NME.com has celebrated its first 10 years with plans to take the brand to the US.
The website, which has 1.6 million users a month, generating 19m page impressions, is hiring two American based news editors and has launched a digital version of the magazine to push the brand in the US.
NME.com editor Ben Perreau said the moves were part of a major brand extension across the Atlantic over the next year, with Club NME launching in Los Angeles and New York. Perreau said: "The American audience can wake up to consistent news stories that run through their day — which means more visits for us and we can provide much more relevant coverage."
The digital NME was in a "soft launch" period according to Perreau, who added: "Its strongest place [the US] is going to be where it takes a long time to get the physical product out there. It takes two weeks in the States and that's just too slow. These days no one's prepared to deal with news that's two weeks old."
Related
NME.com was conceived in 1996, when its creators realised they had to establish a music news service because "if we didn't we knew someone else would", said Perreau.
He added: "It started off as a brand extension and in the old days websites were just promotional tools for the magazines, but now we run our own separate profit and loss account and are making a healthy profit in our own right. We are part of the business, in ourselves."
The website celebrated with a birthday bash at Koko in Camden last week.
Content from our partners
Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog
