demographics, analytics, and trends - the shifting sands of an online engagement with music theory

8/12/2019 Demographics, Analytics, And Trends - The Shifting Sands of an Online Engagement With Music Theory

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[1] Many greetings to you all, gentle readers ofMTO! This year we celebrate the full fruition of an idea that nobody could

have imagined just 22 years ago. The storied cast of characters collected in this secial collection has described MTOshumble beginnings as well as its innovative use of technology and design. "y the time # joined u as editor with Tim $oo%in

in 2&&',MTOwas already at the cutting edge. (ll "rent )orgason, *ean (t+inson, and # had to do was sruce u the loo+

and udate a few features. #nstead, # concentrated my time as editor on growing our ool of authors and establishing a

broader readershi, which was made significantly easier by the addition of oogle (nalytics in 2&&-. The ability to trac+

readershi in real time and to reach an ever increasing diverse grou of authors at the dro of a hat allowed and continues to

allow/MTOto stay ahead of the curve, not just technologically, but also in its reaction to scholarly trends. #n articular, an

e0ansion ofMTOs tradition of secial volumes devoted to articular toics gave us an oortunity to reach out to new

authors. ven better, these secial volumes catured a raidly growing readershi. #ndeed, si0 of our eight most read

volumes over the ast two decades are secial volumes, and nine of the twentyfive most read volumes are secial volumes,

accounting for more than 3&4 of the readershi for this grou. 1/My tas+ in thepresentsecial collection is to relateMTOs

history to our disciline, emloying data from web analytics as well as from submission and ublication reorts in order to

e0lore trends in toics and demograhics across the journals 2& years of ublications. 5ltimately, this will rovide a uni6ue

record of the *ociety for Music Theorys most ublic voice while ointing to develoing trends. *o, lets start with a simle

6uestion.

I. Who ReadsMTOMTOMTOMTO?

[2] The answer is that many, many eole readMTO. 5sing oogle (nalytics to trac+ readershi since 2&&- the first year

that we imlemented this tool/, and conservatively estimating based on linear growth starting in 2&&7, MTO has had

1,3&8,'11 uni6ue visitors and aro0imately 81','9: return visitors. #n the last seven years alone there have been over 8-,&&&

;olume 2&, oyright ? 2&18 *ociety for Music Theory

@emograhics, (nalytics, and TrendsA The *hifting *ands ofan Bnline ngagement with Music Theory

Matthew *haftel


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visits to MTOlasting more than ten minutes, with many of them lasting significantly longer.

[7] Figure 1shows the tremendous growth of returning readershi to MTO. The conservative estimate of linear growth is

shown by the straight line to


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ercentage of ublished items that are brief has droed from :24 in its first three years to 724 in 2&11J2&17, the number

of brief essays and commentaries ublished each year is still significant see Figure !/.

III. What areas o" research are "ound in MTOMTOMTOMTO?

[11] Figure #shows the toics of ublished MTOitems over the 2&year history groued into threeyear time sans/.


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Coular music toics, however, have seen tremendous and steady growth, from a single ublication in 2&&1 Mar+

"utler!s stunning article on electronic dance music/, to twentythree items in the ast three years.

Bther growth areas include erformance and analysis, a recurrent toic throughoutMTOhistory, and one that has

seen several secial volumesK and form, li+ely sar+ed by the ublication of "ill >alin!s 199'/ boo+ on classical form,

Heo+os+i and @arcy!s 2&&-/ boo+ on sonata theory, and the Tempest SonatasecialMTOvolume in 2&1& ;olume

1-.2/. The ublication of research that focuses on more recent comosition has also seen consistent growth over

MTO!s lifesan.

The toic of transformational theory saw tremendous growth between the first year ofMTOand a flurry of

ublications in 2&&', but has seen significantly less activity in the ast five years.

[18] Figure % shows the toics and number of items submitted comared with the toics and number of items ublished.

@ata for items submitted is drawn from ublications reorts, which cover a slightly variable tentotwelvemonth eriod,

since the reorts are submitted sometime between (ugust and Bctober. The data for items ublished is ta+en from actual

volume years, so there is some discreancy in terms of dates, but it still rovides a general icture of submissions vs.

accetance.


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these articular articles, to be relaced in oularity by more recent scholarshi on oular musics.

[1:] Bther areas seem to have a healthy degree of longevity, if not overall oularity. #n articular, the older items that

e0lore tonal, early twentieth century, and earlymusic toics continue to have a strong readershi. @esite the smaller

number of ublished items, rhythm and meter and earlytwentiethcentury music toics have attracted more readershi than

transformational theory. This may reflect the recently declining number of submissions and ublications in that area. =inally,

as summari%ed in Figure 12, secial volumes attract an unusually wide readershi, while drawing from a diverse authorshi.

