NME has confirmed it will no longer publish content specifically for an Australian market, with the dedicated NME Australia brand being folded into the music media giant’s global operations.
The news was shared online earlier this afternoon (April 15), when NME Australia’s social media pages confirmed they’d no longer be active – all Australian content will now be published under the flagship NME title (ergo plugged socially through those accounts), which has its editorial base in the UK. It makes a lot of sense: NME Australia’s now-defunct Twitter page, for example, has just over 2,260 followers compared to the 886,000 on @NME.
In an email sent to contributors of NME Australia, obtained independently by TheMusic.com.au, a representative of the brand confirmed NME will “no longer be identifying content as specifically NME Australia,” claiming that all published material “will be represented through our credible and established global channels, delivering increased visibility for all of our stories”.
It comes after a lengthy string of downsizings for the Australian offshoot of NME: the final edition of its print magazine arrived in early February 2023, with its dedicated newsroom being closed at the end of the same month. The brand’s head of marketing, Benedict Ransley, said at the time (per Mumbrella) that NME had “extremely exciting plans ahead for both NME and NME Australia to serve both artists and audiences”.
“Discovery remains at the heart of NME,” Ransley continued, “and we’re doubling down on bringing our audiences the hottest new artists and bands in the world, plus everything worthy of their attention in the world of entertainment.
NME Australia was initially launched in December 2019, shortly after the NME brand was sold to Singaporean company BandLab. The publication was headquartered out of Singapore for the entirety of its run.
Meanwhile NME’s global brand has been thriving. A new print magazine, “inspired by the resurgence we’ve seen in vinyl and cassette tapes” (according to COO Holly Bishop), was launched last July, and has been released on a regular basis since. The most recent issue features Chappell Roan on the cover.
