Time Inc. UK has today announced that NME will be ceasing print publication of its free weekly magazine in order to focus investment on further expanding NME’s digital audience. This week’s issue of the magazine out on Friday will be the final free print edition.

Since launching 21 years ago, the award-winning nme.com has established a leading position in the music space and now attracts more than 3m UK unique users and more than 13m global unique users each month.

As part of NME’s digital expansion, it is launching a number of new services. NME Audio, comprising two new music channels – NME 1 and NME 2 – is available on Regional DAB, the TuneIn App and on nme.com. NME 1 will champion new talent on NME’s radar and NME 2 will feature a range of artists and NME classics. In addition, a new weekly franchise, The Big Read, is to launch on nme.com, replacing the weekly cover star interview. This in-depth feature will also be the lead item in a weekly curation of nme.com’s biggest stories available in the App Store. 

Additional digital developments for NME include enhancements to its ticketing service and membership offering, as well as to its platform for supporting new talent, NME Emerging, through a partnership with fan and artist marketplace PledgeMusic.

NME will continue to publish special issues in print, such as its new paid-for series NME Gold. NME will also be exploring other opportunities to bring its best in class music journalism to market in print.