NME refutes Vice claim the magazine will drop its cover price to combat sales slump
NME has denied a Vice report claiming that the magazine will drop its cover price later this month - although a spokesperson never commented whether the magazine would become free in the future.
The British weekly music magazine was reportedly going to carry a cover price for the last time next week, becoming free for the first time since its launch in March 1952.
A spokesperson for NME’s UK publisher Time Inc. UK, told Buzzfeed editor-in-chief Luke Lewis that Vice’s report was “categorically” untrue, adding that next week’s edition will not be the last paid NME issue.
Time Inc statement re: NME pic.twitter.com/nBVrZRF5Vu
— Luke Lewis (@lukelewis) February 17, 2015
The speculation emerged amid dropping circulation figures for the £2.40 publication. Between July 2014 and January 2015, the total average print and digital circulation dropped to 15,384.