The WholeNote

The WholeNote

The WholeNote. Toronto-based magazine, founded in 1994 by Allan Pulker and David Perlman. The WholeNote is published 10 times a year by WholeNote Media Inc. and provides extensive coverage of jazz; musical theatre; and classical, world and contemporary music. Largely distributed for free, its circulation of 30,000 extends across much of Ontario.

The WholeNote began as a monthly concert calendar, after Pulker, who had covered music for community newspapers, noticed a major deficit in the coverage of Toronto's music scene. In November 1994, Pulker sent a proposal to Perlman, a sympathetic colleague and then-publisher for The Kensington Market Drum. By June of 1995, Pulker and Perlman had produced a four-page prototype, printed in tabloid format on a photocopier and circulated to friends in the music community. It premiered under the name Pulse in August 1995. In the spring of 1997, after a brief trademark scuffle with a US-based publication of the same name, Pulker and Perlman renamed their magazine The WholeNote.

As per its original mandate, much of the editorial content in The WholeNote is devoted to concert listings. However, it has expanded beyond that to provide up-to-date artist directories and detailed coverage of festivals, masterclasses, lectures, and music conferences for Toronto and its surrounding regions. The WholeNote typically offers one or two feature stories, in addition to regular columns such as "Early Music," "Classical and Beyond," "In With the New," "World View," "Bandstand," "On Opera," "Choral Scene," and "Jazz Notes." Book and recording reviews are also comprehensive, with particular attention paid to Canadian work.

In February 1999, The WholeNote launched its online counterpart, offering archived issues, blogs, and reader forums. In addition to modest federal and provincial grants, the bulk of The WholeNote's revenues have been derived from memberships and advertising.