The Death of Pitchfork?

A reflection on the famed music publication’s possible final note.

You read it right. Pitchfork is dead. Well at least for now it seems that way.

On January 17th, 2024, the publication’s parent company Conde Nast announced serious plans to “internally restructure.” Conde Nast is also recognized as the parent company for other well-circulated publications like Vogue and Vanity Fair. The updated strategy included the fatal decision to fold Pitchfork into men’s lifestyle magazine GQ. The ruling also resulted in nearly half of Pitchfork staff being laid off, along with Editor-in-Chief Puja Patel stepping down from the position.

For the millions of subscribers to the now seemingly defunct publication, this is a major blow to music criticism. Since its inception in 1996, the once small blog quickly grew to become one of the most well-respected voices in millennial music journalism. 

John Doran, a distinguished London-based music critic & DJ, had thoughts to share on the matter.

“This news means a great deal more than simply the decline of a large website,” he says. “With some justification, this is an existential threat to worthwhile music criticism.”

For Doran, who is a major contributor to the music review publication The Quietus, the recent news is an affront to his very livelihood. He suggests that this is in tandem with a current trend of music publications “dropping like flies.” 

The Quietus, along with other print publications like Spin and The Fader, are some of the last remaining independent publications contributing to music criticism. 

“The recent loss of small titles, such as long running prints like Q [Magazine], suggest that the threat to criticism as an industry is tangible and pressing,” said Doran.

Local indie musicians that rely on these publications for exposure provide another facet to this ongoing issue. 

Sam Grosman, a local Toronto musician, was also quick to point this out during a discussion on the publication’s dismantling. “It was just that Pitchfork always came through with supporting smaller musicians, and for so long too.”

Since its humble beginnings in the late 90s, very few institutions dedicated to music criticism had a scope like Pitchfork’s. No other site had in-depth analysis of mainstream pop divas while also catering to fans of niche screamo bands all in one place. These write-ups were also actually good and captivated readers with their sharp, ‘all-knowing music nerd’ tone. 

As years went by, Pitchfork’s popularity grew through word of mouth and eventually their stamp of approval became something artists sought out. Their allegiance to promoting quality albums, rather than popular ones, became their defining attribute. In doing so, they introduced millions of people to relatively small artists making incredible work.

Like many others, including myself, Grosman had Pitchfork to thank for a lesson in indie music.

Although the publication can be appreciated for giving a sizable platform to talented indie music acts, it wasn’t perfect. Sometimes, very far from it.

A couple of the now infamous moments that eroded Pitchfork’s authority include their slander of Charli XCX’s popular track “Vroom Vroom” in 2016, along with their decision to lower their scoring of Daft Punk’s acclaimed 2013 album Random Access Memories from an 8.8 to a 6.4 out of 10 in 2021. 

Hassan Benzir, a fourth year music programming student at TMU, felt that the publication’s collapse was “inevitable”. 

“They just became more and more irrelevant for me. I feel like they lost touch with the new generation.”

Benzir’s statements concerning Pitchfork’s eventual “downward spiral” touches on the question at the heart of this debate: is there a future for music journalism in this day and age?

“I can’t even remember the last time I read an entire music review to be quite honest,” Benzir admits. 

With mounting pressure from a new generation of music listeners to adhere to the latest trends, while also trying to remain true to the vein of “indie millennial” tastes that made them beloved, Pitchfork eventually lost its standing with many readers. 

As of now, the exact details of this merger between the publication and GQ still remain in question. This leaves concerns over the accessibility of the site as well as the timeline of how these events will play out still unanswered.

With that being said, critical input on the topic of music loses its zeal with every passing year as the internet exponentially grows. Easy access to music instantly allows listeners to react and form their own opinions without seeking out words of wisdom from experts. Streaming service algorithms have developed playlists based on the listeners own likes and dislikes. Emphasis is increasingly being placed on consumers over professionals. It seems as though Pitchfork’s supposed departure is only the beginning of a new, uncertain era for journalists.