Ali Shutler
Ali Shutler links chart pop, alternative music and fan culture with the ways songs travel through festivals, streaming platforms and games, writing news and features for NME and other music and culture titles. A freelance culture journalist specialising in music, he covers everything from breakout chart acts to legacy artists whose catalogues are resurfacing for new audiences. His work often focuses on how audiences rediscover songs via TikTok, streaming or in‑game soundtracks, and how artists respond to that renewed attention.
Streaming-era pop stories
Shutler’s NME coverage frequently tracks how songs find second lives in the streaming era, treating virality and catalogue access as part of the story of a track rather than background noise. In his reporting on Yoko Ono’s 1971 track “Listen, The Snow Is Falling” finally becoming available to stream, he situates the song in its original context as a B‑side while underlining the significance of it entering modern platforms decades later. He writes about revived hits such as Zara Larsson’s “Lush Life” by tying the TikTok-driven resurgence to the artist’s present-day career and live sets, showing how a back-catalogue single becomes a current headline moment when fans re-adopt it.
Beyond individual tracks, he contributes to round-ups that distil a year’s listening into curated lists, such as NME’s selection of the best songs released in 2021. Pieces like this show him working within multi-writer packages while still bringing a point of view about what has genuinely soundtracked the year, balancing chart success with critical excitement. Across these streaming-era stories, he writes in a clear, news-forward style that keeps the focus on the music and the audience rather than on platform mechanics, but platforms remain a constant frame for understanding why a song matters now.
Live pop performances and festival moments
Shutler also covers how online success and fan behaviour play out on stage, using festival reports to show the feedback loop between virality and performance. In his piece on Zara Larsson thanking fans for the TikTok revival of “Lush Life” during her Open’er 2026 set, he treats the moment as evidence of how an audience can reshape an artist’s setlist and narrative years after release. He writes about the dynamics of big-pop shows—what artists say between songs, how crowds respond to revived hits, and how a festival slot can double as a thank-you note to an online fanbase—so that the live review becomes a continuation of the streaming story rather than a separate lane.
These live-focused articles tend to be tight, scene-based accounts rather than long essays, but they consistently flag the relationship between major pop performers and the communities that carry their songs across platforms and events. For communications teams, this means his festival writing is less about logistics and more about the emotional and cultural beats that define an artist’s current moment.
Music, gaming and cultural crossovers
Another recurring thread in Shutler’s work is the intersection between music and other cultural mediums, particularly video games and visual art. His feature on “Call Of Duty: Black Ops 6” examines the game’s soundtrack as a deliberate “love letter to the early ’90s”, digging into how it draws on the sound and mood of bands like Nirvana and Alice In Chains. In that piece he treats the score like any other rock project, paying attention to influences, guitar tones and atmosphere rather than reducing it to background noise, and shows how game music can function as a gateway into alternative rock for players.
Shutler’s byline also appears on coverage of artist-led campaigns such as the collaboration of 29 artists who banded together around work aimed at pushing the Equal Rights Amendment back into public focus. In that story he frames the project through the artists’ intentions and the visual language they use, while connecting it to broader conversations about rights and representation. Taken together, these cross-over pieces show a journalist who treats music not only as entertainment but as a connective tissue linking games, art and social issues, and who is comfortable explaining those links to readers who may come from any part of that cultural map.
Profiles of emerging chart artists
Alongside his NME work, Shutler writes longer-form pieces about rising pop acts for other outlets, focusing on how young artists find their place in the charts and in fan culture. His profile of Mimi Webb at The Telegraph introduces her as a 21-year-old “chart darling” with only an EP to her name, and anchors her story in details such as her audience and the support of high-profile admirers like Lewis Capaldi. The piece reflects his interest in early-career stages, when an artist’s trajectory is still being defined and small shifts in exposure or fandom can have outsized effects.
Across publications, his bylines span titles including NME, The Telegraph, Vice, The Independent, Dork and Upset, signalling a focus on music and culture rather than general news. Whether he is profiling a new pop hopeful, unpacking a cult soundtrack or documenting a classic track’s arrival on streaming, his coverage centres on how songs move through time, platforms and communities, and what that movement means for the artists behind them.
4 more music journalists.
Abby Webster
Abby Webster zeroes in on the storytelling side of contemporary pop, writing for Billboard about how songs build worlds around K-pop groups, fictional pop stars and ambitious soundtracks. She covers K-pop projects through close, song-by-song features, like her track-by-track piece with SEVENTEEN’s Vernon and The 8 on their EP ‘V8,’ and fan-centered lists such as “7 Best Moments from BTS’ Long-Awaited Return.” She treats soundtracks and fictional acts with the same rigor, mapping the inspirations behind “The Vampire Lestat” soundtrack and profiling in-universe groups like HUNTR/X and Saja Boys as if they were chart acts. Through Chart Beat stories on projects like “KPop Demon Hunters,” she connects these releases to industry strategy, global fandom, and the business systems that turn pop narratives into durable IP.
Alex Suskind
Alex Suskind is a freelance writer and editor who covers music with concise news stories and curated release lists. He focuses on new songs, album roundups, and archival access, from Carly Rae Jepsen’s “On Wires” to Neil Young opening his full catalog to residents of Greenland. His reporting stays close to the release cycle and foregrounds the core hook of each story. He has written for Pitchfork and has freelance work in Vulture, The Guardian, The New York Times, Vanity Fair, and The Atlantic. He also covers broader arts and culture, but his music beat is built around what is newly out now or newly available.
Annette Sharp
Annette Sharp is a veteran gossip and entertainment columnist known for direct, opinion-led coverage of celebrity power struggles and reputational crises across television and the music industry. She now writes high-profile columns for the masthead, after a decade on a well-read gossip column and a move to News Corp in 2008. Her real beat is the friction between public image and behind-the-scenes behaviour on flagship TV programs, including breakfast shows, reality formats and other long-running franchises. She focuses on who drives conflicts, who is exposed and who benefits, using ratings history, production decisions and industry mechanics as context. Sharp covers on-air personalities, executives, advisers and musicians, treating television and music as workplaces with competing egos, contracts and alliances, and blending reporting, media commentary and critique in a narrative column format.
Annie Marino
Annie Marino is an editorial assistant who covers how music acts and character-driven entertainment turn into toys, collectibles, and recurring content. She works across The Toy Book, The Toy Insider, and The Pop Insider. Her beat sits at the meeting point of music, pop culture personalities, and the toy and collectibles market, with a focus on news about new launches and branded releases. She reports on music icons becoming collectible dolls, tracking how toy makers position performers within signature ranges and licensed collaborations. She also covers kids’ characters and animated content tied to toys and children’s media, following new cartoon episodes that keep brands active for young audiences. Across her stories, she treats artist branding and character-led storytelling as product strategy, watching how entertainment becomes tangible merchandise and ongoing content for fans.