Laura Snapes
Laura Snapes uses music writing to connect individual songs and artists to the wider power structures that shape contemporary pop and its industry. Her work at the Guardian focuses on new releases, pop trends and the politics of the music business, combining curation, criticism and reporting. She writes as a deputy music editor with a clear interest in how gender, labour and reputation operate in popular culture.
Add to playlist and new tracks columns
At the Guardian, Snapes runs recurring “Add to playlist” coverage that selects and frames the week’s notable new tracks.
In these columns she moves between mainstream pop and more niche club and electronic sounds, treating them as parts of the same ecosystem. A recent playlist highlighting the wild club-pop of Zara Larsson cowriter Helena Gao and other new releases shows how she uses curation to surface collaborators, producers and songwriters as much as star performers. The format allows her to sketch brief, precise characterisations of records while signalling the scenes and movements they belong to.
Across multiple weeks, the emphasis is on helping readers keep pace with current music while noticing the shifts in sound, influence and geography that define each release.
Gender, power and accountability in the music industry
Snapes’s criticism often addresses how misogyny and power imbalances are embedded in the music business. In a Guardian piece originally written after interviewing the singer of folk-rock band Sun Kil Moon and being insulted from the stage, she described how male misogynist acts are examined for nuance while women and those who challenge them are dismissed as hysterical.
She later revisited those ideas when musician Ryan Adams was accused of emotional abuse and misconduct, arguing that the concept of male genius has shielded artists from consequences. Her analysis was prominent enough that The 1975 quoted her words verbatim during a Brit awards speech about industry misogyny, underlining how her writing links individual incidents to systemic behaviour.
These articles show her as a critic who writes clearly about double standards, and who expects concrete change from labels, awards bodies and gatekeepers rather than symbolic statements.
Artist interviews and oral histories
Alongside columns and essays, Snapes conducts in-depth interviews that give space to artists’ histories and anxieties.
On a Guardian podcast episode she “goes deep” with singer George Ezra, using a long-form conversation to explore personality as well as career. Beyond the Guardian, she worked closely with the band Phoenix on an oral history book that traces two decades of their story through interviews and archival material. That project reflects a methodical approach to narrative: assembling voices, timelines and images to show how a group evolves, rather than simply summarising releases.
Across interviews and oral histories, her style is attentive to context and the emotional weight of fame, creativity and collaboration, making her a natural fit for artists who want their work situated within a broader arc.
Across outlets and formats
Snapes’s primary role is at the Guardian, but she writes widely across music and culture media. She contributes criticism and features to specialist music publications and general-interest outlets, including work for Pitchfork and Q alongside other titles.
Her range extends into travel and lifestyle writing, with hotel and destination reviews that carry over her eye for atmosphere and storytelling.
She also participates in live and festival programming, moderating conversations such as a panel on the story of the Dekmantel festival. Taken together, these roles show a journalist who moves between newsy columns, essays, books, podcasts and live events while keeping music and its surrounding culture at the centre of her 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.
Alex Rigotti
Alex Rigotti is a freelance music and culture editor and journalist who joins fast-turnaround music news with detailed reporting on artists, fandom and politics. They report breaking stories and live music updates for NME and Paste Magazine, covering pop, rock, club music, underground scenes and cultural debates around art and identity. Their live-music beat includes setlists, tours, festival appearances, cancellations, ticketing, venues and onstage collaborations. They previously served as a contributing editor for NME’s Radar section, supporting coverage of emerging artists and new scenes. Rigotti also writes features on rap lyrics and criminalisation, Eurovision and politics, queer feminist bodybuilding, astrotherapy and contemporary art. Their reporting is direct and specific, using clear quotes, concrete details and artists’ own words to explain what happened and how music fits into wider cultural and industry trends.