Computer Music Journal has been a year or more behind on their publishing schedule since the pandemic. They just published the Winter 2024 issue recently, it’s been kind of confusing to be a subscriber. They must have a huge backlog?
This morning I noticed there is a new article on their MIT press page from Barry Traux on microsound composition, dated June 10th 2026! I’m so excited to read this – his articles on live granular synthesis and microsound from the 80s and 90s have been really inspiring, and he’s one of my favorite computer musicians period. But the publication situation is weird. I can’t figure out why it’s only available as a $22 PDF download to subscribers.
I’m happy to support the computer music journal, it’s been an incredible resource for me since I started reading it as a student and I usually find something inspiring or interesting in every issue, I don’t really understand what has been going on recently with the publication schedule though, and this side-channel Barry Traux paper (which, yes, certainly I’m going spend the $22 and print it myself because it’s Barry Traux on microsound in 2026 for crying out loud!) just makes it all the more confusing.
Update: the PDF is watermarked uncorrected proof and when I went to check my subscription I saw this note:
Starting with volume 49, Computer Music Journal will be an online-only journal with articles made available online as they are ready.
I realize now that I skipped the about this issue section in the Winter 2024 issue. Sure enough they announced they’re moving to a new online-only continuous publication model. They’re only publishing a new volume once enough articles have been accumulated. There isn’t much explanation as to why, but I suppose I can guess the way the culture (in a broad sense, whatever that means) seems to be skewing toward having machines read and write for us. Whatever the reason, I’m bummed there will be no more print edition after 50 years of publication.
Well fireworks are fireworks, it was nice to sit by the river tonight and hear the sounds echo across the bluffs.