NME editor Mike Williams is "phenomenally pleased" with initial responses to the news that NME is going free, but is keen to emphasise that "music is absolutely, unequivocally, the heartbeat of the brand".

Speaking to Music Week after news broke yesterday that the magazine would drop its retail price from September 18, Williams (pictured) said: "The headline news is that NME has gone free as a weekly magazine, but the story as far as we're concerned is that this ...