British music publishing brand NME is to launch a monthly print magazine in Australia. It’s a publishing niche that is littered with brave attempts in this country and now all of a sudden there are two major brands rolling off the presses in May. The other title is the re-birth of Rolling Stone Australia next month.
The NME print introduction follows last December’s launch of NME.com/Australia, and the addition of Australia exclusive award categories at the 2020 NME Awards in February.
CEO of BandLab Technologies which controls the NME licence, Meng Ru Kuok, said: “Since the launch of our NME Australia site in December 2019, we’ve seen huge interest from fans, artists and the music industry, with half a million monthly Australian readers visiting NME.com/Australia for their music and pop culture fix.
“While the print edition in the UK is still on hiatus, we decided there was nowhere better to re-introduce print than Australia. It’s a big country with one of the most dynamic music scenes in the world right now, and of course, there’s no better time than now, when people are seeking compelling content, engaging news and home-based entertainment.”
The first edition will include a cover feature on Tash Sultana, plus NME talks to Mallrat on her upcoming debut album: “We only want to make aspirational music”, Cable Ties share their approach to making music in dangerous times: “Find something to fight for and be hopeful about”; while Riz Ahmed speaks about growing up in the UK, his rap career and his new album The Long Goodbye.
NME has assembled a group of Aussie music and pop culture writers, supported by its editorial teams in Singapore and London. Aussie contributors in the first issue include (in alphabetical order) Luke Buckmaster, Kate Hennessy, Chris Hooton, Ian Laidlaw, Brodie Lancaster, Kara Eva Schlegl, Andrew P Street, and Cyclone Wehner.
The magazine will retail for $12.95 with a six month subscription available for $41.22. The first edition is expected on newsstands during the week of May 11.