Nearly three decades after it was established, Pitchfork, the most influential music publication of the internet age with the power to make or break an artist, is being absorbed by another entity—a men's fashion and style magazine. The website, beloved for being one of modern music's true centers of gravity and renowned for its daily record reviews scored 0.0 to 10.0, will be folded into GQ, parent company Condé Nast announced last week. At least 12 staffers were laid off, three people involved in the situation told the AP on condition of anonymity because they said the situation was still fluid. Ten of those were editorial layoffs, leaving a permanent editorial staff of eight.
The decision was made after what Anna Wintour, chief content officer for Condé Nast, called "a careful evaluation of Pitchfork's performance." Wintour called the move "the best path forward for the brand so that our coverage of music can continue to thrive within the company." One Condé Nast VP similarly assured staffers on Slack that Pitchfork "is not going away as a brand," and that the move will help it "feel bigger and more recognizable in the long term." As Pitchfork moves into its new configuration, it's worth asking: If many view song discovery as music journalism's primary function, what is the role of insightful culture writing about music when people can find their favorite artists by following recommendations on social media or by playing 15 seconds of a song on a popular playlist?
Pitchfork began in 1996, during the era of CDs and—with discerning tastes and unrivaled curation—shepherded voracious music fans into the mp3 and peer-to-peer file-sharing age of Napster and into the streaming era beyond. In that time, its voice moved from snarky to incisive (often both at once) and the scope of its coverage adapted to meet the current moment. Pitchfork's founder sold it to Condé Nast in 2015. The choice to move the publication under GQ, NPR's music critic says, reminds her of '90s music magazine culture, where advertisers classified publications like SPIN, Rolling Stone, Vibe, and Blender as men's interest: "It truly feels like a setback." The lead singer of one indie band theorizes it's independent musicians who will suffer most with the change. More analysis here.
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