Pitchfork is Officially Over: Publication Set to Merge with GQ Magazine

[Edonis 28,950]

"Condé Nast is merging Pitchfork, the digital music publication it bought in 2015, with men’s magazine GQ — a move that will result in layoffs at Pitchfork, including the exit of editor-in-chief Puja Patel."

Source: https://variety.com/2024/digital/news/pitchfork-layoffs-folded-into-gq-conde-nast-1235875585/

Will the infamously brutal music reviews still continue once the merger is complete with GQ? Will they be softer in tone? Pander to artist's management? What will happen to LG7's metacritic score? 

Truly the end of an era!

[Edonis 28,950]

We know at least one person is celebrating:

[Guest]

I'm so happy for Halsey.

[StarstruckIllusion 52,289]

SMILINGGGGG oh they can ROTTT

[weed 73,074]

Idk how I feel! They were controversial but we need those controversial b*tches!! but also I don't like how much weight they carried when they dragged my faves lmaoaoao so! 

[nATAH 47,113]

thank god!

[4th Time Around 4,445]

I hardly ever read Pitchfork reviews which tend to be pretentious and riddled with bias towards certain styles of music, I use the site for finding new albums when they put out year end lists or best new tracks and I am thankful for that because I have found some great stuff through them.

 

[Ladle Ghoulash 20,971]

Not the pop stans reveling in Pitchfork’s demise because they didn’t stan some mid pop records 

[TheFame Monster 8,887]

32 minutes ago, Edonis said:

We know at least one person is celebrating:

and today is the fourth anniversary of the release of Manic - the album  review that spawned that tweet 

[BUtterfield 8 41,304]

Only reason I like pitchfork is because I was able to find new artists through their reviews, so I do hope they stay intact.

On the other hand, the site  was so f*cking pretentious with its reviews of mainstream artists. 

[monstertoronto 9,574]

I assume the reviews will continue within GQ as a column or something?

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Butters Stotch 5,364]

Oh, noooo, this is so sad!!! What will people who used Pitchfork to humilliate others with their "superior musical taste" do now? They are lost  we will miss them so much!

[Chromatography 10,186]

kinda bummed tbh their reviews were always funny

[Edonis 28,950]

1 hour ago, monstertoronto said:

I assume the reviews will continue within GQ as a column or something?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Allegedly, but since they're being relegated to GQ, I doubt they'll cover as many artists as they once did. 

That's kind of why I have mixed to mostly negative opinions about all of this. Pitchfork's more...brutal...reviews of the pop girls are usually the ones that get all the attention from stan twitter, but a lot of their work involved reviewing underappreciated or unknown underground and independent artists. And for a lot of those artists that don't have the budget to go on lucrative press tours or perform in notable venues, being featured in Pitchfork was the best form of promotion. I highly doubt GQ will maintain that moving forward.

The other thing that is a bit concerning about the transition is the movement to GQ, which is a mostly cis-male, hetereosexual-focused magazine. Pitchfork went through MAJOR structural changes in the late 2010s to address concerns of sexism and the general toxic environment perpetuated by chauvinist male contributors by hiring more visible minorities, including women and queers. Make no mistake; pop reviews started to be taken more seriously once staff that understood these artists, particularly female pop singers, were enlisted. I cannot see GQ honoring that movement and I doubt the publication will care enough to honor those changes in a magazine where the demographic don't really matter. It's kind of a shame. 

[StarstruckIllusion 52,289]

3 hours ago, Ladle Ghoulash said:

Not the pop stans reveling in Pitchfork’s demise because they didn’t stan some mid pop records 

Hot take but I don’t think music journalism is a legitimate thing.

Maybe in the 80s when companies sent records early to journalists to describe the sound with bias and backstory… but that’s so irrelevant rn with simultaneous releases.

Why would I waste my time reading 10 paragraphs of a stranger’s “educated” opinion on an album when I literally have my own perspective and can very easily and affordably listen to albums on my own?

This isn’t breaking real world news. I would’nt even put music reviews on the same level as video game reviews. 

If I want background on a song, I’ll look up lyrics and read quotes from the artist themselves, which is usually found in a tweet or video interview. If I want to know an albums’ genre, I can quickly look that up too.

P4K’s overrated discourse online has been sooo annoying the past few years, and while my heart break for those being laid off, clearly their talents and experience will land them a new gig with ease.

So again, good riddance