The Guardian view on the death of NME: the end of an era | Editorial

The news that the music weekly will no longer appear in print is unsurprising. Where should we look for the sense of excitement it once offered?It would be silly to mourn the demise of NME, which is closing its print edition after 66 years, maintaining only its painful digital existence. This is not because popular music does not matter – that fight was over decades ago – nor even because the magazine became so associated with one particular form. But NME’s heyday was long past and, though the closure is bad news for staff, it is hard to imagine current readers weeping. As an ad-funded free title, no one thought it thrilling, essential or even surprising. The growing sense of profits overruling passions didn’t help. It was superfluous and disposable: something you picked up, passed the time with and dropped again – the antithesis of its former status as a cherished artefact to hunt down and then hoard in a yellowing pile in your bedroom. Its aura was once burnished by scarcity; this is a world of cultural abundance.NME was rarely as cutting edge as it liked to think itself, overly in thrall to its own mythology (especially the “hip young gunslinger” punk years of Julie Burchill et al) and too often to a narrow band of music. In many ways it was less subversive than Smash Hits. For every Aaliyah, Public Enemy and Odd Future cover there were many more with Oasis (some blame the readers). For every radical voice there was one of rockist conservatism, busy constructing a... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2018-03-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #cutting edge #julie burchill #smash hits #public enemy #white men

Other Publishing stories related to: 'The Guardian view on the death of NME: the end of an era | Editorial'


Kevin Powers wins Guardian First Book Award

Author Kevin Powers wins the Guardian First Book Award for his 'unforgettable first novel' The Yellow Birds Continue reading at BBC News

[ BBC News | 2012-11-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book award


Powers wins Guardian First Book Award

Former soldier Kevin Powers has won the £10,000 Guardian First Book Award for novel The... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-11-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book award


Graywolf Press in ‘New Era’

Looking to leverage recent critical and financial successes, the literary publisher Graywolf Press is embarking on several new initiatives to further boost its visibility and to reflect that it is, in new marketing director Michael Taeckens’s words, “entering a new era.” Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2012-11-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #graywolf press


A New Era for Books: The Random House-Penguin Merger Is Just the Start

The biggest publishing companies have an easy plan to save their industry: Get bigger Continue reading at The Atlantic

[ The Atlantic | 2012-11-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Five debuts up for Guardian prize

Mumbai's slums, the Iraq war and the fall of Colonel Gaddafi are among the subjects covered by the five titles up for the 2012 Guardian First Book Award. Continue reading at BBC News

[ BBC News | 2012-11-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #iraq war #subjects covered #book award


Hudson on Guardian First Book shortlist

Kerry Hudson's debut for Chatto has scored a second prize shortlisting in a week, with a... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-11-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #kerry hudson #book shortlist


Cottrell Boyce wins Guardian Children's Fiction Prize

Frank Cottrell Boyce’s The Unforgotten Coat, published by Walker, has won the 2012 Guardian... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-10-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #fiction prize


Waterstones to sell Paperwhite 'end of the month'

The Kindle Paperwhite is go on sale through Waterstones stores by the end of the month, the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-10-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #waterstones stores #kindle paperwhite


Frankfurt Book Fair: ‘a new era dawns’

Publishers are looking to move beyond the “smoke screen” of erotica as the Frankfurt... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-10-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Agreement Could End Europe’s E-Book Price-Fixing Inquiry

The European Commission said it was prepared to drop its investigation after Apple and four publishers agreed to let retailers sell ebooks at a discount for two years. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2012-09-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #european commission #publishers agreed


Guardian First Book longlist announced

Small publisher Stinging Fly Press will compete against the major houses for the £10,000... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-08-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #major houses


Apple Wants DOJ to Wait Till End of Trial for Settlement With Three Publishers

Apple has opposed a government proposed judgment in an ebooks price-fixing lawsuit, stating that the judgement seeks to terminate and rewrite its contracts... Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2012-08-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Alternate endings for Hemingway novel revealed

Random House imprint William Heinemann has acquired rights in a unique edition of Ernest... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-08-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #acquired rights #unique edition


Guardian Books to publish Secret Footballer

Guardian Books is to publish a title by the newspaper's columnist The Secret Footballer.... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-07-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #guardian books #secret footballer


The Anniston Star to End Monday Edition in October

The publishers of The Anniston Star on Monday announced a series of changes to cut expenses while concentrating on digital growth, including the discontinuation of the Monday print edition of The Star and the Friday Escapes section. The changes com ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2012-07-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #monday announced #digital growth


Cambridge University Press ends printing after 400 years

More than 400 years of printing under the Cambridge University Press name is to end, with... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-06-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Six-year Google Books spat ends

Google has struck a deal to digitise French books, ending a six-year legal battle. Continue reading at BBC World

[ BBC World | 2012-06-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Google Strikes Deal to End Litigation With French Authors and Publishers

Google has struck a deal with two French organizations representing authors and book publishers, ending years of litigation. Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2012-06-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book publishers #french authors


MPA President and CEO Nina Link Stepping Down End of 2012

The MPA announced today that its president and CEO, Nina Link, will be stepping down at the end of the year. Link has held the position for 13 years, longer than any MPA president in the organization's 93-year history. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2012-06-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Guardian launches multimedia bookshop map

The Guardian is launching an interactive map of the UK and Ireland’s bookshops in... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-05-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #interactive map