Lauren McNamara
Lauren McNamara covers the intersection of live music, artist news and the business of touring, with a particular focus on how announcements, controversies and industry shifts affect fans on the ground. She writes across The Brag Media’s music titles, with Tone Deaf as a key outlet for her coverage of tours, festivals, fan experiences and the live ecosystem around them.
Live shows, touring cycles and fan-facing announcements
Much of McNamara’s work centres on the live circuit: national tours, festival bills, special album shows and the logistics that shape who gets to see which act and when. At Tone Deaf she reports on major tour news, such as Parkway Drive performing Killing With a Smile and Horizons in full on a national run, treating these announcements as events in themselves for dedicated fanbases. She also tracks international acts heading to Australia, including coverage of Steve Aoki’s confirmation for an Australian festival after talk of a scheduling clash, and Crystal Lake’s decision to bring Prompts’ frontman PK on an Australian tour in support of Of Mice & Men.
Her live coverage extends to new concepts in gig-going, not just traditional tours. She reports on initiatives like G.Y.R.O.’s “go to a gig” social club expanding into Sydney, explaining how ‘gig club’ formats connect solo attendees with like-minded fans and plug into local events such as the King St Crawl. Across these pieces she highlights dates, lineups and practical details, but the through-line is how live shows are experienced: who is on the bill, how a tour or club is structured, and what it means for people who want to be in the room.
Digital disruption, technology and live music ethics
Alongside straight tour and festival news, McNamara covers emerging tensions at the edge of the live business, especially where technology collides with artist and fan expectations. On Tone Deaf she has reported on a booking agency that apologised after unknowingly placing an AI-generated “artist” on the lineup of a Sydney event, laying out how the act was included, how the issue came to light and what the agency did in response. She approaches these stories as news pieces grounded in specific incidents rather than broad commentary, but the choice of subjects shows a consistent interest in questions of authenticity, disclosure and responsibility in the live space.
Her work in this area often sits close to industry news, picking up on how promoters, agencies and rights holders react when new tools or practices bump up against existing norms. The tone is factual and outcome-focused: she reports who did what, who responded, and what changed next, giving communications teams a clear picture of how sensitive issues around technology and talent are handled when they become public.
Cross-title music and culture reporting within The Brag Media
McNamara writes across The Brag Media’s network, contributing music and culture pieces to other titles alongside her Tone Deaf work. For Rolling Stone AU/NZ she has written news and features ranging from artist interviews and project spotlights to culture coverage, including reporting from live events and panels. Her bylines there span music features that break down new releases, lists and culture news, reflecting a comfort with both quick-turn news briefs and more shaped narrative pieces.
She also contributes to The Music Network, where her work leans into the business of music and the broader industry landscape. Recent articles there include coverage of global music rights leaders gathering under an international umbrella body, a new festival venture tied to a prominent act and promoter coming to Australia, and heritage acts like The Rolling Stones expanding commercial deals. She additionally reports on initiatives like international cultural diplomacy funding and exhibitions featuring iconic Australian costumes and memorabilia, connecting policy, branding and cultural institutions back to music.
Broader entertainment and lifestyle angles
Beyond The Brag Media, McNamara writes for other entertainment and lifestyle outlets, extending her music lens into adjacent beats. Her work for a city-focused culture guide includes pieces on major sporting events with significant music components, such as an Australian musician’s high-profile AFL Grand Final performance, as well as broader arts and entertainment stories tied to local audiences. Across these assignments she maintains the same straightforward news style she uses on music titles: clear headlines, concise context, and a focus on what is new, where it is happening and who is involved.
Taken together, her body of work shows a reporter who moves easily between fan-facing live announcements, industry business developments and culture coverage. The consistent thread is music as a lived experience — on stage, in venues, through festivals and special performances, and in the institutions and deals that support 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.
Ali Shutler
Ali Shutler links chart pop, alternative music and fan culture with the ways songs move through festivals, streaming platforms and games. He is a freelance culture journalist specialising in music, writing news and features for NME and other music and culture titles. He covers breakout chart acts, legacy artists whose catalogues are resurfacing, and how audiences rediscover songs via TikTok, streaming or in‑game soundtracks. His reporting on streaming-era pop and live festival moments tracks virality, catalog access and fan behaviour as part of the story of a track. He also examines music, gaming and visual art crossovers, treating game soundtracks and artist-led campaigns as part of a wider cultural map. Alongside this, he profiles emerging chart artists for outlets including The Telegraph, Vice, The Independent, Dork and Upset, focusing on early-career trajectories and fan culture.
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.