Tom Breihan
Connects pop-chart history to current music coverage, using singles, albums, and scenes to show how songs travel through culture. He is senior editor at Stereogum and writes the long-running column The Number Ones, where he reviews every #1 hit in the history of the Billboard Hot 100. His day-to-day work ranges from underground metal and hardcore to mainstream pop news, festival dispatches, and early takes on major releases. He has also written for outlets including Pitchfork, the Village Voice, the A.V. Club, GQ, and the Ringer.
The Number Ones
The Number Ones is his defining project, a column that moves single by single through the entire history of the Billboard Hot 100, one chart-topping hit at a time. Each entry is a long essay that blends close listening with chart data, music-industry context, and the wider story of pop culture at the time of release. In a recent installment on Coldplay and BTS’ “My Universe,” he situates the collaboration within both bands’ careers and the broader landscape of global pop, using the song to talk about how chart power has shifted across borders. The column’s tone is direct and conversational but anchored in clear facts, and he uses recurring details - label politics, producer networks, radio formats - to give readers a structural view of how hits are made. The work on The Number Ones also feeds his broader beat, giving him a deep reference set that shows up when he covers new pop songs, legacy acts, and chart-related news elsewhere on the site.
Heavy Music And Underground Scenes
Alongside pop history, he spends significant time on heavy and underground music, covering bands that move between death metal, hardcore, and fringe rock scenes.
Recent pieces spotlight God’s Hate returning with the brutally heavy EP Won’t Be Disgraced, with attention to lineup changes, grief within the band, and the label infrastructure that supports their work. He writes in similar detail about Godflesh announcing the album Decay, explaining where it sits in their catalog, how recent health issues shaped its making, and what their release plans say about the band’s late-career strategy.
His coverage of Dream Unending’s Certain Uncertainties and Artificial Brain’s Antillia focuses on sound and structure - mixing terms like death-doom, cosmic death metal, and studio-rock with clear descriptions of song dynamics - while tracing earlier records, splits, and guest contributions across the scene.
He also devotes space to newer underground acts such as French oi crew Squelette and their EP Soir d’Orage, paying attention to regional scenes and the labels carrying these records. News about veteran acts, including stories on bands like Faith No More teasing a 2027 reunion, sits in the same stream, framed as part of an ongoing timeline that connects older heavy music to current festival bills and fan cultures.
Pop News And Industry Stories
His news coverage tracks how artists, awards bodies, and labels collide, with a focus on the friction points where pop and industry rules meet.
In a recent piece on Stray Kids boycotting the Grammys, he reports the decision and then places it within the larger wave of skepticism around major award institutions, connecting it to the group’s rise and fan dynamics. A story on Olivia Dean facing a lawsuit over alleged similarities between her song and a Bill Withers hit uses legal filings and musical comparison to explain how copyright disputes surface and what is at stake for emerging artists.
He treats the Polaris Music Prize as another system worth unpacking, detailing Angine de Poitrine’s win, their run through major festivals, and the competing shortlist of artists to show how jury-driven awards can elevate specific scenes. Shorter pieces monitor legacy acts and indie artists releasing new material, such as the Rolling Stones sharing a bonus track featuring Charlie Watts or Mia Joy returning with the single “Comet” alongside Peel Dream Magazine, often noting prior albums and EPs to give a quick career frame. Across these stories he keeps the language plain and the focus on cause and consequence - what happened, who made the call, and how it shifts an artist’s position in the market or discourse.
Reviews, Festivals, And Big Pop Albums
His review work combines on-the-ground reporting with structural analysis of how shows and albums are built. In the concert review of A$AP Rocky’s chaotic arena spectacle on the Don’t Be Dumb tour, he describes staging, pacing, and crowd movement while linking the production to Rocky’s delayed album cycle and broader ambitions. The Kilby Block Party piece reads like a festival field report, cataloguing sets from bands like Turnstile and others while evaluating how the event’s booking logic and layout contribute to its word-of-mouth reputation.
When he writes Premature Evaluation pieces on major pop releases, such as Ariana Grande’s album petal, he uses the early review format to weigh fan expectations against the music’s choices, describing the record as an anti-pop move and situating it within her recent narrative rather than focusing only on surface-level hooks. These reviews tend to mix sensory details - how a song or set feels in the moment - with clear judgments on structure, sequencing, and artistic intent, giving a practical read on whether a project is working and why.
