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Pitchfork (website)

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File:Pitchforklogo.jpg
Pitchfork logo

Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork, is an English-language, U.S.-based daily Internet publication devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its central focus lies with independent music, especially guitar-based indie bands. However the range of musical genres reviewed is extremely broad and extends to (mostly alternative) electronic, folk, pop, dance, rap and hip hop music. Pitchfork journalists also review reissued albums and occasionally publish 'best of' lists, including the best music of 2000-05 and each decade between 1970 and 2000. Pitchfork is reputed to have influence in the independent music world.

Pitchfork Media's URL is www.pitchforkmedia.com.

History

Pitchfork was created in Minneapolis in late 1995 by Ryan Schreiber, then just out of high school. Influenced by local fanzines and college radio station KUOM, Schreiber, who had no previous writing experience, aimed to provide the Internet with a regularly updated resource for independent music. At first bearing the name Turntable, the site was originally updated just once a month with interviews and reviews. In the summer of 1996, the name was changed to Pitchfork, and the site began publishing daily.

In early 1999, Schreiber uprooted Pitchfork from its Minneapolis base and relocated to Chicago. By then, the site had expanded to four full-length album reviews daily, as well as sporadic interviews, features, and columns. It had also begun garnering a following for both its extensive coverage of underground music and its writing style, which was often unhindered by the conventions of print magazine journalism. In July of that year, the site added a daily music news section.

Readership and Site Traffic

Pitchfork has since amassed an audience of more than 170,000 readers per day, and more than 1.3 million unique visitors per month, making it the most popular independent-focused music publication online.

Criticism

Along with its popularity, Pitchfork has attracted some criticism and ridicule. A common criticism is that the site's journalism suffers from a narrow view of independent music, favoring lo-fi indie rock over any other genre, and giving undue value to obscurity. [1]

The most common criticism, however, targets Pitchfork's record reviews. An elitist or self-conscious tone is perceived by some, as well as a tendency to emphasize the reviewers' imaginations and writing abilities over the music they are actually reviewing. [2] Comedian David Cross made one of the most direct jabs at the site's trademark style: when Pitchfork asked him to compile a list of his favorite albums, he instead provided them with "Albums to Listen to While Reading Overwrought Pitchfork Reviews". The article featured excerpts of what he believed to be pretentious writing by the site's reviewers, paired with satirical reviews (for non-existent albums) by Cross himself [3].

The influence of Pitchfork reviews

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The Arcade Fire's Funeral, widely seen as having seriously benefitted from a positive Pitchfork review.

Pitchfork's opinions have gained increased cultural currency in recent years; some in the mainstream media view the site as a barometer of the independent music scene, and positive quotes from its reviews are increasingly used in press releases and affixed to the front of CDs.

Since 2004, when "indie" music as represented by the site was seen to experience a popular resurgence, some publications have cited Pitchfork in having played a part in "breaking" The Arcade Fire, Sufjan Stevens, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Interpol, The Go! Team, The Dismemberment Plan, Broken Social Scene, Wolf Parade, and Tapes n' Tapes. Some of these bands first received attention from other sources, however, and the site's true impact on their popularity remains a source of frequent debate. Conversely, Pitchfork has also been seen as a negative influence on some indie artists' popularity.

File:DismembermentPlan3.jpg
The Dismemberment Plan, and lead singer Travis Morrison.
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Tapes 'n Tapes' The Loon.

As suggested in a Washington Post article of April 2006[1], Pitchfork's reviews are purported to have significant influence with an album's popularity, especially if it had hitherto only been available to a limited audience or had been released on an independent label. "An endorsement from Pitchfork -- which dispenses its approval one-tenth of a point at a time, up to a maximum of 10 points -- is very valuable, indeed"[1].

Positive Reviews

Negative reviews

Involvement in music festivals

Intonation Music Festival

In 2005, Pitchfork curated the Intonation Music Festival, attracting some 15,000 attendees to Chicago's Union Park for a two-day bill featuring notable performances by independent acts such as Broken Social Scene, the Decemberists, and The Go! Team.

