David Bowie appears on the cover of the all-new NME, unveiled this week

The definitive music magazine relaunches on Wednesday

The new issue of NME, on sale nationwide from October 9, will be the unveiling of a major new look. It has an extra-special cover featuring a brand new, exclusive photo of David Bowie, art-directed by the man himself – scroll down to see it.

Celebrating the impending release of ‘The Next Day Extra’, we speak to Bowie acolytes including Pixies man Frank Black, Trent Reznor and St Vincent about what makes him so special, while producer Tony Visconti talks us through the new material on the expanded edition of Bowie’s surprise, 2013 comeback album.

The changes to the weekly magazine begin with the cover’s new look and heavyweight paper – plus a new, more compact page size. Inside, familiar sections have been improved and expanded, and new features have been added throughout.

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“You could call the changes to NME a redesign, but we prefer to think of it as a reinvention,” says editor Mike Williams, pictured. “And in the spirit of reinvention, only one artist could grace this week’s cover: David Bowie. David Bowie is the cosmic umbilical cord that connects the past, present and future of music. The new NME aims to be the definitive guide to all the above.”

Major changes include an expanded Radar section, meaning more new band recommendations per week, plus tips from columnists such as producer Dave Sitek and DJ Huw Stephens. On Repeat has doubled in size, with twice the number of new tracks will recommended by NME writers and streamed on NME.COM each issue.

Launching this week is the brand new Official Record Store Chart, which ranks albums sold in independent stores nationwide. It’s a homecoming of sorts – the very first UK singles chart was published in NME in 1952.

There’s also a new Guide section that not only tells you about great gigs and events happening this week, but alerts you to the tickets going on sale too, so you won’t miss out again. There’s an accompanying Staying In guide telling you about all the best music-related entertainment available from your armchair.

Elsewhere, the Reviews section rates more albums and gigs than before, and opening the magazine, and new section The Week packs in seven days of big stories and new recurring features including The Soundtrack Of My Life, in which an artist talks us through their life in music.

Check out the changes when the issue hits newsstands on Wednesday, for the same price of £2.40 (in the UK) – and be sure to tell us what you think of it here on NME.COM and via letters@nme.com.

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