Pitchfork (also called Pitchfork Media) is an online music publication founded in 1996 by Ryan Schreiber. Started in Minneapolis, the company moved to Chicago in 1999, then to Brooklyn, New York City. The site originally only focused on independent and alternative, before expanding to cover a wider range of genres such as Pop, Heavy Metal, Jazz, and Hip-Hop.
Pitchfork garnered attention in the the 90s and early 2000s and distinguished itself from other music publications via its unusual reviews. Though the site received praise for passionate and authentic reviews and frequent coverage of up-and-coming independent artists, it was often criticized for being pretentious and mean-spirited.
The site expanded more in the The New '10s, launching the Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago, as well as a print publication, The Pitchfork Review. The company was purchased by media giant Conde Nast in 2015, and its headquarters were moved to the One World Trade Center. In 2024, Conde Nast controversially announced that it would be merging Pitchfork with the magazine GQ, which drew a lot of criticism and concern (even from people who don't even like Pitchfork) about the future of music journalism.
While the site's attitude has noticeably mellowed out over the years, Pitchfork remains a divisive entity in the online music world for its use of a 0-10 rating scale (zero being the worst, ten being the best) and some opinions that haven't aged all that well, but Pitchfork remains one of the most influential music publications of the internet era and helped launched the careers of many independent musicians.
Columns:
- News: Pertinent music news. Topics can range from a new album announcement to an artist going to prison.
- Reviews: Their bread and butter, reviews of albums and EPs that have recently come out. Includes Best New Music, which highlights the best music to come out recently. Music given this title is featured on the front page of the site.
- Best New Album: A album usually must score an 8.2 or higher (sometimes, it isn't all that consistent) to land in the Best New Album column. A Best New Album rating for an emerging artist can often mark their breakthrough.
- '''Best New Track"': Highlights the best recent standalone tracks; no score given.
- Best New Reissue: Highlights the best recent album re-issues, remasters, and box sets. Since many re-issues are of old albums that Pitchfork didn't get a chance to formally review, sometimes these reviews will double as reviews of the original material along with any additional material included in the re-issue.
- Sunday Reviews: Per Pitchfork's own words - "Each Sunday, Pitchfork takes an in-depth look at a significant album from the past, and any record not in our archives is eligible."
- Features: Interviews with musical artists.
- The Pitch: Opinion pieces.
- Video: Their YouTube channel, recordings of Pitchfork Festival live performances.
- Podcast: Interviews and discussions.
