This Song Changed My Life turns two today! 🥳
I can’t believe we’re two years deep — and nearly 100 essays! I’m honored to bring them to you every week. Thank you all for sharing this cozy corner of the internet with me 💛
“This project means a whole lot in a destabilized world. I hope it finds everyone aching for a bit of connectivity these days.” - Sade
I’m so glad people are enjoying this project and I’m immensely proud of what we’ve built here together. In an increasingly algorithmic world, I believe that the power of this project is in its humanity.
Fun facts
We have writers from 10+ countries
We have readers from 50+ countries
Our community has more than tripled in size this year
More and more readers are submitting essays — 5x as many as last year!
Behind the scenes
Since starting this publication in 2023, it’s become a bigger and bigger part of my life — to bring you new content each week, I have to work on it daily.
Editing 98+ essays
Managing 100+ writers
Researching and writing 46+ Monday Bites
What’s next
Since I need more paid subscribers to sustain TSCML, I’m doing a $50 giveaway and all paid subscribers (new and existing) will be entered to win 🎉 Details below.
Bonus: paid subscribers get instant access to 50+ secret posts, playlists, and album recommendations (that people have really nice things to say about 🥰)
Reviews from paid subscribers
“This post was worth a paid sub alone.”
“I cried reading this, you’re an incredible writer.”
“I so love when you introduce new things to me.”
The Giveaway
To celebrate our 2-year anniversary, I’m giving away a $50 gift card to the supremely wonderful Darkside Records — raffle style. All paid subscribers will be automatically entered to win!
Existing paid subscriber = 5 entries
Become a paid subscriber today (!) = 4 entries
Become a paid subscriber this week = 2 entries
Become a paid subscriber this month = 1 entry
Darkside is the Hudson Valley’s largest independent music store, with a vast selection of vinyl, CDs, cassettes, and other formats. They also have turntables, movies, games, T-shirts and more. All available on their website!
TSCML paid subscriptions are $5/month or $50/year ($4.17/mo). I’ll randomly select a winner on August 13th and notify them via email (fine print below).
If you’re already a paid subscriber, thank you sooooooo much for your patronage. Everyone reading this has you to thank for helping me reach this milestone.
If you’re on the verge of upgrading and you’re detail-oriented, you can learn more about the paid offering here. And if you need something juicy to read as soon as you take the leap, this is a paid post from this year that I’m particularly proud of (there’s a wholesome twist at the end).
Cheers to two years!
Onward,
x Grace
Raffle rules:
There will be one winner (despite my song choice above)
I’ll use a computer to randomly select the winner
The gift card will be digital
To enter, you just need to be or become a paid subscriber within the timeframe specified herein; no further action necessary
“Today” = within 24 hours of this email being delivered (ending approx. 8:15 a.m. EST on July 15, 2025)
“This week” = by this time next Monday (July 21, 2025)
“This month” = 4 weeks from today (August 11, 2025)
Existing paid subscribers get the most chances because they deserve a “thank you” for their ongoing support.
Your business with Darkside Records is between you and them. Once the gift card is delivered to you via email, I can’t assist you with order, product, shipping, or other issues having to do with whatever you purchase with it.
FYI, they say their gift cards never expire (but if you win and don’t use it, I can’t be held responsible for some force majeure freak thing that causes them to unexpectedly go out of business).
If lost or stolen, I can’t guarantee replacement of the gift card.
Thanks for playing and good luck!
That collage rules!