Pitchfork (website)

''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music publication founded in 1996 by Ryan Schreiber in Minneapolis. It originally covered alternative and independent music, and expanded to cover genres including pop, hip hop, jazz and metal. ''Pitchfork'' is one of the most influential music publications to have emerged in the internet age.

In the 2000s, ''Pitchfork'' distinguished itself from print media through its unusual reviews, frequent updates and coverage of emerging acts. It was praised as passionate, authentic and unique, but criticized as pretentious, mean-spirited and elitist, playing into stereotypes of the cynical hipster. It is credited with popularizing acts such as Arcade Fire, Broken Social Scene, Bon Iver and Sufjan Stevens.

''Pitchfork'' relocated to Chicago in 1999 and Brooklyn, New York, in 2011. It expanded in the 2000s, launching projects including the annual Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago in 2006, the video site ''Pitchfork.tv'' in 2008, and a print publication, ''The Pitchfork Review'', in 2011. It became more professional and less antagonistic in style, and began covering more mainstream music and issues of gender, race and identity. As of 2014, ''Pitchfork'' was receiving around 6.2 million unique visitors every month.

The influence of ''Pitchfork'' declined in the 2010s with the growth of streaming and social media. In 2015, it was acquired by the mass media company Condé Nast and moved to One World Trade Center. After the acquisition, the company president, Chris Kaskie, left in 2017, followed by Schreiber in 2019. In 2024, Condé Nast announced plans to merge ''Pitchfork'' into the men's magazine ''GQ'', resulting in layoffs. The merge drew criticism and triggered concern about the implications for music journalism. Provided by Wikipedia