[1] Many greetings to you all, gentle readers of MTO!

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 MTO!s
humble beginnings as well as its innovative use of technology and design. "y the time # joined u as editor with Tim $oo%in
in 2&&', MTO was 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/ MTO to stay ahead of the curve, not just technologically, but also in its reaction to scholarly trends. #n articular, an
e0ansion of MTO!s tradition of secial volumes devoted to articular toics gave us an oortunity to reach out to new
authors. 1ven 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 twenty2five most read volumes are secial volumes,
accounting for more than 3&4 of the readershi for this grou.
.1/
My tas+ in the present secial collection is to relate MTO!s
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 journal!s 2& years of ublications. 5ltimately, this will rovide a uni6ue
record of the *ociety for Music Theory!s most ublic voice while ointing to develoing trends. *o, let!s start with a simle
6uestion.
I. Who Reads MTO MTO MTO MTO?
[2] The answer is that many, many eole read MTO. 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&, <umber 1, =ebruary 2&18
>oyright ? 2&18 *ociety for Music Theory
@emograhics, (nalytics, and TrendsA The *hifting *ands of
an Bnline 1ngagement with Music Theory
Matthew *haftel
<BT1A The e0amles for the .te0t2only/ C@= version of this item are available online atA
httADDwww.mtosmt.orgDissuesDmto.18.2&.1Dmto.18.2&.1.shaftel.h
$1)EBF@*A MTO, history of theory, *ociety for Music Theory, demograhics.
Received January 2014

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visits to MTO lasting more than ten minutes, with many of them lasting significantly longer.
[7] Figure 1 shows the tremendous growth of returning readershi to MTO. The conservative estimate of linear growth is
shown by the straight line to <ovember 2&&-. The wiggly grah that follows is actual data from ,oogle (nalytics.
[8] Figure 2 shows just the seven years of ,oogle (nalytic data, counting reeat visits, rather than uni6ue visits.
.2/
The
ea+s in the blue reeat2visitor line generally coincide with the regular release of new volumes, which always bring a burst of
interest in the journal. The very stee ea+ on *etember 1-, 2&17, for instance, coincides e0actly with the announcement of
MTO volume 19.7. <ote, too, that the MTO audience has become increasingly Macintosh oriented, and, between Ganuary
2&11 and Bctober 2&17, there have been over 9,&&& return visitors using mobile devices, most of them on a gadget made by
(le.
.7/
Mobile users still reresent only about 1:4 of MTO!s readershi. This number is continuing to grow, however.
[3] Figure 3 includes a grahic from ,oogle (nalytics that shows reeat visits disaggregated by country. <ot surrisingly,
the vast majority of our readers hail from the 5.*. and >anada. However, we also have a number of readers from overseas.
The 1nglish2sea+ing world is well reresented, with the 5.$., <ew Iealand, and (ustralia among our most fre6uent
international readers, but *ain and "elgium have a larger number of readers. This is suorted by ,oogle translator data,
which shows over 19,&&& reeat visitors who translated MTO ages into *anish. *ignificant numbers of return visitors .that
is, more than 2,&&&/ have also translated MTO!s ages into =rench, @utch, ,erman, and "ra%ilian Cortuguese.
.8/
#!ll now ta+e
a closer loo+ at the statistics from 1uroe .see Figure 4/.
[-] The number of reeat visits from readers in mainland 1uroe was steady for many years, but ic+ed u dramatically in
mid22&11, driven largely by a temorary increase in traffic from "elgium, which was then ic+ed u by traffic from ,ermany
and the <etherlands. Bverall, though, a growing #nternet resence and the imrovement in web translators has increased
MTO!s overseas readershi, which accounts for 7:4 of our reeat readers.
II. How many articles and essays are published in MTO MTO MTO MTO?
[:] # will now turn away from overall readershi numbers and loo+ at submission rates, author diversity, and toic trends in
MTO!s history. This data is drawn from the volumes of MTO itself, from ublication reorts .which are only e0tant starting
in 2&&2/, and additional ,oogle (nalytics filters.
