1. Write a news piece for a quality daily newspaper that reports on a contentious or divisive music topic presenting the story in factual terms
Wireless Festival cancelled due to Kanye West’s refusal of entry to the UK
Media Outlet: BBC News
Wireless Festival, usually held in Finsbury Park, London, has been cancelled due to the United Kingdom’s Home Office refusing headlining act Kanye West’s (now known as Ye) Electronic travel Authorisation (ETA) into the country. The festival was scheduled for 10th-12th July 2026 however due the rapper’s self-confessed ‘anti-sematic behaviour’, this will no longer be going ahead.
The Home Office commented: ‘Antisemitism in all its forms is abhorrent, and we recognise the real and personal impact these issues have had.’ With Ye planned to headline for an audience of up to 150,000 people over 3 days at the festival, the government had major concerns of his political and cultural beliefs being broadcasted and idolised by the British public which could result in further issues post-festival.
Ye’s controversial views on Jewish culture have been prominent in headlines from comments such as ‘I see good things about Hitler’ (speaking on a podcast with Alex Jones in December 2022) to his release of the song ‘Heil Hitler’ in May 2025. This song has been removed from most streaming services including Spotify and has resulted in him losing his VISA to Australia in July 2025, where his wife Bianca Censori is from.
Wireless is organised by Festival Republic, owned by Live Nation who is the world’s leading live entertainment company. They are yet to release a public article regarding Ye on their websites and the only direct statement available is on ‘WirelessFest’ social media, briefly explaining the cancellation of the event and confirming that all tickets will be refunded automatically.
This is not the first time that the Home Office has refused entry to the UK for an artist. In 2010, Chris Brown was refused a VISA into the UK after his conviction of assault to his girlfriend at the time, Rhianna, due to public safety concerns. Tyler The Creator was also banned from entering the UK in 2015 due to violent and homophobic lyrical content with fears that he was ‘not conductive to the public good’. This disrupted another Festival Republic event, Reading and Leeds Festival.
2. Write an opinion piece – the kind you might see by a columnist in a ‘broadsheet’ Sunday newspaper – that explores the same story as the news piece in task 1.
Kanye West vs UK Government: Should we separate the artist from the music?
Media Outlet: The Guardian
Kanye West (now known as Ye) has been refused his Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) by the Uk Home Office, disallowing him to enter the country, due to behaviours linked to ‘antisemitism’. Ye was booked to headline Festival Republic’s ‘Wireless’ festival at Finsbury Park, London in July which has now been cancelled, resulting in controversy amongst the British public. This action begs the question: should we separate an artist from the music that they create?
As an employee of both Festival Republic and a Council-owned music venue in Cambridge (Cambridge Corn Exchange), I have a wealth of knowledge and experience in the live music scene around the UK, working with a variety of artists. It is my strong belief that from both public observation and professional conversation, musical product is a separate entity to the artists that created them. Ye is a perfect example for this argument.
According to the BBC in July 2025, Ye ‘identifies as a Nazi and is known for his antisemitic comments.’ The rapper has pulled several stunts that appear to glorify Nazism, such as listing swastika t-shirts on his website and violating X’s (formally Twitter) and Instagram’s policies on hate speech, resulting in multiple bans. It is obvious that this behaviour is unacceptable in the 21st century and Ye should have repercussions however, is it fair to make his fans suffer?
After discussion with fans of Ye’s music, it is clear that his most popular tracks are from his earlier albums, before he became public with his controversial opinions. This is supported by his Spotify top 5 songs where 3/5 are from 2004-2008, and the other 2 are from his most recent album, ‘Bully’ (2026). With this in mind, it is clear that the audience that had booked tickets for Wireless were more interested in the nostalgic songs in his discography, rather than his more modern and offensive music.
Ye obviously has a large fanbase, with nearly 76 million monthly listeners on Spotify. The sellout of presale tickets to Wireless, where he was supposed to headline all 3 days, further indicates how many people wanted to see him perform, despite his inappropriate behaviour online.
There is, however, some overlap of his antisemitic beliefs and his music in more recent times. This is in reference, in particular, to his song ‘Heil Hitler’ which was released in 2025 and was banned on all major streaming services, and in Germany for ‘extremist symbolism and hate speech’. This overlap is only in more recent times and does not invalidate my point.
Overall, considering the public response and evaluation of Ye’s behaviour, it is obvious that the artist has been separated from his music by fans, but not by the Home Office in the UK, which is wrong. Despite his behaviour towards the Jewish community, his music is still good and enjoyed by many and it is a great loss that he will not perform at Wireless 2026.
3. Write a feature based on an interview you have personally undertaken with an artist, band or industry person of your choice – famous or otherwise
Why startup artist, Sophie Gibson-May, prefers ‘old styles of marketing’ over posting ‘absolute rubbish’ on TikTok
Media Outlet: Leeds Live
Sophie Gibson-May is a vocalist and songwriter from Gateshead, Newcastle, currently making her mark on the Leeds music scene. Contrary to most younger musicians, being 22 herself, Sophie is very against the use of social media to promote her music, claiming that ‘so many people starting up and using TikTok, just post absolute rubbish’.
Sophie grew up in a non-musical family with limited access to music education and experience, other than the radio. With dreams of studying psychology at university, she mainly focused on academia in school, as opposed to creative subjects, however, due to A level results day ‘not going the way that she was hoping for’, that dream was, unfortunately, short-lived. Luckily, her story doesn’t end there.