Pitchfork Music Festival

In 2006, the publication premiered its own Pitchfork Music Festival in the same park, an event which attracted over 18,000 attendees per day. More than 40 bands performed at the inaugural festival, including Spoon and Yo La Tengo, as well as a rare headlining set by reunited Tropicalia band Os Mutantes.

The Rating System

Pitchfork's music reviews use two different rating systems:

  • Individual track reviews are given a rating out of 5 possible stars, hence allowing a range of 10 possible ratings.
  • Album reviews are given a rating out of 10.0 specific to one decimal point, hence allowing a range of 101 possible ratings.

Albums awarded a 10.0 rating

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Kid A by Radiohead was awarded a 10.0 rating in 2000
File:WilcoYankeeHotelFoxtrot.jpg
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot by Wilco was awarded a 10.0 rating in 2002

The following albums received a 10.0 rating upon initial release:

The re-release of Slanted and Enchanted by Pavement was awarded 10.0

The following albums received a 10.0 rating upon re-release:

Albums awarded a 0.0 rating

File:Zaireeka album cover.jpg
Zaireeka by the Flaming Lips was awarded a 0.0 despite positive reviews from other critics.


The following albums received a 0.0 rating either upon initial release or re-release:

Discussion relating to the 10.0 rating

The awarding of the 10.0 rating is the subject of discussion by figures both external and internal to Pitchfork Media.

Examples of such discussion include:

Did Source Tags & Codes deserve a 10.0? That's not for me to say, but Matt LeMay rightfully counted it as one of indie rock's truly epic albums. (Nick Sylvester [6])

And by now you've surely seen the rating. On the scale of artist indulgence, and by any other measure for that matter, this is a solid 10.0 if ever there was one, friends. This-- this-- is a 10 as surely as Metal Machine Music is a 10, as surely as Having Fucking Fun on Stage With Elvis is a 10, as surely as any exercise so bafflingly, inexplicably, unintentionally and intentionally hilarious even in concept is a 10; good god-- what the hell else can this album receive? The rating is inconsequential. It's either a 10 or a zero, and considering Bob is the reigning king of intoxicated concert rambling it's sure as hell not a zero, m'man. A single listen will verify this. (Eric Carr [8])

Occasionally a Pitchfork reviewer awards a 10.0 rating to an album's re-release despite its being awarded a lesser rating upon initial release:

  • Music has the Right to Children: Although the re-release of Boards of Canada's "Music has the Right to Children" was awarded a 10.0 rating [9], a previous review of the album's original release [10] awarded the album an 8.3 rating. [Aside new artwork, the main difference between the album's Matador re-release and the original release was the inclusion of the track "Happy Cycling", although this track was also included in the 1998 US release.]

Sometimes an album is so good and makes its case so flawlessly that it spawns a mini-genre of its own and becomes shorthand for a prescribed set of values. (Mark Richardson [11])

  • Endtroducing: Although the Island re-release of DJ Shadow's "Endtroducing" (2005) was awarded a 10.0 rating [12], a previous review of the album's original release in 1996 [13] awarded the album an 9.1 rating. [Although the original album remained unchanged in the re-release, it was accompanied by a second CD of material such as remixes and singles]
  • In An Aeroplane Over the Sea: Although the re-release of Neutral Milk Hotel's In An Aeroplane Over the Sea was awarded a 10.0 rating, its initial release was only awarded an 8.7. The original review was replaced with a new rating which Ryan Schreiber and Scott Plagenhoef decided the album deserved [3].
  • Imagine: Digitally Remastered and Remixed:

So then, Imagine, the music, gets a 10.0. However, this glossed up version only deserves a 9.9. That's how much power you have, Capitol Records! (Brent DiCrescenzo [14])

Pitchfork sites

Noteworthy reviews

Articles

Parodies

  • Sub Pop Records "Popdork" parody (link)
  • SomethingAwful.com parody (link)

Notes

  1. ^ a b "Giving Indie Acts A Plug, or Pulling It". The Washington Post. April 30, 2006.
  2. ^ "Blogs 'n buzz help propel Tapes 'N Tapes to music stardom". Duluth Superior. August 18, 2006.
  3. ^ "Listen to This". CJR. May/June, 2006. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
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