.3/
['] Figure shows the number of articles and essays submitted to and acceted by MTO over the 2&2year history,
.-/
and the
number of these that were authored by women. @ue to the fact that ublications2committee reorts are not available rior to
2&&2, submission data only reresents 2&&2J2&17. *ome oints of interest to noteA
The overall number of submissions has grown substantially since 2&&2. #ndeed, MTO has consistently received
between five and si0 times more submissions than it received in 2&&2.
1.
The total number of acceted items has also grown fairly steadily since around 1999. The first several years of the
journal saw a higher degree of activity, with aro0imately twenty items ublished er year. ( return to that degree of
activity occurred around 2&&: and has settled around thirty to forty items er year since 2&&9.
2.
[9] The gender diversity of our authorshi is on the right trac+, as shown by the generally increasing number of submissions
by women authors .u from four in 2&&2 to twenty2three for each of the ast two years/, but still leaves a good deal of room
for imrovement. Eith roughly 7&4 of our society membershi made u of scholars who are women, it is noteworthy that it
was only in 2&&2, 2&&3, 2&12, and 2&17 that nearly .but not 6uite/ 7&4 of the incoming submissions were by women. #n the
years 2&&7, 2&&8, 2&&3, 2&&', and 2&1&, 7&4 or more of the acceted items were by women. The year 2&&9 saw twelve
ublished items that were authored by women, but that number has not been sustained in the four years that have followed.
[1&] Music2theoretical ublications tend to be rather significant in length, with some articles e0tending well over thirty ages
of te0t.
.:/
These unusually long articles have generally been imractical to ublish in the more traditional rint journals in
our field. #n addition, some scholars have lamented a lac+ of venues for more brief forays into musical considerations. =or
the ast two decades, MTO has been roviding a consistent venue for music2theory research of all lengths, and, while the
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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 MTO MTO MTO MTO?
[11] Figure # shows the toics of ublished MTO items over the 2&2year history .groued into three2year time sans/. <ote
that an item may fit into more than one toic, so roughly 3&4 of items are double counted in this chart. The toics are listed
in order from most to least common .as reresented by the total number over the MTO lifesan/. =or instance, over the ast
two decades there have been :3 items on tonal subjects, 39 items that engage musical meaning or metahor, 32 that discuss
music from the early2twentieth century, and 3& that focus on oular music toics. *ome oints of interest regarding =igure
:A
The number of toics engaged in each three2year time san has grown steadily over time, with only ten toics in
1997J1993, to thirteen in 1999J2&&1, to si0teen in 2&&'J2&1&, to seventeen in 2&11J2&17. This may be accounted for
in art by the increased number of ublished items in each eriod, as shown in =igure -.
Eith the one e0cetion of 199-J199', a relatively even distribution of major toics has continued to be manifest in
MTO. The to five toics in MTO!s first years were each reresented by between ten and si0teen items. #n the most
recent three2year eriods, the si0 most oular toics have each been reresented by at least nine items. The outliers
here are oular2music and tonal2music toics, which, while being significantly more reresented than other toics,
have still only accounted for 2'4 of items over the ast si0 years.
The change in the number of toics reresented in any three2year eriod cannot be lin+ed directly to the addition of
articular toics over time. =or instance, there were no early2music items ublished in the eriods starting in 1997,
1999, and 2&&', but every other time san included at least three. Bn the other hand, wor+ on issues of disability was
introduced in the secial volume in 2&&9, with one additional item ublished in 2&17.
[12] Figure $ shows the relative distribution of individual toics over time, normali%ed as a ercentage of total items
ublished within a articular toic. The different colors reresent three2year sans, from the earliest .in dar+ blue on the
bottom/, to the most recent .in light blue on the to/. Toics are listed from most common on the left to least reresented
on the right, so one might note that, although cognition is the least reresented .with only seven items over twenty years/,
those articles have been relatively evenly distributed since the first cognition article in 199'. (s # stated reviously, many
toics have maintained a fairly steady resence over MTO!s lifesanA
The three most common toics .tonality, meaningDmetahor, and early twentieth2century music/, have been relatively
steadily reresented over MTO!s lifesan.
