The NME is reporting its lowest sales in years and bands are finding it harder and harder to sell records but is it simply a sign of the times or is something more sinister going on? Ruth Ni Leannachain investigates.
Indie rag NME is desperately looking for new acts that fall into line with their brand, a quick glance of their covers in 2012 throws up images of old legends (Joe Stummer, Noel Gallagher and Ian Brown) and puffed up heroin user Pete Doherty (who is now going by Peter, apparently) as well as collages of artists who are probably doing something or other for charity or talking about the latest record they’re “producing”. The once credible magazine has though, in what seems to be an act of desperation to shift units featured Lana Del Rey, who is notably the only new artist with some kind of controversial headline. So, is the NME totally to blame or has the kind of music they championed simply fizzled out?A quick glance at the Official UK Charts in 2007 throws up offerings which include Arctic Monkeys, The Kaiser Chiefs, Manic Street Preachers and The View. It was also the year in which Oasis were awarded a Brit for their outstanding contribution to music and The Raconteurs, Kasabian, The Kooks and Razorlight were all honoured in what seems to be an indicator of the zeitgeist of popular music. The media was saturated with bands in tight jeans and Topman jackets and it seemed even pop music was taking note, with several manufactured acts hopping on the bandwagon.The same charts in 2012, however, show a very different trend. The guitar filled music with which we have become accustomed has been replaced instead with synthesizers, X-Factor rejects and Lady Gaga tribute groups, in a way that is so drastic that The Guardian has proclaimed Indie music to be officially dead. But is it really dead or has it simply changed?Even the most devout of Indie fans must admit that the trend quickly became embarrassing with every band in London donning too-tight-jeans and a trilby in an attempt to pick up the fans that The Libertines had left lost somewhere in Camden still clinging on to the “Arcadian Dream”.In this writer’s opinion, the old Indie music we know has died, but it’s no tragedy. In its place we have an array of new and exciting musicians (Jake Bugg, for example) who are bringing their own brand of guitar music to their fans; music with real depth and passion. It’s not dead, it’s simply changing and evolving and a little harder to find. But then again, doesn’t that almost make it nicer?
