Joanna Magill
Joanna Magill writes about live music, musical theatre and fan culture for Radio Times, combining critical coverage with practical guidance on how to experience shows, tours and events in person. She is a digital writer for Immediate Media, specialising in live music and books, and works across the Going Out strand, responding to trending cultural events and entertainment. Her pieces sit at the point where music, performance and audience experience meet, with as much attention to tickets and access as to artistic detail.
Live music and tour tickets
Joanna’s music coverage centres on live performance and the logistics of seeing major acts on stage. In her piece on Muse’s Supermassive world tour, she reports on the tour announcement and sets out how readers can secure tickets for the band’s UK dates, framing the story around both the scale of the tour and the practicalities of getting into the shows. She treats tour news as an opportunity to explain pre-sale information, on-sale timings and booking routes, positioning the article as a service for fans planning their gig calendar.
This live-first approach aligns with her broader role at Radio Times, where she writes about Going Out according to what is breaking and trending. The focus on ticket access that appears in her theatre work also shapes her music pieces, so a rock tour story is not just about the band but about venues, dates, prices and booking platforms. That emphasis on how to attend rather than only what is happening distinguishes her from a straight news reporter on a music desk.
Musical theatre and West End reviews
Much of Joanna’s work sits inside the overlap between music and theatre, particularly West End and touring musical productions. Her review of The Misanthrope highlights Sandra Oh as “this production’s saving grace” and notes fellow cast members Helen George and Felicity Kendal, pairing a star-led perspective with a clear star rating to signal the show’s overall quality. In her High Society review, she describes the Cole Porter revival as “the levity we need” and then explains where the production is running and how long it remains on stage. Both pieces show her priority: assess the performances and tone of the show, then anchor that criticism in concrete information about where and when audiences can see it.
Joanna extends the same frame to music-heavy stage work. In Burlesque The Musical, she writes that Todrick Hall is “a revelation,” foregrounding his performance in a production built around pop music and spectacle. The article goes on to specify that the show is running at the Savoy Theatre, lists the preview and closing dates, and directs readers to SeatPlan and TodayTix to buy tickets, noting that they are selling quickly. Her Marie & Rosetta review focuses on Beverley Knight and the story of a “forgotten hero”, signalling the show’s roots in music history and the legacy of pioneering performers. Across these reviews, Joanna’s coverage connects the musical qualities of the productions, the work of high-profile singers and actors, and the practical steps required to be in the audience.
Going Out guides and fan culture
Beyond reviews, Joanna writes Going Out guides that blend entertainment expertise with consumer detail. Her coverage of new LEGO Star Wars sets explains the promotion around May the 4th, including the spend threshold required to receive a Millennium Falcon mini-build and the dates on which the offer applies. She also notes newly confirmed LEGO Mario Kart and Pokémon sets, signalling future releases that matter to franchise fans. The piece treats branded merchandise as part of fan culture, giving readers the key information they need to plan purchases in line with event-driven offers.
Her byline on Radio Times’ launch of a theatre podcast connects this consumer orientation with deeper arts coverage, as the podcast is positioned as a guide to the best West End shows and live performance. Taken together with her tickets-focused reviews, these guides show Joanna approaching entertainment as an ecosystem of shows, tours, tie-in products and audio platforms, all framed around how audiences discover and engage with culture in real time.
Books and wider arts writing
Joanna’s author bio at Immediate Media states that she specialises in live music and books, indicating that her cultural interests extend beyond stage and gigs into reading and literary culture. Outside Radio Times she writes an arts newsletter, Hear Me Art, where she discusses topics such as the gap between a children’s author’s public persona and the complexity found on the page, using individual creators to explore broader questions about how audiences read and interpret art. This strand of her work shows the same concern with the relationship between artist and audience that runs through her coverage of musicians and performers.
Her presence as a digital writer across multiple Immediate Media brands, including parenting site MadeForMums, reinforces the breadth of her cultural remit. Across these platforms, Joanna maintains a consistent focus on live experiences, creative work and the practical details that shape how people participate in culture, whether that means buying a tour ticket, choosing a West End show or following an author’s work.
4 more music journalists.
Abigail Kellett
Abigail Kellett is a news reporter at the Halifax Courier who stands out for visually led coverage that shows how culture, nightlife and local life play out on the ground. She documents gigs, festivals and major live shows at venues such as The Piece Hall through curated photo sets that capture atmosphere, crowd and setting as much as performers, and she uses extensive image galleries to tap reader nostalgia for nights out in Halifax town centre. Her beat spans arts, entertainment, going out, heritage, books and literary events, along with community life, people stories, local challenges, milestones, transport, regeneration, lifestyle and food. She reports through photographs, checklist-style features, reader-driven lists and roundups of most-read stories, turning announcements, programmes, author events, festivals, shop lists and everyday characters into stories about place, shared memory and how people spend their time.
Adam Lyon
Adam Lyon is a digital audience and content editor whose news beat sits at the intersection of Ayrshire’s cultural life, business environment and public affairs. He works for the Ayr Advertiser and as Digital Audience & Content Editor for Newsquest in the west of Scotland across multiple weekly titles. He covers Ayrshire news with a strong thread of music and local culture alongside business, courts and public affairs. He reports on music when it has a clear community or national hook, treating songs as news events rather than reviews. His business work explains how local firms and retail policy shape town centres. His court coverage uses round-ups of sheriff court cases to show patterns and outcomes. He also fronts video previews and is active in a football supporters trust community.
Adam Maidment
Adam Maidment is a senior What’s On and LGBTQ+ reporter whose work links big-name gigs, new venues and cultural flashpoints to everyday fan culture and inclusion. He covers music, nightlife and the wider cultural scene for the Manchester Evening News, focusing on how concerts, openings and immersive events land with real people and communities. His beat spans live music, arenas and stadiums, new restaurant and bar openings, food reviews, exhibitions, street art and nightlife infrastructure, with a particular focus on LGBTQ+ audiences and neighbourhoods. He reports on venue ambitions and problems, cultural institutions and equality issues, and franchise-led experiences, using straightforward, on-the-ground reporting and clear description. Drawing on a background in community reporting, he looks for underrepresented perspectives and uses social media, analytics and local sourcing to find stories where culture, identity and place meet.
Alison Brinkworth
Alison Brinkworth is a freelance journalist who treats music as a gateway into place, history and everyday life, often through exhibitions, performances and city-centre events. She covers music within the wider cultural and lifestyle scene, leaning toward accessible, on-the-ground stories framed by familiar artists, venues and local attractions. Her work often focuses on music exhibitions and attractions built around well-known performers, alongside theatre reviews, live events and city attractions. She brings a lifestyle, travel and human-interest sensibility, using interviews and personal stories to show how people spend their time. With over 25 years of experience across print, digital, social media and internal communications, she writes clear, factual, audience-facing articles with dates, locations and organisers, suited to listings, guides and practical recommendations.