Sophie discovered her musical talent after singing along to the radio at her job in a local Garage when a customer appeared to make a joke about how she has a “great voice”. After a discussion with others at the garage, it became clear that her talent shouldn’t go to waste. This developed into a ‘jam’ with her colleague, Joe Pollard, who happened to be a guitarist in his spare time. The duo now resides in Leeds where they have access to a family friend’s home recording studio, the location for the recording of their upcoming album, ‘Echoes’.
Unlike other, similar Indie-style artists at this level, such as Goodbye For Now (Cambridgeshire) and Split The Ticket (Leeds), Sophie does not believe in the use of social media to market her music. She believes, instead, to use ‘old styles of marketing like putting posters up in pubs’ and ‘actually meeting people in real life’, similar to how musicians used to promote themselves before the internet. This is how 2 Door Cinema Club originally started up as teenagers in Northern Ireland in 2007, whom are one of Sophie’s main influences.
Authentic connections are rare in the 21st century, as social media has taken over young people’s social lives. A study by the University of the People in 2024 concluded that ‘in person reactions to non-verbal, emotional or social cues are changing in that people don’t need to respond to these types of communication when they are online.’ In person, however, it is a lot easier to gage how a person is feeling about your music when discussing it and it can help identify your demographic a lot easier than when online. Could Sophie’s ideology be sign of reverting times?
The FDM Group suggest that ‘face to face meetings encourage participants to involve themselves in the conversations and not to hide behind a screen’ which can be difficult when interacting online. A lack of social media presence can also avoid the nuisance of ‘trolls’ posting hateful and unhelpful comments, disregarding your music without due diligence and research into your style and ethos.
Sophie explained that it’s largely ‘just 10 second videos that are trending’ and that they have ‘absolutely nothing to do with what they’re actually doing or the music that they’re releasing’. This is in reference to bands that post ‘funny videos’ as a promotional tool to grow their following, but does this benefit or harm the artist? She further explains that ‘likes on a video doesn’t necessarily mean that there’s going to be people that listen to your music.’
Sophie’s promotional plan involves maintaining active presence in the local music scene, keeping up good relationships with local venues and, physical advertisement around the city (Posters and Flyers). She is already a regular at several open mic nights in venues such as The Fox and Newt and Northern Guitars. Moreover, she plans to continue meeting people authentically, in person, to gain real-world followers of her music and receive feedback on her work so far.
So, how can you keep up to date with her upcoming gigs and news? Sophie utilises mailing lists via email on sophiegmmusic@yahoo.com. She encourages fans to email her to request to be a part of the mailing list so that they don’t miss out on anything! Some perks of the mailing list include gig updates, behind the scenes clips in the studio and, discount codes for events – and soon to be merchandise.
Sophie and Joe will be releasing their album, ‘Echoes’, in September this year (date to be confirmed) under ‘Sophie Gibson-May’ on all streaming services. She describes her sound as ‘if Two Door Cinema Club had a baby with Liam C’. She is very much grounded in an Indie style but with a modern twist, appropriate for the modern climate of the pop industry. A key track to look out for is ‘Riding The High’ which discusses her first experience playing live in a grassroots venue and pub in Newcastle called Station East. Sophie has also agreed to complete another feature, nearer to the release date, to promote the album.
4. Write a live concert or album review of a band or artist of your choice
Gorillaz – The perfect blend of groove, politics and psychedelia in Leeds
Media Outlet: Yorkshire Evening Post
Military style clothing, Indian classical instruments and timeless animations; nothing was off-limits for Leeds First Direct Arena on Wednesday (25th March 2026). Damon Albarn’s music famously follows a more experimental direction with its foundations based on hip-hop grooves and synth sounds and Wednesday night was no different. Opening with the titular track from their new album, ‘The Mountain’, it was clear from the beginning that the evening was going to be like an acid trip to Mumbai, and they did not disappoint. What followed, involved an eye-widening journey into the modern Gorillaz soundscape with brief, melancholic visitations to the classics from the early 2000’s.
Gorillaz are a timeless artist. This was evident by the broad demographic in the Leeds audience. From the dads in the nineties that had children grow up with Albarn in Blur, to the current teenagers navigating their way through popular culture, Gorillaz really proved that they are a band for all. When audience members booed at the mention of playing in Bradford, Albarn responded with “no, there’s no need for that”, reinforcing his values of peace and love.
Beloved Gorillaz characters 2-D, Noodles, Russel Hobbs and Murdoc Niccals painted the canvas behind the band, resulting in a nostalgic, visual storyline for tracks. Familiar smiles were seen throughout, as memories of the band from the early 2000s (before the humans behind the music were centre stage) were recaptured. Their first appearance being for ‘19-2000’, song five in the set.
The sub speakers were working overtime throughout the performance; every bass note visibly moved the standing pit further back. This clearly encouraged both Albarn and bassist Seye Adelekan to join fans at the barrier during multiple songs. Audience interaction was limited throughout, deliberately avoiding the interruption of the flow of the set, to simulate a continuous psychedelic experience.
A moment of genuine respect and admiration came near the end, during ‘The Hardest Thing’, as Albarn and supporting artist, Argentinian Rapper ‘Trueno’, stood still. Their hands were held in front, with their heads looking to the sky, in remembrance for the many collaborators that the band had lost over the years. The arena fell silent, as though stood together in unison, reflecting on personal loss, reinforcing a key theme in the Mountains album.
To summarise, Gorillaz have once again proven that over 25 years after their debut, they still know how to put on a show, and Leeds will certainly look forward to their return!
Appendices
Appendix 1 – Research Ethics Form
Appendix 2 – Interview Audio
Appendix 3 – Interview Transcription
