Alex Hudson
Alex Hudson explores music's cultural intersections at Exclaim!
As Editor-in-Chief of Exclaim!, Alex Hudson leads coverage that examines music's connections to sports, literature, and technology while maintaining a strong focus on Canadian artists. Hudson's editorial approach reveals how musical creation intersects with broader cultural phenomena rather than treating music as an isolated industry.
Sports and music crossovers in reporting
Hudson regularly covers connections between athletics and musical performance, including features on Blue Jays pitcher Max Scherzer discussing how playing piano saved his career and Ottawa Bluesfest hosting Canada's largest soccer watch party. These stories demonstrate Hudson's attention to how physical and creative disciplines inform one another beyond conventional music reporting.
Literary influences on musical creation
Under Hudson's editorial direction, Exclaim! has published features examining literary connections to music, including Lakes of Canada's Margaret Atwood-inspired album "Transgressions" and Ontario author Hannah Mary McKinnon's discussion of how the band The Beaches influenced her rock-themed whodunnit novel. These pieces highlight creative dialogues between literary and musical arts that extend beyond standard album reviews.
Technology's impact on music discovery
Hudson has directed coverage examining digital platforms' influence on listening habits, including a feature on Alexander Nilsson's 1001 Albums Generator as a tool for expanding musical horizons beyond algorithmic recommendations. This focus demonstrates Hudson's attention to how technological systems shape contemporary music consumption and discovery.
4 more music journalists.
Aisling Murphy
Aisling Murphy is the theatre reporter and critic at The Globe and Mail. She stands out for writing about theatre as both art and infrastructure, with coverage that links new Canadian stage work, awards culture, and pop-inflected criticism. She covers theatre, music, and pop culture in a detailed, conversational style, moving between reviews, reported features, and analysis of the systems that shape what gets produced. Her beat includes the Dora Awards, Toronto stages, new writing, intimate productions, and smaller venues, as well as controversy where artistic decisions meet politics and community response. Before The Globe, she was senior editor of Intermission Magazine, and her bylines include The New York Times, Toronto Star, CBC Arts, and the Baltimore Sun.
Alex Robert Ross
Alex Robert Ross is a journalist and editor who treats albums as narratives, linking sound, backstory, emotional stakes, and an artist’s wider catalogue. He currently writes long-form criticism for Pitchfork, covering heavy metal, hardcore, indie, and legacy rock. His recent reviews include Converge’s Hum of Hurt and Bon Iver’s SABLE, fABLE. His other Pitchfork work includes The Tragically Hip’s Fully Completely and William Ackerman’s In Search of the Turtle’s Navel. He has also written features for Slate, The Quietus, Huck, and The Portland Mercury. Ross reports closely on structure, urgency, vocal performance, arrangement, and the stories behind records. He uses detailed reporting and conceptual framing to place new releases within an artist’s past work and surrounding scenes. His work also includes editing, podcast hosting and production, newsletter writing, consulting, and copywriting.
Alexis Mikulski Ruiz
Alexis Mikulski Ruiz is a commerce writer whose distinct focus is the buying and streaming side of music, entertainment and lifestyle, helping readers decide how to watch major events and what to purchase around them. She is an e-commerce specialist at Rolling Stone, covering products, platforms and deals tied to award shows, festivals, sports and everyday culture. Her beat blends music streaming guides with shopping and product recommendations across fashion, beauty, tech, food, wellness and drinks. She reports through experience-focused service journalism, using lists, comparison roundups and step-by-step guides to answer concrete questions about how to stream major cultural moments, where to shop and which products to choose. Her background includes commerce and lifestyle writing for consumer publications such as Esquire, Men’s Health, Good Housekeeping, Oprah Daily, Women’s Wear Daily and Billboard.
Ali Shutler
Ali Shutler is a culture journalist who connects music, gaming and online fandom. He works for NME and specialises in music, covering pop, alt-rock, metal and digital culture. His most distinctive work examines how artists, brands and game studios build stories across songs, soundtracks, franchises and interactive platforms. He reports on game-linked music, collector’s editions, vinyl soundtracks, composers, sound designers and artists inspired by games. His coverage includes BTS, Madison Beer, Grand Theft Auto 6, Final Fantasy, Control: Resonant, Diablo 4, Sam Slater and Noctule. He also reviews albums and concerts by artists including Blondshell, Lily Allen, Hayley Williams, Twenty One Pilots, Avril Lavigne and Red Hot Chili Peppers. His bylines include The Telegraph, Vice, The Independent, Dork and Upset. He combines news, reviews, interviews and long-form features, with a focus on emotion, narrative, creative risk and fan communities.