Micro-Chop Needs Some Holiday Help

Plus 27 Micro-Chop articles worth revisiting.

Micro-Chop has grown and evolved quite a bit since I started the initial Medium publication in the summer of 2016. The Twitter community recently eclipsed 6,000 members and the tweets sent from that account just broke 1,500,000 total unique impressions over the past 28 days.

Those numbers are simultaneously encouraging, mind-blowing, and terrifying. I just hope I can continue using the Twitter feed to share my own writing while signal boosting various artists and music journalists as best I can.

I owe an enormous debt of gratitude to every single person who helped me get this far. Many, many thanks to all of my readers and listeners for your passion and support.

As much as I’m extremely grateful for a growing and genuinely passionate community of readers and listeners, I continue to struggle to monetize my writing.

I’ve been kind of quiet about my other job on social media and in writing, but I’ve worked in education full and recently part-time since 2007. The harsh financial realities of being a music journalist forced me to almost double my part-time teaching hours from last year to this year in order to stay afloat. Though I love teaching, this uptick in hours spent at a mentally challenging job make it difficult to maintain my three-article-per-week Substack newsletter output while keeping up with other freelance projects.

After several months of trying to juggle teaching, three weekly articles for Micro-Chop, and freelancing — along with a somewhat sane and healthy personal life — I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t feeling burned out.

Since mid-July of this year I’ve penned over 65 Micro-Chop Substack articles and a variety of in-depth pieces for other platforms. Between the end of August 2018 and a few days ago I built 365 different 10-beat playlists on Spotify and SoundCloud to share the work of as many producers as possible. I’ve conducted and transcribed every single Micro-Chop interview, edited and written every article, compiled every playlist, and managed the social media account all by myself without a single paid or promoted post. (Note: Ariel Rudolph contributed extensive and amazing editorial help/artwork and David Ma provided further help editing the Paul C long-form piece from late 2017.)

I tell you all of this because I really need your help. At some point I won’t be able to further justify spending countless hours on all things Micro-Chop if I don’t get more of a return on investment for the work I put into it and my other writing. I’m 36 years old and married — there’s only so much work I can do for free or limited compensation.

At the end of the day it’s very possible — even likely — that I won’t be able to get enough support and I’ll need to shut it down eventually. If that happens, it’s been a fun ride so far. No regrets and no bitterness. But I’d really like to keep Micro-Chop afloat for as long as possible.

With that in mind, here are a few things you can do to support the site during the 2019 holiday season.

Here’s how you can help Micro-Chop with a small financial contribution.

1. If you don’t want a paid subscription to the Micro-Chop Substack newsletter, you can buy me a $3 cup of coffee using Apple Pay or PayPal. The Micro-Chop Twitter community has about 6,118 total members. If 10% of that community donated $3 it would be life-changing.
2. Getting a paid subscription to the Micro-Chop Substack is the single biggest way you can support. I’m currently running a 30% off sale until Christmas day — $3.50/month or $30.33 for a full year. Paid subscribers receive new articles every single Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and also receive access to all of the paid subscriber article archives.

Here’s how you can help Micro-Chop without spending any money.

1. If you aren’t signed up for the Micro-Chop Substack newsletter, sign up for a free subscription. You’ll receive one brand new article via email every single Monday. This is a huge help, please consider subscribing if you haven’t already.
2. Like or comment on this post. Also like/comment on the stories I’ll link to at the end of this article.
3. Forward your favorite Micro-Chop article/s to a fellow music-obsessed friend who might enjoy my work.
4. Share your favorite Micro-Chop article/s through Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or whatever social media you use.
5. Connect with Micro-Chop on social media through Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Here’s a list of 27 Micro-Chop Substack articles that are available to read for free subscribers and anyone on the internet. Please take a moment to revisit them or share them with a friend. Remember to like or comment on your favorites.

1. About Micro-Chop
2. 1 Million Views And Counting: How obscure rap records are finding a second life on YouTube.
3. Prince Wrote “Manic Monday” for The Bangles
4. Grammy Award-Winning Producer Boi-1da Sampled Windshield Wipers
5. From Madlib to Mannie Fresh: A Glance at iOS Apps in Music
6. The Importance of Cassette Tapes as a Sample Source
7. Celebrating Ras G
8. Detroit MC and Producer Illingsworth is Consistent as Fuck
9. Exile Made an Entire Album Out of Radio Station Samples
10. A Forgotten Aretha Franklin Single and the Making of “Ms. Fat Booty”
11. DJ Magic Mike Earned a Radio Gig at Age 13 With a Pause Mix Demo Tape
12. Royalty-Free Loops and Stock Sounds
13. “Baby Got Back” Made 100 Million Dollars
14. The Making of T.I.’s “What You Know”
15. “I Like Hitting Pads and Turning Knobs”: A Conversation with Linafornia
16. Missy Elliott Drank 10 Patron Shots While Writing “My Love Is Like…Wo”
17. Beat Tape Backstories
18. The Making of Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Tango In The Night’
19. Psychedelic Suds and Transformative Love: The Making of Mndsgn’s ‘Body Wash’
20. Revisiting De La Soul’s ‘3 Feet High And Rising’ 30 Years Later
21. Count Bass D’s Journey from ‘Pre-Life Crisis’ to “Jussa Playa”
22. Four Successful Beat Tapes That Weren’t Initially Made for Public Consumption
23. DJ Screw Raised Appreciation for Lyricism and Rappers from All Coasts
24. “I Make All the Everything”: A Celebration of Jean Grae’s Production
25. Dibiase Discusses 303s, 404s, MPCs, and Tape Hiss — Part 1
26. Dibiase Discusses 303s, 404s, MPCs, and Tape Hiss — Part 2
27. You Should Consider Making A Christmas-Themed Beat Tape/Instrumental Album

Finally, one more gigantic thank you to any and everyone who supports my work. I appreciate your interest my writing more than I can say. Your enthusiasm and kind words keep me going.

— Gino