The British music brand NME has launched in Asia, basing its third overseas branch in Singapore. The new team of journalists, a network spanning South East Asia, will at first focus on artists and events in Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines, but plan to expand their coverage over time. NME Asia will be led by former editor of Time Out Singapore, Iliyas Ong, and NPR writer Karen Gwee.
On the launch, Ong said ‘South East Asia has a proud musical heritage. Whether it’s trending pop styles, traditional music or a marriage of the two, artists in the region have pricked the ears of audiences worldwide – and we’re thrilled to be able to tell their stories’. Meng Ru Kuok, CEO of NME’s owner, BandLab Technologies, acknowledged that the launch comes at an unstable time in the industry, but that consumers will certainly reap its benefits, explaining that ‘Even though live events, tours and travel are on pause globally, there is still incredible creativity coming out of this region which we want to highlight’.
Kuok confesses that the work will not be easy, adding that ‘It’s challenging because we can’t get together and have those conversations in person… interviews are never as good as when you’re sitting in a room and speaking to someone face to face’. However, he says, the pandemic has also allowed writers to dedicate more time and energy to each piece; ‘At a normal time everyone would be running around doing reviews and shoots… It’s let people be more focused on the craft and making sure the product is good’. The CEO told Billboard that he is optimistic about the future of NME Asia: ‘Singapore is unique, it imports music very well and it tends to the indie music scene, in which NME is strong’.
NME Asia follows in the footsteps of the brand’s two other international branches, NME Australia and NME Japan, each of which has amassed a large and dedicated local following. In fact, NME Australia has become so successful that in April 2020 it relaunched the brand’s print magazine, which was discontinued in the UK in 2018 due to production costs.
NME, the New Musical Express, was established in London in 1952, initially operating as a trade magazine for musicians and fans of pioneering underground artists. It became the UK’s best-selling music magazine in the 1970’s and remains an iconic publication. NME was the first British magazine to include a singles chart, and produced weekly print issues for 66 years until moving online after financial troubles beginning in the mid-2010’s. The publication, along with Uncut Magazine, was sold to Singaporean music company BandLab Technologies in 2019, and has since shown promising signs of recovery.
