The Canadian avant-garde music magazine Musicworks has enhanced its digital archive on the Exact Editions platform by extending issues back from 2003 to 1989, providing subscribers with fourteen years of rich additional content. Musicworks’ extended digital archive will be available to both individual and institutional subscribers through the Exact Editions digital platform. As the ‘Canadian Journal of Sound Exploration’, Musicworks’ is an important title in Canadian libraries, and subscribing libraries can now access an even more extensive and thorough archive of the most imaginative artists, ideas and events in music and sound art.

Founded by music experimenters in 1978 and based in Toronto, Canada, Musicworks is dedicated to unveiling emerging experimental musicians and promoting established musicians alike.  It covers a wide range of music and eclectic genres, featuring composers, improvisers, instrument designers, and artists who work in radio, electroacoustics, concert music, sound installation, and sound sculpture. Beginning its life as a supplement in the Toronto arts periodical, Only Paper Today, its offices were located inside an established independent performance venue in Toronto, The Music Gallery. Since 2003 it has been published by Musicworks Society of Ontario Inc.

Each issue has been accompanied by a curated recording related to the specific theme of each issue, focused on the work of artists outside of the mainstream music scene. The content in each issue is considered and informative, creating an inclusive community of exchanging and developing ideas and engaging their audience of listeners with adventurous music and outreach programmes. There is a focus on experimental Canadian musicians including electroacoustic music and new technologies. The magazine is available with and without the supplementary recording.

Some award-winning musicians and interviews featured include the leading figure of post-war avant-garde music, John Cage, Philip Glass, Annea Lockwood, Tim Hecker, Tanya Tagaq and Lou Harrison among many others.

The Exact Editions digital platform allows institutional subscribers an intuitive, user-friendly and cohesive experience. The full backlist of issues of Musicworks can be explored by its readers with some of these helpful features:

  • An advanced search function enables the search of any keywords.
  • A neat stacking interface allows for ease of browsing for years and decades.
  • Syncing issues for offline reading.
  • A clean, high-quality interface is faithful to the print edition.
  • New issue notifications alert readers to the availability of the next issue.


For institutions interested in requesting a free trial of Musicworks please visit: exacted.me/MusicWorksInstitutions

Individuals can purchase an annual or quarterly subscription to Musicworks by visiting:exacted.me/MusicworksSubscription

Musicworks can be accessed by institutions that subscribe to the Music Collection which includes an invigorating range of content from the most highly respected music titles in the world. 

Institutions can also access the full archive of Musicworks if they subscribe to the Music Collection which offers access to some of the most renowned music publications, with content ranging from interviews and recordings to reviews and critiques.

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Digital subscriptions are all available for individuals from the Exact Editions shop and for institutions from the Exact Editions institutional shop. Click here to request a free institutional trial to a wide range of digital magazines.