Great write-up! "What I didn’t like about Pitchfork was that they shut out too many deserving rock bands and had, at their peak, too few rivals." Couldn't have said it better.
Excellent piece - and the only write-up of Pitchfork's demise that delves into what I think is an often-overlooked aspect of the decline of a lot of media shops: mainly, their rush to hold the same opinions and tastes as everyone else. What you refer to as "Pitchfork just wanted to be liked." Yes, handing out a zero to a Liz Phair album is obnoxious. But that obnoxiousness, whether or not it's someone's cup of tea, was a big part of Pitchfork's identity. You get rid of that and you're basically one of the hundreds of indistinguishable music blogs/websites tripping over themselves to fawn over Taylor Swift. At that point, what does it matter if I read Pitchfork or one of the countless other sites that spout the same opinions and have the same tastes?
For now. I have noticed, though, that mainstream media won't touch the Palestinian cause. Because of its seeming imperviousness to corporate appropriation (for now) there is a potential for young musicians that support the movement to have an audience that won't get consumed by the suits. I would imagine this music would be angry and rebellious in nature.
Of course we can also see a repeat of the '30s, where American radicals rejected practically almost all music as capitalist. By the time they reluctantly accepted folk it was too late: America was awash in escapist Hollywood films and swing music. Both of which I love of course, but also an example of pop triumphing over rebellion that might happen again.
My sense is indie music is pretty pro Palestine now. But it depends on the level of indie. The further down you go, the more radical your politics might be.
Now here's where it gets paradoxical: the music itself would have to be wildly popular among the youth, but it would have to be popular without the machine (for now).
You are 100% right about long form sports journalism. I really liked Grantland. They had a guy who wrote about what happened to the Twin Towers Rockets, who upset the LAL, made the finals .... and then vanished. There were scores of articles like that. I was a big fan.
100% agree. Jack Rabid has been fighting the good fight putting out BT for decades now. The Big Takeover is way more music focused and less concerned with hipster pole positions. Shitting on projects for sport and derailing careers seems to be their legacy as much as educating the hot polloi, at least that's the experience of many of us who actually make records for a living. The problem for me with Pitchfork was that it seemed like the half the reviewers wanted to be Lester Bangs, and their writing often showcased their egos rather than the work of the artists they were allegedly critiquing. I'm glad some of you got a quality education out of reading it. Having come of age well before the streaming era, record stores served a similar, but arguably more parsable version of that function. I guess now we don't have to wonder what happens when you give the snarkiest of record store clerks a mass audience.
Pitchfork always felt to me that it was for people who thought music was a fashion accessory. I wonder how many of the readers of that site are still listening to the records they learned about there. My guess is that it's very few.
But I'm old, bitter, grew up listening to the Dischord, SST, Quarterstick, AmRep, etc etc. I listen to mostly free jazz/improv now, so what do I know?
I would say the rescore fiasco was the final straw but in truth Pitchfork's back broke long ago. The old paradigm is not even comprehensible to kids today. Love Liz Phair but she really did deserve that zero for that POS album.
Really good piece. It seems we are roughly the same age and had similar experiences. I have fond memories of my dad bringing in SI from the mailbox. I especially loved the season previews of the major sports. Then in college I got deep into indie rock and remember refreshing P4k at 10pm PT for the new reviews. Discovered lots of great music through the site. It’s easy to look back at the more ridiculous aspects of indie culture, but it was so much fun at the time.
The only part I disagree with is that Spotify is “teetering on financial ruin”. It’s nowhere close, and I suspect we’ll be living in the current paradigm for a good while longer.
It's an aggressive take but Spotify is losing $ and needs to figure out its model. It's going to have to keep raising subscription prices at the minimum
Spotify is also in the unenviable position of competing with corporate behemoths like Apple and Amazon, who can sustain losses with lower subscription prices. It's easy for consumers to switch to another music streamer since they all have similar catalogs, unlike video, where they have more exclusive content
I don't think the current model is sustainable in the long run. The operating costs for these music streamers are huge and I wouldn't be surprised if the major players try to shift to an ad-based model for their base tier subscription to goose revenue, forcing consumers pay double (or more) for an ad-free experience. We're seeing that now in the video ecosystem with Netflix's new pricing structure. I'm sure the others are not that far behind.
I'm still waiting for the major labels and those who own large catalogs to walk away from streaming. I'm shocked pop stars still play ball with streamers. Musicians and labels have more leverage than they realize.
