Resurfaced footage from 20 years ago has revealed how the popular synth pop duo MGMT pronounced their band name – and what it really means.
The video showed MGMT members Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser when they were fresh-faced students at Wesleyan University in 2003.
They were playing an early version of their hit single Kids to a small crowd.
While many have marveled over how long ago the song came out, it was the duo’s pronunciation of their name that has truly sent fans into a spin.
Many longtime fans were shocked to learn that it’s not actually pronounced em-gee-em-tee like the letters of MGMT, but it actually stands for ‘Management.’
In the clip, VanWyngarden introduced the band, telling the crowd: ‘We are the Management.’
‘The Management?’ a fan asked in the resurfaced video.
‘I’ve been calling them MGMT my whole life! Their name is the Management?’
Resurfaced footage from 20 years ago has revealed how the popular synth pop duo MGMT pronounced their band name – and what it really means
The video showed MGMT members Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser when they were fresh-faced students at Wesleyan University in 2003
In the clip, VanWyngarden introduced the band, telling the crowd: ‘We are the Management.’ They’re seen in 2008
‘Is ACDC the aqueduct? What the f?’
The video received thousands of responses, some just appalled, and others sharing their hypotheses.
‘That’s from when they first started. They changed it to MGMT because there was already a band called The Management. It’s 100 percent pronounced “MGMT” now,’ one user wrote.
‘I refuse to receive this information as fact,’ another shared.
‘I work in HR. I’ve called them Management for years as a joke. Joke’s on me, I guess?’ a third commented.
Someone else said: ‘I called them Management when I first heard of them until I heard people call them MGMT and I was so embarrassed. My pretentious 20-year-old self would be so smug right now.’
‘Omg, I realized when people put “mgmt” in their bios and stuff it means “management” and my dumb**s just thought people were just really passionate about early 2000s synth pop rock band. Wow,’ another person observed.
According to an article published by Vulture in 2008, the band’s label, Columbia, and a publicist told the outlet it’s ‘definitely pronounced “Em-gee-em-tee.”‘
According to an article published by Vulture in 2008, the band’s label, Columbia, and a publicist told the outlet it’s ‘definitely pronounced “Em-gee-em-tee”‘
MGMT was nominated for the 2010 Grammy Award for Best New Artist, and Kids wa s nominated for Best Pop Performance By a Duo or Group with Vocals
Several sources noted that the band’s original name was The Management, but they shortened it to MGMT after discovering another artist had the rights to it.
The grainy footage is sure to evoke immediate nostalgia, showing the young men energetically jumping around a makeshift stage in a white dress shirt and slacks to a small crowd of students.
Kids was released in 2007 and was the third and final single from their debut studio album Oracular Spectacular.
They were nominated for the 2010 Grammy Award for Best New Artist, and Kids was nominated for Best Pop Performance By a Duo or Group with Vocals.
In an interview with The Independent, Goldwasser said the song ‘was a result of us being 19 years old, in this fantasy college world, which is a little bit like childhood because you don’t have much responsibility.’
The Grammy-nominated song was a phenomenon in the early 2000s, and has made a comeback with Gen Z discovering the song – many stunned to learn it’s more than 20 years old.
