Farewell, from MMA

the end of Modern Music Analysis

Hello, and goodbye. The past five years has been some of the most valuable and exciting times for me as I’ve come into my own as a writer and an adult. In 2021, I started this publication on a whim, borne from the boredom of COVID, and sought community through music. I’ve probably said this at some point, but it was also created out of a bit of spite because this was around the time the guy from Dissect was blowing up. I’ve always hated the idea of tastemakers being generic, boring people (yes that includes Fantano), so this was a natural step in the next direction.

Shortly after my first music related article, a short synopsis of The Weeknd’s career (shoutout my goat), Modern Music Analysis was created. Mark Chinapen was my first writer. And in all this time, he’s been by my side. He’s seen every evolution of the pub, from all the logo changes, to the vision changes, to the lulls and lows to the very highs. It feels like we’ve done it all through these past five years. I owe a lot of the continuation of the publication to him. We always found ways to make this little thing work, to steal views from the biggest pubs (fuck Pitchfork and Rolling Stone), to appear first in search engines, to garner the attention of people who weren’t looking for us. All because we’re writers with a common interest. Music has led us to the most wonderful of places.

I appreciate every single writer that’s come through Modern Music Analysis in all this time. Whether you only wrote one thing or a hundred, every single contribution is appreciate more than you know. Paul K. Barnes has been by my side for a while now as well and served as the other voice of reason on my shoulder. Z-side’s Music Reviews and Nick Eustis are also long-running and supremely consistent contributors that provided an incredibly wide range of music coverage. I won’t tag all of my writers here but you get the gist. This pub doesn’t exist without them.

It still blows my mind, especially for someone who had never put themselves out there when they were a kid, I was able to craft and build a publication from scratch without any backing, whether that be institutional or financial. Only the blind faith from random internet writers and my love for music. From scrapping together ideas and logos on Canva in my Auburn, Alabama apartment, through it all to graduation and moving to Nashville, shit even getting married, Modern Music Analysis has been a part of it all.

Accumulating over 608,000 views in the past 3 years alone, 2000 Medium followers, participation in a couple of Medium events, and creating a podcast, we’ve truly branched out in ways I never thought I would’ve five years ago. I’ve developed so much as a writer in this time, like my first reviews were horrid. I mean my newer reviews aren’t that great still but I’ve learned a lot. Being able to see other forms of reviews helped me hone my craft to a level I feel comfortable with, even if I feel like I don’t hold a candle to the best in the game.

I could’ve done better. I could’ve been far more consistent. I could’ve been more cohesive, rebranded, or locked in on content creation. But I didn’t, and I don’t regret that. I’ll always wonder what would’ve happened if I ever took this even just a little more serious. But every decision has led me to this specific instance.

I know this is the end because the very idea of ending it feels natural. Not once in the course of this decision did it feel like a bad idea to end this publication as it had in the past. I’m okay with letting go. A lot has to do with just the current climate — of my life, of the internet, of Medium, discourse, criticism, of music. And I know this was only was only a blip to most people, and this will pass with hardly any impact, but it has been my entire adult life. So I’ll miss it, and you all.

I’ll commit my time to growing my Substack and tapping back into my full writing prowess of essays, poetry, and fiction alongside my music writing. I owe myself that. I owe it to myself to see the world the music speaks of a little bit closer, with a little more reverence.

Modern Music Analysis, god what a ridiculous mouthful of a name, will live on here at Medium with this final message and our archive. Submissions will no longer be accepted and MMA will disappear otherwise by the end of the week. Goodbye and thank you all.