Rosa Ellery grew up in Manchester in a house where her father's record collection was organised by the year he bought each album rather than by artist, which taught her early that music is really a record of when you were listening. She writes the Spotlight column for Latetown Magazine, covering the artists, scenes, and releases that get passed over in the rush to write about whoever is already famous. Before turning to writing full time she spent several years at the Musicians' Union (MU), where she saw up close how much of an artist's career is decided by contracts, royalties, and rooms they are never invited into. She would rather spend three weeks with one artist than an afternoon with ten, and thinks the most interesting people in music are usually the ones nobody has asked the right question yet.