The unique alliance – built on the shared belief in the power of live music – is the third consecutive year Austin, Texas has signed up to sponsor the NME Awards. New to the 2016 campaign are more Austin-branded live events, an expanded awards calendar and bespoke activations utilising the new distribution network. As part of the six-month partnership, Austin, Texas will sponsor the Best International Band category at the awards.
The awards season will bring Austin, Texas to more UK and global music fans as NME's digital and social media reach continues to expand and the national distribution of 300,000 free copies of NME's print edition starts this September, say the publishers.
Romano Sidoli, Time Inc. UK group advertising director, says: "I am thrilled to welcome back Austin, Texas for next year's awards. Having a commercial partner return for a third year as headline sponsor is indicative of the value of the relationship and NME's ability to leverage its platforms to offer authentic delivery of its partners' messaging. This partnership demonstrates the brand's international influence and the support we have from commercial partners for the brand transformation, which brings new potential for our clients."
Mike Williams, NME editor, adds: "This is an exciting time for NME – the good news keeps coming – and this year we're on a mission to bring the NME Awards and Austin, Texas to a bigger audience than ever. NME Awards season always creates a massive buzz, and I'm already looking forward to seeing who's going to be staggering home with those iconic trophies next February."
Bob Lander, president & CEO of the Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau adds: "Following the huge success of both the 2014 and 2015 Awards partnership and positive feedback, we are delighted to be able to continue to build on the momentum and awareness achieved and bring even more exposure to our Live Music Capital of the World. Visitors from the UK represent our number one overseas market and with the daily non-stop British Airways flight, increasing its capacity later this year, we have our sights firmly set on harnessing the current excitement around our destination and growing the UK market. Our partnership with NME is definitely helping us achieve that objective – 89% of readers polled this year are considering a visit to Austin, versus 56% of those questioned before the campaign launched last year."
