NME Breakthrough – created by social publishing and engagement solutions provider Webjam – allows bands, artists and individual users to upload their own content including music and video, creating completely customisable profiles for themselves or their acts, enabling them to grow their own fan bases through community engagement.
NME Breakthrough will be fully integrated with NME’s editorial regime. NME’s RADAR section – which sees new music editor Jaimie Hodgson discovering and sharing the best new artists around – will be using it as a direct means of uncovering new talent as well as a new editorial space for highlighting the best new music out there.
Bands will be hand-picked to experience specific editorial and live opportunities, the first of which will see a chosen band perform the opening slot at this year’s Lovebox festival on 16th July. Playing on the main stage, the band will open for Dizzee Rascal, Noisettes, Ellie Goulding and The Maccabees.
David Moynihan, editor of NME.COM, says: “NME Breakthrough is a step for us in providing a channel for artists and our users to connect with each other. Our website and magazine play a key role in keeping our audience informed with the latest news and expert reviews, and this new social networking platform is giving our users direct interaction with bands.
It also acts as an important medium for bands to listen to what their fans want, through a simple rating feature. In addition, we are going to offer amazing opportunities on the site; the rewarded artists will perform at an NME Radar event as well as a key festival this summer.”
Lexie Mendelson, business development director at Webjam, adds: “We are thrilled to be part of this exciting process of bringing bands closer to their followers through the use of social networking. We believe NME is leading the way in taking the publishing industry forward by combining print with online as well as social media. It’s a great example of organisations understanding the importance of engaging with their target audience through ongoing conversations and interactions. A well implemented social media strategy can be the most cost-effective tool for user engagement.”
The NME Breakthrough website is sponsored by Blackberry until early June and will be fully supported by the weekly NME RADAR feature, NME newsletters, NME.COM, Twitter and Facebook.
NME Breakthrough is now live at www.nme.com/breakthrough
About NME
NME says: “The NME is the longest published and most respected music weekly in the world. Every week it gives its readers the most exciting, most authoritative coverage of the very best in contemporary music. The award-winning www.nme.com, launched in 1996, has grown to be the biggest commercial music news site in Europe.
NME.COM has earned worldwide respect for its rock music news and features, which are updated around the clock. Launched in 1996, NME.COM is famous for its groundbreaking music news, breadth of reviews and in-depth features."
About Webjam
Webjam says: “Webjam is a social publishing and engagement solutions provider enabling you to connect with your customers and employees. Webjam allows companies to manage their online reputation into a single branded environment, in which content is created and shared easily, communities grow naturally and social media networks integrate seamlessly.”
