View source for Exclaim!

{{Short description|Canadian music and entertainment publisher}}
{{Redirect|Exclaim|the cross-language information retrieval tool|EXCLAIM}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=July 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox magazine
| title = Exclaim!
| logo = Exclaim!_logo.svg
| logo_size = <!-- default is 180px -->
| image_file = <!-- cover.jpg (omit the "file:" prefix) -->
| image_size = <!-- default is 180px -->
| image_alt = 
| image_caption = 
| editor = Alex Hudson
| editor_title = General Manager
| editor2 = Kaelen Bell
| editor_title2 = Features Editor
| editor3 = Allie Gregory
| editor_title3 = Online Editor
| editor4 = Calum Singerland
| editor_title4 = Print Magazine Editor
| previous_editor = 
| staff_writer = 
| photographer = 
| category = {{hlist|[[Music]]|[[film]]|[[comedy]]|[[video game|gaming]]}}
| frequency = Monthly
| format = 
| circulation = 103,000
| publisher = Ian Danzig
| paid_circulation = 
| unpaid_circulation = 
| circulation_year = 
| total_circulation = 
| founder = Ian Danzig
| founded = {{Start date|1991}}
| firstdate = {{Start date and age|1992|04}}
| finaldate = <!-- {{End date and age|YYYY|MM|DD}} -->
| finalnumber = 
| company = 1059434 Ontario Inc.
| country = Canada
| based = [[Toronto]], [[Ontario]], Canada
| language = English
| website = {{URL|exclaim.ca}}
| issn = 1207-6600
| eissn = 
| oclc = 1144404847
}}

'''''Exclaim!''''' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in [[Toronto]], which features coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly ''Exclaim!'' print magazine publishes seven issues per year, distributing over 103,000 copies to over 2,600 locations across Canada.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.rrj.ca/issue/2002/spring/369/ |title=Critical Miss|access-date=March 15, 2007|date=Spring 2002|work=Ryerson Review of Journalism|author=Megan Thow |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927021800/http://www.rrj.ca/issue/2002/spring/369/ |archive-date=September 27, 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thegridto.com/culture/music/twenty-years-of-exclaim/|work=The Grid|date=March 12, 2012|access-date=March 31, 2012|title=Twenty years of Exclaim!|author=Carly Lewis|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120315185456/http://www.thegridto.com/culture/music/twenty-years-of-exclaim/|archive-date=March 15, 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://exclaim.ca/AboutUsAssets/distribution.pdf|title=Exclaim! Distribution Numbers|website=exclaim.ca|access-date=July 19, 2017|archive-date=September 20, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170920162748/http://exclaim.ca/AboutUsAssets/distribution.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> 

In addition to music, the magazine also covers film and comedy.

==History==
''Exclaim!'' began as a discussion among campus and community radio programmers at [[Toronto Metropolitan University|Ryerson]]'s [[CKLN-FM]] in 1991. It was started by then-CKLN programmer Ian Danzig,<ref name=ann>{{Cite web |url=https://nowtoronto.com/music/features/local-heroes-ian-danzig-and-james-keast-of-exclaim/ |title=Local heroes: Ian Danzig and James Keast of Exclaim! – NOW Magazine |access-date=December 13, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171213084907/https://nowtoronto.com/music/features/local-heroes-ian-danzig-and-james-keast-of-exclaim/ |archive-date=December 13, 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref> together with other programmers and Toronto musicians. The goal of the publication was to support great Canadian music that was otherwise going unheralded. The group worked through 1991 to produce their first issue in April 1992, with monthly issues being produced since.<ref name="sad">{{cite news|author1=Sadaf Ahsan|title=Freedom of the press: How Exclaim! became the last Canadian music magazine still standing by giving a voice to the underground|url=https://nationalpost.com/entertainment/music/freedom-of-the-press-how-exclaim-became-the-last-canadian-music-magazine-still-standing-by-giving-a-voice-to-the-underground|access-date=February 23, 2017|work=National Post|date=January 13, 2017}}</ref>

Ian Danzig has been the publisher of the magazine since its start.<ref name="sad"/> 

The magazine had no official name for its first year of operations, with only the ''!☆@#'' logo appearing on the cover, and introduced the name ''Exclaim!'' after Danzig realized that its growth and appeal to advertisers were being limited by a reader tendency to refer to it as ''Fuck''.<ref name="sad"/>

The magazine is distributed across Canada as a free publication to campuses, community radio stations, bars, concert halls, record stores, cinemas, libraries, coffee shops, convenience stores and street vending boxes. It is also available with a home mail delivery subscription.

