After 66 years of rock history, the iconic music magazine NME has announced today that it is ending its print edition as it's “no longer financially viable.”

The legendary magazine, which championed the likes of The Rolling Stones, The Smiths, Blur and Oasis, became free in 2015 in a bid to halt a plummeting circulation.

NME enjoyed a peak readership of 306,000 in 1964 when The Beatles and other major rock bands were cover stars. Its influence remained throughout the '70s. However, circulation began to fall with the arrival of the internet and social media. Fans no longer needed to wait for the weekly issue in order to be up with the latest music news and reviews. Despite handing out free copies of the magazine to student unions, music stores and tube stations, the print edition proved unsustainable in today's competitve digital landscape.

Paul Cheal, Time Inc. UK group managing director, Music, said: 'We have faced increasing production costs and a very tough print advertising market.

"Unfortunately we have now reached a point where the free weekly magazine is no longer financially viable. It is in the digital space where effort and investment will focus to secure a strong future for this famous brand."

Meanwhile in October, Condé Nast, the publisher of Glamour magazine, also announced they were stopping printing monthly. Instead, they are focussing on a digital-first strategy with a print edition coming out only twice a year.

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