There's been a fair bit of chatter recently about the fact that, as newspapers gradually move onto the web, the art of headline-writing is undergoing a pretty big change. It has to; keywords are what it's about when it comes to article headlines on the web. No keywords, no hits.

Having said that, is it not just another challenge to come up with amusing and / or imaginative headlines incorporating search engine-friendly keywords? Whatever, it's a challenge NME don't appear to be interested in. As a certain music / media / everything festival has just kicked off across the pond, let's have a looksee at the SXSW-related headlines on their site, shall we?

- REM's Michael Stipe pays tribute to Heath Ledger at SXSW

- The Duke Spirit wrap up KCRW showcase at SXSW

- Daryl Hall lets his hair down at SXSW

- The Ting Tings play rousing SXSW set in Austin pool hall

- Katie White and Jules De Martino draw a big crowd in Texas

- SXSW: The Kills play second gig of the day

- Sons And Daughters rock Antone's at SXSW

- Lightspeed Champion reveals SXSW Playboy party plans

- Ra Ra Riot perform album teaser at SXSW

- The Kills attract buzz-band crowd at SXSW

- Van Morrison bans drinking during SXSW show

- The Cool Kids play 'on the fly' SXSW show

- SXSW: Holy Fuck induce mass dancing in tiny venue

- REM, Van Morrison and The Kills to launch SXSW nightime

- The Raveonettes draw massive crowd at SXSW

- Does It Offend You, Yeah? make suprise collaboration at SXSW

- The Whip pop their US cherry at SXSW

- White Denim get things sweaty at SXSW 2008

- A Place to Bury Strangers kick off SXSW day one

- The Spinto Band and The Raveonettes to start SXSW 2008

- REM, Van Morrison, The Raveonettes at SXSW

Oops! I think that Katie White and Jules De Martino header missed out the golden letters!

Now I know NME is probably the biggest brand on the net as far as music coverage goes. The way it's adapted to the advances of online journalism puts many established print media organisations to shame. And to remain at that level, and compensate for falling magazine circulations, they need to rake in the online readership. I get all that. But does hit-raking need to be at the expense of imaginative headline-writing?

When I read NME as a teenager I loathed the old farts who would write in to the letters page and complain that the paper (as it was back then) wasn't as good as it was in their day. And I'm aware that the point I'm making here could be taken as the modern equivalent to that. And yes, on this site we too are slaves to keywords in headlines (hey, see the post below this one for example), but I like to think we try and use a little personality at the same time.

Looking at the prosaic headlines in NME's SXSW section my obviously self-righteous, idealistic heart sank just a bit, that's all I'm saying. Compared to the likes of Stereogum and Idolator, for example, there's something a bit flat about their approach. Maybe I've just spent too long reading blogs and have a lower tolerance for the kind of informative-but-dull article headers you find on established news sites.

Of course, fans of The Ting-Tings and Lightspeed Champion won't really mind - they just want to be able to find the news on their favourite acts quickly, and that's understandable. This is more of a net-nerd complaint than a musical one. But am I the only one who thinks NME could do a little better?

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