Inside Pitchfork's absorption into GQ

When `music media' becomes `men's media,' what's lost?

Nearly three decades after it was established, Pitchfork, the most influential music publication of the internet age with the power to make or break an artist, is being absorbed by another entity — a men's fashion and style magazine.

The website, beloved for being one of modern music's true centers of gravity and renowned for its daily record reviews scored 0.0 to 10.0, will be folded into GQ, parent company Condé Nast announced Wednesday.

At least 12 staffers were laid off, three people involved in the situation told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they said the situation was still fluid. Ten of those were editorial layoffs, leaving a permanent editorial staff of eight.

The decision was made after what Anna Wintour, chief content officer for Condé Nast, called “a careful evaluation of Pitchfork's performance.” Wintour called the move “the best path forward for the brand so that our coverage of music can continue to thrive within the company.”

As Pitchfork moves into its new configuration, it's worth asking: If many view song discovery as music journalism's primary function, what is the role of insightful culture writing about music when people can find their favorite artists by following recommendations on social media or by playing 15 seconds of a song on a popular playlist?

From music to men's media

Record store clerk Ryan Schreiber founded Pitchfork in 1996 as an indie music blog inspired by fan zines and grew it into “the most trusted voice in music,” as its tagline reads.

Pitchfork began in the era of CDs and — with discerning tastes and unrivaled curation — shepherded voracious music fans into the mp3 and peer-to-peer filesharing age of Napster and into the streaming era beyond. In that time, its voice moved from snarky to incisive (often both at once) and the scope of its coverage adapted to meet the current moment. Schreiber sold Pitchfork to Condé Nast in 2015.

“In the late 2000s, alternative culture was going overground and an artisanal, small-batch approach to life was taking over from the sheeny mass-production of the previous decade,” says Laura Snapes, The Guardian's deputy