About Rhythm Changes
Rhythm Changes is a website about creative music in Canada. Will Chernoff started it in Vancouver in 2020 with the mission to be "a home for creative, improvising, local music people" and to make it more fun and easier to participate in the scene.
"Stepping up to spread the word about great music" - Nou Dadoun, Vancouver Co-Op Radio
"Coverage of some of the best. [Will] comes to the music from the inside" - Laila Biali, CBC Music
"A great local service" - John Korsrud, Hard Rubber Orchestra
Rhythm Changes publishes a list of all the jazz shows in Vancouver every month, as well as a free weekly email with upcoming events and features. Paying subscribers who support the project also get a weekend email delivery called Subscriber Fridays.
The 3 parts of this website
- The gig list, a monthly webpage that gathers over 200 Vancouver jazz and related shows in one place. The list is used by thousands of people and is often referred to as the comprehensive source for what's happening in our community.
- The free weekly email for regularly enjoying our music scene, every Tuesday morning at 6:00 AM Pacific Time. It includes the week’s upcoming events from the gig list and features artists, events, or recordings for you to check out.
- Subscriber Fridays, delivered every week to the subscribers.
What's in the free weekly email
- The Rhythm Changes Podcast is an audio companion to the website with over 100 episodes, around twice a month. Join our host Chris Fraser in conversation with the people in our scene.
- RCTV is Will's YouTube show and is the newest production at Rhythm Changes, launched in summer 2025.
- Fresh Songs is a monthly article about local new releases, focusing on individual songs and crossing genre boundaries.
- Rhythm Changes Across Canada is a seasonal article that rounds up albums from beyond British Columbia.
What's in Subscriber Fridays
In addition to in-depth articles about certain people and events, the Subscriber Friday articles have some recurring segments:
- 10 Things is my personal monthly report of shows I attended and local stories I've been following.
- Outside the Changes is a quarterly column sharing my favourite new albums that I wouldn't otherwise cover, which means from anywhere in the world. I listen to dozens of new albums per month and identify the ones I liked most.
Will Chernoff
About me
I was born and raised in New Westminster, BC and live in nearby Coquitlam.
I’m an active musician. Playing was my point of entry into the working world of music, and in my early twenties, it provided my main income. I still play occasionally.
Chernoff Music is my own business. Through it, I offer services to record labels, live music presenters, and non-profit arts organizations in the U.S. and Canada, including some companies here that you may know (more on that below). It’s also the record label for my music.
FAQ
Many people contribute to your community as volunteers. Why do you charge money for the subscription?
Why not? It takes time to produce, and it appeals to certain people. I'm fortunate to have happy customers. I could identify many more reasons than this, but it's that simple.
As for volunteers in my community, I respect what they do and wouldn't begrudge any of them if they charged (more) for their effort. And of course, the way they're doing it right now is okay too, if it works for them!
What about writing for another website / outlet?
It's not a priority of mine. Being published by another outlet doesn't add anything to what I provide you with here. If the line of questioning is, "Are you writing here because you're working towards a writing gig at a well-known music publication? Maybe they'll hire you someday?" The answer is no. My professional interests are either in my own projects or in other parts of the music business.
Why did you decide to have paying subscribers?
I think that a lot of music writers might have learned under the mass-market advertising model, which no longer works for music writing. I bet the concept of mass-market in entertainment only was real in the 20th century and won't exist any longer. With no mass-market, everyone serves a niche, from the traditional music publications down to us.
And just because some old players still exist, doesn't mean their business model works. Cost structures are a brutal reality. The only thing that works for a media niche as small as ours, about jazz and creative music, is subscription. There’s no moment in the future when Rhythm Changes breaks through to a mass-market and advertising supports everything.
Okay, why should I become a paying subscriber anyway?
That's up to you. I love hearing from you after you subscribe, and reach out to share why you joined. Everyone has a different reason.
But maybe I can tell you some reasons why you shouldn't!
First, let's talk pricing. Anyone with a super-tight budget of what to spend on entertainment would be best off subscribing to other things. It's quite something that a music streaming app or any TV and movie streaming service can cost not-much-more than Rhythm Changes, and I could never compete with their volume of entertainment; so if you need the largest amount of stuff in return for your spend, please go ahead.
