Conor McNicholas is editor of IPC-run music magazine The New Musical Express, better known as the NME. He sold the magazine down the river in the early 2000s by focusing on inconsequential tabloid rubbish and loads of boring identikit, indie-schmindley, pseudo-rebellious bands. He also bears an uncanny resemblance to a rodent, but has never let this get in the way of his magazine's worship of groundbreaking artists such as Dominic Masters. IPC Media the UKs leading consumer magazine publisher, with an unrivalled portfolio of brands, selling over 350 million copies each year. ... The New Musical Express (better known as the NME) is a weekly magazine about popular music published in the UK. It is unlike many other popular music magazines due to its intended focus on guitar-based music and indie rock bands, instead of mainstream pop acts. ...

His first professional post on a magazine was on a fledgling Manchester publication called Sub where he wrote a spoof horoscope under the pen name of Snufkin, which was not all funny. McNicholas went on to write for the dance press holding senior positions at both Ministry and Mixmag magazines before going on to edit Muzik. March 2007 issue Mixmag styles itself as, the worlds biggest dance music and clubbing magazine, with a circulation of 41,757 and a readership of 304,000. ... A UK dance music magazine published by IPC Media from 1995 to 2003. ...

In recent years he has turned the NME into a mainstream pop-magazine, with Lily Allen and The Mighty Boosh appearing on the front cover.

During his editorship Conor has won several industry awards including Consumer Magazine Editor of the Year (Periodical Publishers Association Editorial and Publishing Excellence Awards, May 2005), Entertainment Magazine Editor of the Year (British Society of Magazine Editors, November 2005), Tour of the Year for the NME Awards Tour 2006 (Vodafone Live Music Awards, October 2006), Editor of the Year and Music Magazine of the Year (Record of the Day Music Journalism and PR Awards, November 2006 ) and Brand Building Initiative of the Year for Club NME (British Society of Magazine Editors, November 2006). In October 2007 Conor was listed as one of the 1000 most influential people in London by the Evening Standard. Headlines of the Evening Standard on the day of London bombing on July 7, 2005, in Waterloo Station The Evening Standard is a British tabloid newspaper published and sold in London and surrounding areas of southeast England. ...

In 2007 Conor was one of the judges for the Mercury Music Prize. The winning album was Myths Of The Near Future by Klaxons. The Mercury Music Prize, now officially known as the Nationwide Mercury Prize, is a music award given annually for the best British or Irish album of the previous 12 months. ... Myths of the Near Future, a short-story collection by J. G. Ballard, contains the following stories: Myths of the Near Future Having a Wonderful Time A Host of Furious Fancies Zodiac 2000 News from the Sun Theatre of War The Dead Time The Smile Motel Architecture The Intensive Care... Klaxons are a Mercury Prize winning English band, based in London. ...

However, there has been some criticism over McNicholas's reign as editor, especially over claims that the quality of writing had slipped, the genres of music covered have become less broad and that the magazine now contains less content than in previous years.