Since the Internet has
established itself as a more convenient way to receive news all forms of print
Journalism i.e Newspapers and Magazines have had to adjust to the changes in
the times and make sure that they are still competing with the online mediums.
A magazine I believe has managed to acclimatize well is the NME (New Musical
Express) which was first published in 1952. Since its formation it has
undergone many transitions in order to keep itself up to date. It originally
started as a Music newspaper and took on a generic tabloid format until it
gradually took on the role of a Music magazine. Even in its early days the NME
showed innovation in order to keep
itself circulating by shaking off the rigid type of reporting people were used
to and introducing a more Gonzo inspired writing style which back in the 70’s
not only stopped its closure but also established the NME as the dominant Music
magazine in the U.K. Bringing in writers of this ilk was a fresh change and
came at the right time as the general public at the time were starting to
become a little more outspoken themselves and consequently appreciated the
edgier style of writing the NME were offering.
In my
opinion the NME has shown innovation throughout its existence and has now
managed to establish itself as more of a brand than just a magazine. It has
managed to diversify itself to great effect which is why it can now sit on its
throne at the top of the British music scenes hierarchy. Aside from its primary
focus which is of course to keep people up to date with the goings on in the
music industry; it now has many other strings to its bow. The NME now has a
stage at Reading and Leeds festivals, two of the biggest music festivals in the
country which signifies its standing in the music industry. It also has an
annual tour which promotes upcoming bands and has been a valuable starting
point for bands such as The Killers, Arctic Monkeys and Kaiser Chiefs to name a
few. The NME also hosts an Awards ceremony each year which commends artists for
their contribution to music and is considered a prestigious event to people in
the Music industry all whilst carrying on the spirit of the NME. The winners
are voted for by the readers of the magazine
In 1996
the NME jumped on the bandwagon and launched the online version of their
magazine NME.com and it now sits as the world's largest standalone music site,
with over 7 million people using the site every month. That in itself is a
phenomenal achievement as it is a very competitive market with lots of big websites
competing with them. NME has managed to reach this position as the pre-eminent
place for music due to its long standing reputation but also with its
innovative ideas that constantly attract new readers/viewers. It has added a
film and tv section to the magazine that would have naturally attracted new
readers and also has a large online merchandise department. Nowadays the
magazine sales have dropped but that isn’t necessarily the end of the world as
it is still profitable but also the website is what generates the most outcome.
The store sells a large collection of music memorabilia including band
T-shirts, old magazine editions and records amongst many other products. The
site also receives a lot of money through advertisement and as it has a large
online presence with not only its main site but others scattered around the
world.
I
believe in order for a magazine to show innovation the best way for them to do
that is to make sure that they stay relevant to contemporary culture. The NME
has spanned several generations and seen many cultural changes it has had to
adapt to. Many different movements it has to cater for but also all the changes
in technology that a business like NME have to take into account. When the
internet came along it introduced lots of opportunities for companies and with
the introduction of their sites the NME adapted quickly and since then has also
managed to successfully take advantage of the benefits social networking has to
offer. They have several Twitter accounts which they use to regularly tweet
their newest articles with links to their site. They also tweet competitions to
win tickets to concerts and exclusive tracks all of which get seen by their
thousands of follows and draw in interest for their site. They also have an
equally strong Facebook page which is regularly updated with the latest news
which users can then share amongst their friends and generate more views that
way. Another benefit of using social media in this way is that it gives the
readers and audience a chance to interact and give their opinions on stories or
whatever the particular topic might be. Having a good social media department
is an important job as any for today’s journalism outlets as they are an
invaluable way of communicating with the audience but also finding out
information from them. It also makes it a lot easier for the audience to get
involved with competitions and polls and obviously this is appealing to today’s
society as everything is made easier and efficient and takes minimal effort
from someone to apply for a competition or leave their opinion in a comment. A
big advance they made more recently came when they made a digital version of
the magazine which people get online or on their Ipads as oppose to the hard
copy of the magazine. This change came about in 2011 a time when smartphones
had just taken over the telephone market and Ipad’s were the must have gadget.
The same year it also launched a Festival app that gave festival goers
information on the weekends itinerary and that summer was downloaded over
30,000 times.
Obviously some people would say that the changes the NME
have made in its 50 plus years in operation were just natural progressions that
they would have had to have made anyway to stay competitive. However I think
that the way they have gone about it and the extra perks they offer e.g all the
exclusive interviews, free downloads and vast amounts of content make them
superior to magazines of their ilk. They have managed to dominate their market
because of this and diversify into many other fields and become a very healthy
profitable business whilst managing to keep the company ethos that attracted so
many people to the magazine in the first place. Innovation is quite a loose,
subjective term in my opinion but I feel that as far as magazine journalism is
concerned NME magazine has shown large amounts of this in its time and
continues to today. The main aim of any business in reality is to make money
and the fact that the magazine itself still manages to be profitable despite
large parts of the companies attentions having turned elsewhere and is the
leading website for music speaks for itself. To be able to do this shows that
the people working there are showing great amounts of innovation in order to
keep them in this position. In terms of content the magazine still offers edgy
writing reminiscent of the gonzo writers of their past and as one of the most
well respected music magazines in the world they manage to get the best
interviews with the best people making for the best read.
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