Second, how about supporting some artists first? I bet you've got some favourite artists in your life – that's probably why we're all here. Certainly you should buy some of their music and/or merch before you consider subscribing to an outlet that covers them.
And third, maybe you don't trust me to produce consistently. I write the Subscriber Friday articles every Friday for subscibers only: what if I fail to deliver, what if most of it doesn't interest you? I don't blame you if you just don't know me that well.
Those are the biggest reasons I can think of why you shouldn't subscribe. Not swayed? Come on down!
Don't we all get too much email already?
No, I don't think so: we get too much bad email, unexpected email, disrespectful of the five 'W's email. When you subscribe, you know who it's from (me), what you're getting, when and where you're getting it, and why you chose to get it.
People actually don't have enough email like that. When we give them more of it, they'll be even happier to refuse the bad email.
Who are your paying subscribers?
Fans, Juno winners, touring performers, musicians in our scene with day jobs, presenters of local talent... and more fans! Although many of my paying subscribers are artists – because they find that my work can add value to their careers – others are non-musicians, and all are welcome. We have more non-artist subscribers than I had expected.
What is the cancellation policy / refund policy?
Cancellation policy: your subscription renews automatically until you cancel. After cancelling, you won't be charged again.
Refund policy: After you have been charged for a period (month or year), you cannot receive a refund for that period. However, you can cancel any time before the next charge.
Ethics
Before Rhythm Changes, I worked in a variety of roles throughout the first 10 years of my music career, including making my own music. Integrity is important to me. Here's a breakdown of how I operate:
- No payment for coverage. I never charge artists to be covered and no-one can pay for influence over whom I cover, or what I say about anyone or anything.
- No editorial control for the subject. Though I sometimes explicitly clear speaking terms with people, making sure I know what's on-the-record and what isn't, I don't allow anyone I cover to sign-off on my content before publication.
- No editorial control for sponsors/subscribers, no sponsorship of own music content. While I sometimes have local sponsors who benefit from to the music I cover, I never run the sponsorships on content that features their music. And of course, the sponsors have no input on the coverage of their music. The same goes for paying subscribers: several presenters in the scene are subscribers, but they get no editorial control over anything I write.
- I don't tie complimentary tickets to coverage or set up any exchanges of value around going to shows. My ideal policy for comps is, "Never ask, always accept." I usually buy my own admissions like anyone else but am grateful for invitations and comps extended to me, of course.
- Your pre-release music is safe with me; I often need those links and files, but I'll never share them to the public.
- No editorial control for any current employer(s) or people hiring me on contracts. Rhythm Changes is an independent project, no matter whom I work with. I have covered many previous Canadian clients and colleagues, and I might work with a musician who has been covered. That's how the cookie crumbles when you live so much of your life in a small local music scene.
Recordings and music sales
I don't aim to benefit from sales of the music I cover, but sometimes, I might write about my own releases, songs, and events. I add a disclosure when it makes sense to do so. Also, I might promote my own upcoming projects in little bits throughout my content.
No links from Rhythm Changes to recordings, event tickets, or sponsors' products are affiliate links, which means I never earn any commission money when you go to gigs or buy music that you find here. All sponsors simply pay me a flat fee when they book their sponsorship.
Chernoff Music clients and partnerships
As always, I will not receive payment in exchange for any coverage here, and no one will have editorial control or input over what I publish except for me.
Cellar
Here is my full disclosure about my affiliation with Cory Weeds and the Cellar Music Group:
- Since June 2024, Cellar has been my client at Chernoff Music. Before that, from November 2023 to March 2024, I worked casual hours for Cellar as a freelancer.
- Frankie’s Jazz Club is separate from Cellar. I have no affiliation with Frankie's unless I play there.
- Cellar may not negotiate any free advertising at Rhythm Changes.
Infidels Jazz
Here is my full disclosure about my affiliation with Tim Reinert of Infidels Jazz:
- Since October 2024, Infidels Jazz has been my client at Chernoff Music.
- Infidels may not negotiate any free advertising at Rhythm Changes.
Inlet Music Series
The Inlet Music Series is a monthly seasonal concert series at Port Moody's Inlet Theatre.
- Rhythm Changes is the series' media partner for 2025/26. This is an in-kind sponsorship with no revenue to me and no editorial control for the presenter.
- My commitment to the partnership is to publish 1-3 editorial pieces about the series overall, plus one piece about each of the 8 concerts.