During this panel talk, Laura Snapes, Margeaux Labat, and Thomas Burkhalter will enter into a conversation on the state of music journalism today. How can one understand the changing ecology of specialist music platforms, independent media outlets and their struggles, and the shifting role of music journalists? Which editorial formats engage critically and creatively with music today and feel especially effective and valuable? Following the conversation, participants of the workshop Rewire Reflections will launch their music magazine covering Rewire festival 2024.

Laura Snapes is the deputy music editor of The Guardian and a contributor to publications including Pitchfork, The New York Times, and Vogue. She has previously held editorial positions at Pitchfork and NME, and in 2019 published an oral history of the French pop-rock band Phoenix titled Liberté, Egalité, Phoenix!

Margeaux Labat is a music content creator and curator living in Brooklyn, New York. Through her videos about her music taste and discoveries under the username @marg.mp3 on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and her monthly residency on NTS Radio, she has cultivated a dedicated following of music lovers that trusts her curatorial perspective. As an online tastemaker, she demonstrates a deep, extensive knowledge and passion for all types of music, specialising in indie rock, alternative, art pop, ambient, and all things experimental.

Thomas Burkhalter is an anthropologist, A/V artist, and writer. He is the founder and director of Norient, co-directed documentary films, performances, and is the author and co-editor of several books, including Local Music Scenes and Globalization: Transnational Platforms in Beirut (Routledge, 2013), The Arab Avant Garde: Musical Innovation in the Middle East (Wesleyan, 2013). Currently, he is working on his new project Melodies In My Head, and on the podcast series South Asian Sound Stories.