The eight secial volumes in =igure 12 account for more than 3&4 of the readershi of the to 23MTOvolumes of all time,

and si0 of these are in the eight most read volumes.

'. What is the "uture o"MTOMTOMTOMTO?

[1'] How might we best use this data to ositionMTOfor the futureN There are, of course, many ossible answers to these

6uestions, but here is a short list of ideas to begin the conversationA

#t seems li+ely that readershi will continue to grow, but erhas we might invite a larger overseas readershi by

considering articles or a secial volume in *anish or erman.

ivenMTOreadershis reference for articles on highly contemorary oular and art music, it may be imortant

for the journal to stay as current as ossible in these areas.

#t would be wise to continue to balance the focus on cuttingedge music with research in the more traditional scholarly

areas, which has a greater longevity amongMTOs readers. CerhasMTOshould continue encouraging innovative

formats in these traditional areas, following models li+e the one set by Goe *trauss LThree *travins+y (nalyses

;olume 1'.8/.

MTOshould continue to attract articles of every ossible length, articularly those outliers at the longer and briefer

ends of the sectrum.

(uthorshi and readershi has grown, andMTOshould continue to be the journal that oens the door to a wide

variety of authors and many new readers through secial volumes and careful mentorshi of articles that have a greatdeal of otential.

@iversity of authorshi is critical to every asect of our disciline, soMTOand *MT in general/ needs to ma+e sure

that its ractices reflect this imortance.

[19] Most of all,MTOmust continue to innovate, e0eriment, and ta+e chances! (s *MTs most ublic voice,MTOacts as a

barometer of the disciline, reacting nimbly to the challenges, oortunities, and manyfaceted areas of in6uiry that

characteri%e music theory. Heres to another twenty years on the cutting edge!

(atthew )ha"telFlorida )tate *ni+ersity

,ollege o" (usic

-allahassee F/ 323&!011$&

msha"tel"su.edu

Wors ,ited

>alin, Eilliam . 199'. Classical orm! " Theory o# ormal unctions #or the $nstrumental Music o# %aydn, Mo&art and 'eethoven.


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Heo+os+i, Games, and Earren @arcy. 2&&-.(lements o# Sonata Theory! )orms, Types, and *e#ormations in the +ate (ihteenth-

Century Sonata.B0ford 5niversity Cress.

Footnotes

1. The eight most read volumes areA 17.7, 1-.2, 1-.8, 1:.2, 1:.7, 1'.7, 19.2, 19.7.

Feturn to te0t

2. The number of uni6ue visitors is a significantly higher number, but includes a large ercentage of visitors as much as

-&4/ that immediately clic+ out ofMTO. # have thus chosen to reresent ualityvisits as reeat visitors.

Feturn to te0t

7. @rawn from oogle (nalytics data as of Bctober 71, 2&17, but not shown here.

Feturn to te0t

8. oogle (nalytics data from Bctober 71, 2&17.

Feturn to te0t

3. # would li+e to than+ $aleb @el+ for heling me to collect and rocess this data.

Feturn to te0t

-. ristle >ollins Gudd in 19.7, Catric+ Mc>reless in 1:.1, *usan Mc>lary in 1-.1, Ganet *chmalfeldt in 1&.1, Twenty=ifth

(nniversary "an6uet Oectures in 9.1, 1999 Clenary *ession in -.1, 199' Clenary *ession in 8.2, $ofi (gawu in 2.8.

Feturn to te0t

,opyright )tatement

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[1] >oyrights for individual items ublished inMusic Theory OnlineMTO/ are held by their authors. #tems aearing inMTO

may be saved and stored in electronic or aer form, and may be shared among individuals for uroses of scholarly

research or discussion, but may notbe reublished in any form, electronic or rint, without rior, written ermission from

the authors/, and advance notification of the editors ofMTO.

[2] (ny redistributed form of items ublished inMTOmust include the following information in a form aroriate to themedium in which the items are to aearA

This item aeared inMusic Theory Onlinein [;BO5M P, #**5 P] on [@()DMB


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be coied andDor distributed for research uroses only.

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7


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C o p y r i g h t o f M u s i c T h e o r y O n l i n e i s t h e p r o p e r t y o f S o c i e t y f o r M u s i c T h e o r y a n d i t s c o n t e n t

m a y n o t b e c o p i e d o r e m a i l e d t o m u l t i p l e s i t e s o r p o s t e d t o a l i s t s e r v w i t h o u t t h e c o p y r i g h t

h o l d e r ' s e x p r e s s w r i t t e n p e r m i s s i o n . H o w e v e r , u s e r s m a y p r i n t , d o w n l o a d , o r e m a i l a r t i c l e s f o r

i n d i v i d u a l u s e .

demographics, analytics, and trends - the shifting sands of an online engagement with music theory

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