After much speculation about the future of music magazine NME in recent months, it's been revealed that it will become a freesheet in September.
The magazine is 63 years old, but has experienced dwindling print sales since the advent of the Internet and is now down to a measly 15,000 print run.
However, that will be increased to 300,000 in the coming months as the magazine goes free and will be distributed on commuter routes in London. It will also be available on university campuses around the UK, and some retail partners will also give away copies in-store.
The company that owns the magazine, TIme Inc. UK, will hope to recoup the loss of the print run's revenue in sponsorship, ads and by boosting its online profile at NME.com.
Marcus Rich, head of Time Inc. UK, said: "This famous 63 year old brand was an early leader in digital and has been growing its global audience successfully for the best part of 20 years. It has been able to do so because music is such an important passion and now is the right time to invest in bringing NME to an even bigger community for our commercial partners".
The new freesheet version of the magazine will launch on September 18th.
