NME REPORTS ITS HIGHEST ABC IN 64-YEAR HISTORY

11 February 2016 - Press release

NME, the iconic music brand, today announces its first free-distribution ABC release of 307,217. This follows the magazine’s re-launch in September as a free print product, with a widened content remit and a unique nationwide distribution footprint. At the same time, independent research conducted by YouGov demonstrates the new approach is resonating with NME’s target audience of 18-34 year-olds, resulting in a very positive response from advertisers.

Highlights from NME’s new distribution footprint: 

·         NME now available in 238 towns and cities, with more locations added every week 

·         delivered at scale nationwide, with 61% of locations outside of London

·         Copies available at almost 100 tube stations and 22 regional stations, along with an emphasis on innovating in the free distribution space:

o   Uniquely, copies are available every week at over 40 universities during term time, distributed by students acting as Brand Ambassadors

o   NME is accredited for distribution at UK festivals in 2016

o   Dr Martens and Richer Sounds added as new retail partners, complementing Topman and HMV

o   Selected distribution at urban convenience stores in high density areas of 18-34 year-olds

Highlights from YouGov Survey:

·         NME is delivering a gender-neutral audience, with reach of over 40% amongst females

·         47% of this audience are ABC1 with real spending power

·         And they are fully engaged in NME’s widened content remit: music is the most popular content category, but film, fashion and food score highly, too 

The new NME magazine has already proven its appeal to a wide range of advertisers. Adam Crow, head of print brands at Mediacom, comments: “The all new NME freemium model with its highly targeted nationwide footprint is making great strides in reaching a traditionally hard to reach audience, including university campuses.” 

Jo Blake, head of publishing and outdoor, for Havas Media Group, adds: “Clearly music is the heartbeat of the new NME, but its broader approach to content illustrates great insight into its millennial audience and one which resonates with a wide range of our clients.”

Paul Cheal, managing director, Time Inc. UK’s Innovation Group, says: “NME magazine plays a key role in our multiplatform proposition. Not only are we now reaching more people every week in print but there has been a compound effect on our other platforms: in December NME.COM had 5.6m Unique Users, up 25% year-on-year and a combined social following of 2.1m, an increase of 24% on the year. And while NME continues to evolve, it also continues to spark debate, divide opinions and – when you look at the array of talent on the covers – play a key influential role in music, film and beyond.”

NME launched as a new free print product on September 18 2015 with its biggest advertising revenue issue in 10 years. Since launch, NME has featured the likes of Rihanna, Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, Daniel Radcliffe, Robert Pattinson, Grimes and Bloc Party on its cover.