Isn't the problem that people have shown that they have little compunction about stealing music if they are forced to pay a fair value for it? They're willing to pay $10 a month or whatever Spotify costs for all music in recorded history, and artists settle for the fractional pennies this directs their way because it's better than the zip they get when people download music illegally.
Or they’ll put in ads or something. It’s a very good point that the economics here doesn’t really make sense: how can you give everyone a huge chunk of all the music ever recorded for the cost of two CDs per month? Doesn’t seem sustainable.
But it’s possible that this won’t work even if they figure out ad revenue/subscription price that puts them in the red. I don’t know about you, but I’m bored with streaming my music. I’ve started going back to listening to albums. It’s much more fulfilling. Im still using Spotify, but I’m in the process of building out a sweet stereo system; the first components will be my birthday presents this year. Once I’ve got that set up I’ll be back to vinyl. And I doubt I’m alone here.
It’s possible I took the phrase “teetering on financial ruin” too literally. It is GAAP-unprofitable, yes, but it’s cashflow positive and has a cash balance twice as big as its debt. If there is some near-term catalyst for financial ruin, I don’t know what it is.
That doesn’t mean it’s an amazing company, or an attractive stock to buy, but from a financial perspective it could trundle along in its current state for years (technically indefinitely). The long-term risk is it gets obsoleted by some new technological paradigm, but until then, I don’t think it’s going anywhere.
To be honest, I never liked the combination of words: "music criticism". Personally, I feel more confortable with music journalism. I have to admit that when it comes to people expresing themselves it's hard to put in words facts over opinions, though. The way I see it, music is art. Art is a purely subjective thing where each and everyone, in their own way, finds objectivity.
Only a person without teeth might want someone else's chewed gum.
I also miss to read articles where you could find some info about a band, an album, a show... And I'm in for it. I want those things back in whatever format could fit today's world. Paper was the glory, when we were young and for the planet didn't have to worry.
Have you ever read the novel Kings County by David Goodwillie? It's set in Williamsburg during the heyday of the Pitchfork era. One of the worst novels I've ever read, but might be good for an excuse to reminisce about that time.
Great write-up! "What I didn’t like about Pitchfork was that they shut out too many deserving rock bands and had, at their peak, too few rivals." Couldn't have said it better.
Excellent piece - and the only write-up of Pitchfork's demise that delves into what I think is an often-overlooked aspect of the decline of a lot of media shops: mainly, their rush to hold the same opinions and tastes as everyone else. What you refer to as "Pitchfork just wanted to be liked." Yes, handing out a zero to a Liz Phair album is obnoxious. But that obnoxiousness, whether or not it's someone's cup of tea, was a big part of Pitchfork's identity. You get rid of that and you're basically one of the hundreds of indistinguishable music blogs/websites tripping over themselves to fawn over Taylor Swift. At that point, what does it matter if I read Pitchfork or one of the countless other sites that spout the same opinions and have the same tastes?
I don't hate poptimism per se but this is really not the right time for it. Great work
There's no point; pop music is hegemonic in the industry, as in, there is no alternative. There's no enemy to fight anymore.
For now. I have noticed, though, that mainstream media won't touch the Palestinian cause. Because of its seeming imperviousness to corporate appropriation (for now) there is a potential for young musicians that support the movement to have an audience that won't get consumed by the suits. I would imagine this music would be angry and rebellious in nature.
Of course we can also see a repeat of the '30s, where American radicals rejected practically almost all music as capitalist. By the time they reluctantly accepted folk it was too late: America was awash in escapist Hollywood films and swing music. Both of which I love of course, but also an example of pop triumphing over rebellion that might happen again.
My sense is indie music is pretty pro Palestine now. But it depends on the level of indie. The further down you go, the more radical your politics might be.
Now here's where it gets paradoxical: the music itself would have to be wildly popular among the youth, but it would have to be popular without the machine (for now).
You are 100% right about long form sports journalism. I really liked Grantland. They had a guy who wrote about what happened to the Twin Towers Rockets, who upset the LAL, made the finals .... and then vanished. There were scores of articles like that. I was a big fan.
Pitchfork is for the kind of person that likes to tell you about the playlist they just "curated".
The Big Takeover, something actually worth reading, still survives. Check it out.
100% agree. Jack Rabid has been fighting the good fight putting out BT for decades now. The Big Takeover is way more music focused and less concerned with hipster pole positions. Shitting on projects for sport and derailing careers seems to be their legacy as much as educating the hot polloi, at least that's the experience of many of us who actually make records for a living. The problem for me with Pitchfork was that it seemed like the half the reviewers wanted to be Lester Bangs, and their writing often showcased their egos rather than the work of the artists they were allegedly critiquing. I'm glad some of you got a quality education out of reading it. Having come of age well before the streaming era, record stores served a similar, but arguably more parsable version of that function. I guess now we don't have to wonder what happens when you give the snarkiest of record store clerks a mass audience.
