NME relaunch brings sneaker tactics to publishing

NME, the 71-year old British music and culture magazine, will relaunch a global print edition as it seeks to deploy a scarcity-focused “high-hype” model.

Why it matters

Writing was one of the first media commodified by the internet, and music writing was particularly vulnerable to its advances.

But carving out a sneaker-style drop model to select distributors is a strategy now expanding beyond the fashion/streetwear scene that created it. And it is one that is gaining momentum: NME is gambling on the idea for its new bi-monthly print edition with an accessible brand but a hard-to-find product.

The comeback

The NME – initially titled the New Musical Express – was the bible of new music for many generations of music lovers looking for the next cool thing. It was readily available at all newsagents, but when that model went to the wall so did the NME’s print edition which closed in 2018 so that the brand could focus on its online operation.

Now, the physical magazine is back, according to an interview with COO Holly Bishop in Variety.

“We believe there’s value in scarcity, and you really see this in the hype and buzz that’s created in the fashion world, particularly around sneaker drops. We’re taking a similar approach to the magazine,” Bishop tells the magazine.

Deeper changes

An important detail: NME Networks was acquired in 2019 by Singapore-based Caldecott Music Group, a music industry investor and the owner of music-making app BandLab that also boasts a suite of musical instrument brands in its portfolio, as well as the music retailer Dawsons, whose online shop will stock the magazine’s limited runs.

The result is that the new-look and feel NME is less about building reach in the old model of the magazine business. This is much more about speaking to a much smaller group of much more valuable users of the group’s technologies, instruments, or simply to tastemakers.

• The move is analogous to financial services giant American Express’ acquisition of The Infatuation, a food discovery and reviews site, arguably to drive more card spending.
• Elsewhere, Hoka running shoes have also demonstrated success in limiting distribution to the specialist retailers that cater to a highly-dedicated community.

Key quote

“With our print proposition, we’ve fundamentally shifted away from an advertising and newsstand model and instead, we’ve really taken it back to focusing on creating a product that will add value for NME super fans and also immortalize the emerging artists that we select for the cover in the way that only print can,” says Bishop.

“That diverse mix of brands and products ensures we’re more resilient to the market conditions, which means we can continue investing and it’s not necessarily about driving the profit out of one particular product at any particular point of time.”

Sourced from Variety, WARC, Music Business Worldwide