much infallible.

Marco
09-03-2018, 08:18
Liked it as a teenager, but these days it's Mojo:)

Marco.

Pete The Cat
09-03-2018, 09:09
Ah OK didn't follow the link just assumed it was gone entirely from the OP text.

I'm actually quite pleased it still lives, even after the above remark.

Sorry for not being clearer. I confess my post shows my prejudice that when it comes to music and related stuff I struggle to regard things that aren't physically tangible as existing (that's not meant to spark another record v digital debate by the way).

My point was really that NME left us some time ago and this week is a formality. It's like the band that no longer has any original members - I looked at the website yesterday and the top half of the home page was dominated by films and TV, not music.

So to me it's as gone as when MK Dons tried to tell us that Wimbledon FC lives on :lol:

Pete

Minstrel SE
11-03-2018, 09:15
I bought it in my later teens and it was always the the one I bought rather than sounds or melody maker which I thought were just not trendy man :)

Im trying to think what I really got out of it apart from the odd main feature. I did plaster my wall with clippings and ads at one point and it was cheap enough to afford on a semi regular basis.

I base this on the general trend that I havent bought a magazine or weekly issue in ages. One thing to go for me has been print apart from some good books.

The internet must be one reason and obviously they didnt have a big enough market in paper print anymore. It does feel like the end of an era though

Barry
11-03-2018, 13:32
It was always a good guide. If they liked it, I avoided it. If they hated it, I would check it out. It was pretty much infallible.

Rather like my approach to the film reviews in Time Out.