MTO!s long commitment to ublishing *MT +eynotes and lenary sessions results in a relatively even resence of
metatheoretical toics over the ast twenty years, although, as the overall number of items ublished each year has
grown, this has become a smaller ercentage of the total.
.'/
Bther toics that have been relatively evenly reresented throughout MTO!s lifesan include hilosohy and
aesthetics, with greater reresentation both early and more recentlyK mathDmusic and edagogy, with fairly low
numbers overallK and rhythm and meter, with a modest degree of recent growth, mostly driven by an overla in the
number of oular music and non2western ublications that also engage rhythm and meter .twelve items/.
[17] =igure ' also shows a number of growth areas in scholarly researchA
Cublications on non2western music are largely aggregated in two secial volumes devoted to the toic in 2&&&
.;olume -.1/ and 2&1& .;olume 1-.8/. (s mentioned reviously, research on disability is largely focused in a single
combined secial volumeA 13.7 and 13.8. Ehile neither of these areas has shown linear growth, they clearly reresent
areas of growth.
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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 twenty2three items in the ast three years.
Bther growth areas include erformance and analysis, a recurrent toic throughout MTO history, 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 Sonata secial MTO volume 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 of MTO and 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 ten2to2twelve2month 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. <ote, too, that this chart does not distinguish between solicited items for MTO!s many secial issues .which are
still subject to review and otential rejection, but tend towards a higher accetance rate/ and the items that are submitted and
acceted through the traditional eer2review rocess .for which the average accetance rate ranges between 2& and 7&4/.
Thus, the small number of submissions and the significantly lower accetance rates for research in cognition .174
accetance/ and early music .274 accetance/ may well be related to the lac+ of secial volumes in those areas. "y contrast,
the higher accetance rate in several areas is directly related to articles in secial volumes or collections of commentaries
based on a articular article .as in the case of transformation, whose accetance rate and submission numbers were boosted
in 2&&: and 2&&' by resonses to Michael "uchler!s LFeconsidering $lumenhouwer <etwor+s,M ublished in ;olume 17.7/.
=inally, given the slightly higher accetance rates and the higher number of items ublished overall, one might conclude that
submissions that focus on ost2tonal toics, oular music, ja%%, or erformance and analysis are more li+ely to be
ublished. Bn the other hand, if everyone floc+s to a single corner of our disciline .as tur+eys do in a thunderstorm/, these
areas of scholarshi are li+ely to become saturated.
[13] Gust by oint of comarison, Figure 1& shows the toics of items submitted vs. items ublished for the ast si0 years in
Music Theory Spectrum .data drawn from ublications reorts/. The rofile is 6uite different, with a smaller range of toics, and
a more significant reresentation of more traditional ost2tonal and tonal toics. This emhasis may be a roduct of the
large number of submissions MTS receives in these areas. >ontrast MTS!s 7' oular2musicDja%% submissions received
comared to aro0imately 3& received by MTO over the same time eriod. Much more significantly, however, whereas
oular2music toics have a articularly high accetance rate at MTO, they have a relatively low accetance rate at MTS.
Cost2tonal toics, however, have a comarable accetance rate at both MTS and MTO. >ognition wor+ is also much more
li+ely to be submitted to and ublished by MTS. The net result is that the two journals have very distinct Lflavors,M and #
believe that our society finds value in this difference.
I'. Which areas o" research do MTO MTO MTO MTO readers pre"er?