Pitchfork always felt to me that it was for people who thought music was a fashion accessory. I wonder how many of the readers of that site are still listening to the records they learned about there. My guess is that it's very few.
But I'm old, bitter, grew up listening to the Dischord, SST, Quarterstick, AmRep, etc etc. I listen to mostly free jazz/improv now, so what do I know?
lol, seems like we come from quite similar places.
I would say the rescore fiasco was the final straw but in truth Pitchfork's back broke long ago. The old paradigm is not even comprehensible to kids today. Love Liz Phair but she really did deserve that zero for that POS album.
Really good piece. It seems we are roughly the same age and had similar experiences. I have fond memories of my dad bringing in SI from the mailbox. I especially loved the season previews of the major sports. Then in college I got deep into indie rock and remember refreshing P4k at 10pm PT for the new reviews. Discovered lots of great music through the site. It’s easy to look back at the more ridiculous aspects of indie culture, but it was so much fun at the time.
The only part I disagree with is that Spotify is “teetering on financial ruin”. It’s nowhere close, and I suspect we’ll be living in the current paradigm for a good while longer.
It's an aggressive take but Spotify is losing $ and needs to figure out its model. It's going to have to keep raising subscription prices at the minimum
Spotify is also in the unenviable position of competing with corporate behemoths like Apple and Amazon, who can sustain losses with lower subscription prices. It's easy for consumers to switch to another music streamer since they all have similar catalogs, unlike video, where they have more exclusive content
I don't think the current model is sustainable in the long run. The operating costs for these music streamers are huge and I wouldn't be surprised if the major players try to shift to an ad-based model for their base tier subscription to goose revenue, forcing consumers pay double (or more) for an ad-free experience. We're seeing that now in the video ecosystem with Netflix's new pricing structure. I'm sure the others are not that far behind.
I'm still waiting for the major labels and those who own large catalogs to walk away from streaming. I'm shocked pop stars still play ball with streamers. Musicians and labels have more leverage than they realize.
Isn't the problem that people have shown that they have little compunction about stealing music if they are forced to pay a fair value for it? They're willing to pay $10 a month or whatever Spotify costs for all music in recorded history, and artists settle for the fractional pennies this directs their way because it's better than the zip they get when people download music illegally.
Or they’ll put in ads or something. It’s a very good point that the economics here doesn’t really make sense: how can you give everyone a huge chunk of all the music ever recorded for the cost of two CDs per month? Doesn’t seem sustainable.
But it’s possible that this won’t work even if they figure out ad revenue/subscription price that puts them in the red. I don’t know about you, but I’m bored with streaming my music. I’ve started going back to listening to albums. It’s much more fulfilling. Im still using Spotify, but I’m in the process of building out a sweet stereo system; the first components will be my birthday presents this year. Once I’ve got that set up I’ll be back to vinyl. And I doubt I’m alone here.
It’s possible I took the phrase “teetering on financial ruin” too literally. It is GAAP-unprofitable, yes, but it’s cashflow positive and has a cash balance twice as big as its debt. If there is some near-term catalyst for financial ruin, I don’t know what it is.
That doesn’t mean it’s an amazing company, or an attractive stock to buy, but from a financial perspective it could trundle along in its current state for years (technically indefinitely). The long-term risk is it gets obsoleted by some new technological paradigm, but until then, I don’t think it’s going anywhere.
I always love it when you write about stuff beyond politics!
I do too, ha
To be honest, I never liked the combination of words: "music criticism". Personally, I feel more confortable with music journalism. I have to admit that when it comes to people expresing themselves it's hard to put in words facts over opinions, though. The way I see it, music is art. Art is a purely subjective thing where each and everyone, in their own way, finds objectivity.
Only a person without teeth might want someone else's chewed gum.
I also miss to read articles where you could find some info about a band, an album, a show... And I'm in for it. I want those things back in whatever format could fit today's world. Paper was the glory, when we were young and for the planet didn't have to worry.
Have you ever read the novel Kings County by David Goodwillie? It's set in Williamsburg during the heyday of the Pitchfork era. One of the worst novels I've ever read, but might be good for an excuse to reminisce about that time.
Ha no I have not! I was going to say I *should* but you've given the anti-endorsement.