Danzig has attributed the magazine's survival in part to the fact that the internet ushered in an era of "free culture" in the late 1990s, meaning that the magazine never had to change its existing business model or alienate readers by introducing [[paywall]]s.<ref name="sad" />

In 2023, ''[[The Ubyssey]]'', the student newspaper of the [[University of British Columbia]], parodied ''Exclaim!'' with a year-end spoof issue titled ''Explain!''<ref>Alex Hudson, [https://exclaim.ca/comedy/article/ubc_has_published_a_parody_of_exclaim_magazine_called_explain "UBC Has Published a Parody of Exclaim! Magazine Called Explain!"]. ''Exclaim!'', April 12, 2023.</ref>

==Website==
The ''Exclaim!'' website is updated daily with the latest in music news, reviews, interviews, premieres, and feature stories, reaching over 675,000 unique visitors each month.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://exclaim.ca/contact/aboutus.aspx|title=Exclaim! Music|access-date=August 19, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100209071728/http://exclaim.ca/contact/aboutus.aspx|archive-date=February 9, 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref> There are also a number of recurring content series, including the monthly the Eh! List Spotify playlist,<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Eh List on Exclaim!|url=https://exclaim.ca/all/the-eh-list|access-date=January 4, 2021|website=exclaim.ca|language=en-ca|archive-date=January 5, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210105211300/http://exclaim.ca/all/the-eh-list|url-status=live}}</ref> New Faves emerging artists,<ref>{{Cite web|title=New Faves on Exclaim!|url=https://exclaim.ca/all/new-faves|access-date=January 4, 2021|website=exclaim.ca|language=en-ca|archive-date=January 2, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102165113/https://exclaim.ca/all/new-faves|url-status=live}}</ref> the Exclaim! Questionnaire,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Questionnaire on Exclaim!|url=https://exclaim.ca/all/questionnaire|access-date=January 4, 2021|website=exclaim.ca|language=en-ca|archive-date=January 7, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210107233305/https://exclaim.ca/all/questionnaire|url-status=live}}</ref> Music School,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Music School on Exclaim!|url=https://exclaim.ca/all/music-school|access-date=January 4, 2021|website=exclaim.ca|language=en-ca|archive-date=January 8, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210108044653/https://exclaim.ca/all/music-school|url-status=live}}</ref> Canadian Cannabis Heroes coverage<ref>{{Cite web|title=Cannabis Heroes on Exclaim!|url=https://exclaim.ca/all/cannabis-heroes|access-date=January 4, 2021|website=exclaim.ca|language=en-ca|archive-date=January 5, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210105194715/https://exclaim.ca/all/cannabis-heroes|url-status=live}}</ref> and more.

In addition to music, ''Exclaim!'' covers major film festivals, such as the [[Toronto International Film Festival]] (TIFF), the [[Sundance Film Festival]], [[Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival|Hot Docs Documentary Film Festival]], and the [[Toronto After Dark Film Festival]], and publishing interviews with a number of high-profile directors and movie stars.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://exclaim.ca/film|title=Exclaim! Film|access-date=July 19, 2017|language=en|archive-date=July 3, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170703222224/http://exclaim.ca/film|url-status=live}}</ref> Its comedy section, similarly, focuses on profiles and interviews with established and up-and-coming stand-up comedians.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://exclaim.ca/comedy|title=Exclaim! Comedy|access-date=July 19, 2017|language=en|archive-date=July 18, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170718201424/http://exclaim.ca/comedy|url-status=live}}</ref> The magazine's website also has contests where readers can enter for a chance to win various music, film and apparel prizes.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Contests on Exclaim!|url=https://exclaim.ca/contests|access-date=January 4, 2021|website=exclaim.ca|language=en-ca|archive-date=January 2, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102230304/http://exclaim.ca/contests|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Contributors==
Many notable writers have worked for ''Exclaim!'' over the years, including Canadian radio personality [[Matt Galloway]], Canadian punk chronicler and new media personality Sam Sutherland, hip-hop scribe and CBC Music producer Del Cowie, published author Andrea Warner, Canadian editor at [[The Fader|''The FADER'']] Anupa Mistry, filmmaker [[Bruce LaBruce]], and award-winning DJ and author Denise Benson.<ref name="sad"/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Official website|https://www.exclaim.ca}}

{{Authority control}}
{{Hip hop websites}}

[[Category:1991 establishments in Ontario]]
[[Category:Canadian music websites]]
[[Category:Companies based in Toronto]]
[[Category:Free magazines]]
[[Category:Magazines established in 1991]]
[[Category:Magazines published in Toronto]]
[[Category:Monthly magazines published in Canada]]
[[Category:Music magazines published in Canada]]
[[Category:Music review websites]]
[[Category:Online magazines published in Canada]]
[[Category:Online music magazines published in Canada]]