The Spill Magazine is a Toronto-based online publication dedicated to covering the independent music scene with a strong focus on our thriving hometown talent. Our writers bring you up-to-date news, in-depth features on musicians, and reviews for the latest album releases and recent live shows.
We also travel to the front lines for all local and national festivals, including Canadian Music Week, North by Northeast, the Juno Awards, and the Polaris Music Prize Gala.
Don’t forget to check out our Facebook , Twitter & Instagram for all daily Spill updates.
The Spill Magazine
3055 Harold Sheard Drive
Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, L4T 1V4
(647) 829-7547
[email protected]
For Advertising:
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For Contests:
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For General Inquiries:
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Arvin Kashyap
Editor
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Stephen Lussier
Editor / Creative Director / Social Media Coordinator
[email protected]
Trish Melanson
New Writer Mentorship Program Coordinator / Internship Program Coordinator / Copy Editor
[email protected]
The Spill is driven by loyal volunteers who have a love for music, a flair for writing, and an understanding of meeting important deadlines. We are always looking for unique individuals to join our team.
Spill Mentorship Program
The Spill Magazine provides a mentorship program to familiarize our new writers with our templates, our Style Guide, and to assist them in writing articles that fit our style and format. You will be asked to completely familiarize yourself with our SPILL STYLE GUIDE as well as our other guides and templates for completing album reviews, live reviews, feature articles, books, and films.
Topics to be covered include:
- Roles and responsibilities of the Spill Writer and Spill Copy Editor.
- Navigating the SPILL STYLE GUIDE
- How to write a SPILL ALBUM REVIEW
- How to write a SPILL LIVE REVIEW
- How to write a SPILL FEATURE
- How to write a SPILL FILM REVIEW and a SPILL BOOK REVIEW
- Tips and Tricks and Do’s and Don’ts for music journalists
Upon the successful completion of the Style Guide activity, you will be given the opportunity to complete two trial album reviews. Upon the completion of these, your name will be added to our Spill writers’ roster. Once you have completed the Mentorship Program, you will also be added to our Spill Writers Facebook group where you will be invited to sign up for our available album review opportunities, and eventually live reviews, book reviews, film reviews, and interviews.
If you are interested in becoming a member of our Amazing Spill Team, we encourage you to send an email to Editor Stephen Lussier at [email protected] with the following:
1) A short introduction about who you are and why you wish to write for The Spill. Don’t forget your name and contact info so we can get in touch with you!
2) Your writing experience, whether it’s writing album reviews for your campus newspaper, or if you are working towards a degree in Creative Writing or Journalism. Everything counts (in large amounts)!
3) What you wish to cover for us. Please be as specific as possible (album reviews, features, what your favourite genres are, artists etc.) as it will help us identify if you will be a good fit at The Spill. FYI: listing Nickelback or Taylor Swift as one of your favourite artists will result in your email being instantly deleted. We’re not elitists, we just have to draw the line somewhere!
4) If you wish, you may include a few unedited samples of your work, preferably in regular doc format (written work) or JPEGs (photos). Your samples should be relevant to what you wish to cover, e.g. if you want to write album reviews, send us album reviews; if you wish to be a photographer for us, send us concert or band photos.
**PLEASE NOTE: Spill Magazine contributing photographers must provide written material the form of live reviews or festival reviews along with submitted photo coverage. We no longer support ‘photo essay’ journalism alone.
5) Lastly, to help us get an idea of who you are, please answer the following questions in a brief paragraph. By brief, 150 words or so should be enough to give us a good idea.
1. How did you become interested in music? Was there an event, big or small, that lead to you discovering or developing your passion for it?
2. Who is your favourite—and least favourite—artist? What makes the former so great? Why do you find the latter artist so unpleasant? Don’t be afraid to be critical. It’ll be our little secret. 😛
Thanks so much for your interest in writing for us. Our editors will carefully examine your portfolio before making a decision so don’t forget to proofread your work before submitting it!
2) Your writing experience, whether it’s writing album reviews for your campus newspaper, or if you are working towards a degree in Creative Writing or Journalism. Everything counts (in large amounts)!
3) What you wish to cover for us. Please be as specific as possible (album reviews, features, what your favourite genres are, artists etc.) as it will help us identify if you will be a good fit at The Spill. FYI: listing Nickelback or Taylor Swift as one of your favourite artists will result in your email being instantly deleted. We’re not elitists, we just have to draw the line somewhere!
4) If you wish, you may include a few unedited samples of your work, preferably in regular doc format (written work) or JPEGs (photos). Your samples should be relevant to what you wish to cover, e.g. if you want to write album reviews, send us album reviews; if you wish to be a photographer for us, send us concert or band photos.
2. Who is your favourite—and least favourite—artist? What makes the former so great? Why do you find the latter artist so unpleasant? Don’t be afraid to be critical. It’ll be our little secret. 😛