Across live reports and album coverage, he writes in short, firm sentences that make room for context without losing the immediate impression of being in the room or hearing the record for the first time.
Range And Voice Across Daily Coverage
His daily bylines at Stereogum show a wide range of subjects, from Tyler, The Creator calling his feature on Quavo’s new album one of the best in rap history to small-label debuts like Gripper’s Another Night Of Fun On Me and Prevention’s And Nothing’s Mine.
He moves quickly between genres, covering indie-pop, hardcore, mainstream rap, and experimental rock with the same direct tone, relying on prior discography and scene history to keep even short posts grounded. The through-line is a clear voice informed by long-term chart study: he treats every song or show as part of a larger story about how artists build careers, win attention, and either join or resist the canon. For communications work, he reads as a writer who values specific details - label names, prior releases, touring patterns - and who responds to stories that reveal shifts in power, taste, and longevity across the music world.
4 more music journalists.
Andrea Dresdale
Andrea Dresdale manages entertainment content at ABC Audio and covers music-driven pop culture for news and audio platforms. Her beat centers on chart-friendly pop, new releases, mainstream artists, awards, residencies and industry milestones. She also reports on legacy acts, anniversaries, nostalgia, remixes, live performances and music’s links to film, television, streaming and social media. Her notable coverage includes Taylor Swift, BTS, The Weeknd, Madonna, The Beach Boys, Bruce Springsteen, Patty Smyth and Miley Cyrus. Her work has appeared through syndicated ABC Audio coverage on outlets such as WRMF, KS95 and Hot 96.7. Dresdale writes concise, timely pieces for radio audiences. She frames songs, tours, specials and career moments through cultural impact, fan appeal, commercial momentum and lasting relevance. Her stories connect current hits with music history and show how artists maintain attention through new releases, collaborations and reinterpretations.
Andrew Weber
Andrew Weber uses accountability reporting to examine who benefits from decisions shaping Austin’s music ecosystem. He reports for KUT as a government accountability reporter and works as a freelance reporter and associate editor for KUT News across the public radio network. His music coverage focuses on musicians’ pay at festivals, health care, mental health services, venue relief and working conditions. He treats SXSW as a workplace and economic system, reporting on low fees, sponsorships, boycotts and the political choices behind the festival. He also covers government and institutional issues, including KUT’s relationship with the University of Texas and the firing of general manager Debbie Hiott. His reporting ranges from nonprofit support systems to experimental sound art. He plays music on the side and brings digital storytelling experience, including an Edward R. Murrow award for social media work.
Andy Greene
Andy Greene is a senior writer at Rolling Stone who stands out for long-form interviews and narrative features that follow artists across entire careers. He focuses on music, especially classic rock performers, live shows, tours, and band dynamics. He runs the interview series Unknown Legends and King For a Day, which center on veteran musicians, sidemen, collaborators, and singers who replace legendary frontmen. He also writes cover stories and major features on high-profile figures, including Radiohead, Howard Stern, Bill Withers, Nathan Fielder, Steve Perry, Pete Townshend, and Stephen King. His reporting relies on access, detailed questioning, and a deep command of rock history. He also writes about film and television when they connect to music and culture.
Anna Grace Lee
Anna Grace Lee is a Vogue reporter who covers pop musicians and celebrities through fashion, weddings, and lifestyle culture, focusing on dresses, events, pets, and subcultures rather than industry news. She writes scene-driven features that place entertainers in vivid settings, from villas to underground food markets, and treats music-adjacent stories as fashion and craftsmanship narratives. Her Dua Lipa Sicily wedding coverage shows how she frames a wedding dress as a haute couture moment and a pop-cultural milestone, emphasizing design, making, and handwork. Her Millie Bobby Brown miniature poodle piece reflects a consistent interest in celebrity pets, fandom, and off-stage persona. She also reports lifestyle features like Brooklyn’s buzziest underground cheese sale, embedding in niche food scenes. At Vogue she contributes to weddings, celebrity, living, and Met Gala coverage, and maintains a portfolio of culture and lifestyle work built around entertainment-adjacent storytelling.