MMA’s Monthly Message — August 2021
Updates from the month of August
A message from the editors of Modern Music Analysis
Hello and welcome back to MMA’s Monthly Message for the month of August! As you may or may not have noticed, this newsletter has gone out a bit later than in previous months. There are several reasons for this. With the change of seasons, from summer to fall, comes greater academic responsibility. I believe this holds true for most people whether they’re in school or just starting a new job — the gears are back up and running. As a result, posts may seem a bit more spread out as we learn to manage our time with the aforementioned additions. You can still expect the best analyses and posts, as always! Just at a lesser pace.
That being said, I had conversations with the other editors trying to hash a plan that would not only increase the motivation to post, but also viewership, in our quest to become a prominent publication on Medium. Two ideas came to the forefront: the first being a MMA Writer’s Challenge Series which will include a variety of prompts over the course of the next several months. Anyone could contribute to these challenges and their story would be displayed prominently. We are currently compiling a list of prompts so be on the lookout for the first one soon!
The second idea was very intriguing as it was something that I had seen of other publications but hadn’t considered for my own: a podcast. While I can be socially anxious at times, I actually love this idea for the future of Modern Music Analysis. This podcast would feature conversations with MMA’s most frequent writers and their thoughts on any given subject. I would imagine it would be sort of like Spotify’s Dissect podcast where they look at in depth analyses of a given album. Ours wouldn’t necessarily be as long winded (like how they look at each song of a given album) but rather look at a critique of a selection of music as a whole. I also wanted to gauge the interest of our readers for a podcast. So if you’re interested in hearing or contributing to a podcast for MMA, highlight this section, comment, or email and let us know!
Last is an idea that I’ve held on to for months now and have included hints at in previous Monthly Messages: giveaways. I have long wanted to make MMA a physical/tangible product. I believe giveaways are a gateway to the physical production for the publication. Such things that I’ve considered giving away are Medium subscriptions, vinyl records, and merchandise such as MMA stickers, buttons, and pins. At our next benchmark of followers (200), giveaways will be in full swing, so be on the lookout and send your friends to Modern Music Analysis!
Stories of the Month
Hello everyone! IEYL here. I want to shout out Z-sides: Music Reviews for his well-researched and thoughtful album review of Ma by Devendra Banhart. I really appreciated his ability to weave in himself whilst delicately describing the album and its many nuances. This allowed the reader to understand both the writer and the music. Good job!
Hey everyone, Mark Chinapen here! For my story of the month, I’d like to draw your attention to Solo’s review of Frank Ocean’s Blonde. In his article, he gives a personal anecdote of how a relationship gone sour inevitably made him listen to Blonde in full. Picking on the album’s concepts/ideas of heartbreak, mixed emotions, etc to not only illustrate how the album related to him personally, but how it showcases the story Frank Ocean was trying to tell within Blonde. It’s an excellent analysis of one of 2016’s best albums.
My selection for the last story of the month is Z-sides: Music Reviews’ review of Black Country Disco. Z-Sides was very active in the month of August and provided MMA with several high quality pieces. This one was a great review of an album from Tom Aspaul and their eccentric 80’s inspired style. You can find the full piece by clicking here!
That’s it for the August edition of the Monthly Message! Thanks for reading and be sure to let us know your interests in the potential podcast and giveaways!