[1-] Figure 11 draws from ,oogle2(nalytic data for the 1&& most read articles over the ast si0 years, ta+ing the number of
reeat readers for each article and aggregating by toic. The number ne0t to the toic name is the number of items
ublished in the relevant area of research. The figure rovides a rather incomlete icture, of course, since it does not
measure anything ublished before 2&&-, and items ublished more recently have had significantly less time to accumulate
readershi. (s such, high readershi for articles ublished between 2&1& and 2&17 is articularly noteworthy. Ehile the
readershi may artly reflect the number of available articles in a articular toic, this is not always the case. Bne obvious
e0cetion is the tremendous readershi of oular music toics, which outaces the readershi of tonal toics by nearly
7,&&& readers. The e0tra readershi is drawn entirely from ublications within the ast three years, which may reflect a
reference for very recent scholarshi in this area. #f that is the case, we should e0ect to see a dro2off in the oularity of
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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 early2music toics continue to have a strong readershi. @esite the smaller
number of ublished items, rhythm and meter and early2twentieth2century 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 23 MTO volumes of all time,
and si0 of these are in the eight most read volumes.
'. What is the "uture o" MTO MTO MTO MTO?
[1'] How might we best use this data to osition MTO for 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.
,iven MTO readershi!s 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 cutting2edge music with research in the more traditional scholarly
areas, which has a greater longevity among MTO!s readers. Cerhas MTO should continue encouraging innovative
formats in these traditional areas, following models li+e the one set by Goe *traus!s LThree *travins+y (nalysesM
.;olume 1'.8/.
MTO should 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, and MTO should 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 great
deal of otential.
@iversity of authorshi is critical to every asect of our disciline, so MTO .and *MT in general/ needs to ma+e sure
that its ractices reflect this imortance.
[19] Most of all, MTO must continue to innovate, e0eriment, and ta+e chances! (s *MT!s most ublic voice, MTO acts as a
barometer of the disciline, reacting nimbly to the challenges, oortunities, and many2faceted areas of in6uiry that
characteri%e music theory. Here!s to another twenty years on the cutting edge!
(atthew )ha"tel
Florida )tate *ni+ersity
,ollege o" (usic
-allahassee. F/ 323&!011$&
msha"tel1"su.edu
Wor2s ,ited
>alin, Eilliam 1. 199'. Classical orm! " Theory o# ormal unctions #or the $nstrumental Music o# %aydn, Mo&art and 'eethoven. <ew
)or+A B0ford 5niversity Cress.
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Heo+os+i, Games, and Earren @arcy. 2&&-. (lements o# Sonata Theory! )orms, Types, and *e#ormations in the +ate (i,hteenth-
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 of MTO. # have thus chosen to reresent .uality visits 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
-. <ote that the ublication reort for 2&&' was submitted si0 wee+s earlier than is tyical and thus the numbers are lower
than those for the surrounding years.
Feturn to te0t
:. "ased on rinting MTO article ages as a C@=.
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, Twenty2=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
,opyright 3 2&14 by the )ociety "or (usic -heory. 4ll rights reser+ed.
[1] >oyrights for individual items ublished in Music Theory Online .MTO/ are held by their authors. #tems aearing in MTO
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 not be reublished in any form, electronic or rint, without rior, written ermission from
the author.s/, and advance notification of the editors of MTO.
[2] (ny redistributed form of items ublished in MTO must include the following information in a form aroriate to the
medium in which the items are to aearA
This item aeared in Music Theory Online in [;BO5M1 P, #**51 P] on [@()DMB<THD)1(F]. #t was
authored by [=5OO <(M1, 1M(#O (@@F1**], with whose written ermission it is rerinted here.
[7] Oibraries may archive issues of MTO in electronic or aer form for ublic access so long as each issue is stored in its
entirety, and no access fee is charged. 10cetions to these re6uirements must be aroved in writing by the editors of MTO,
who will act in accordance with the decisions of the *ociety for Music Theory.
This document and all ortions thereof are rotected by 5.*. and international coyright laws. Material contained herein may
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be coied andDor distributed for research uroses only.
/repared 0y Carmel Ra&, (ditorial "ssistant
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