Pitchfork Lived And Died By The Internet

It seems a little silly for me to post about an article in The Verge as I imagine anyone still reading this blog is also a fairly ardent reader of The Verge. However, there's a lot of content out there, so maybe you missed it. I did.

This piece - possibly entitled "Indie, rocked or Pitchfork Lived And Died By The Internet - is an insightful rundown on the history of Pitchfork, its influence on music and, most importantly, how the Internet was its ultimate demise.

Spoiler alert: music is much less of a valued commodity now than it was in the 80s and 90s when I was young. Turns out, having access to millions of songs makes you less invested than when you only have 12. I don't know that I see this as dire as the article makes it out to be. More music being available also means it's possible for more people to make music. A process that previously cost thousands upon thousands of dollars can be done with free software now. That's incredible.

The eulogy of Pitchfork has been spread far and wide but it's actually not quite dead yet. They're still publishing. I haven't read it regularly in over a decade so I have no idea how culturally relevant it is to anyone. I always found it intentionally obtuse or willfully antagonistic, sometimes both. From reading the article, it seems that was on purpose.

Regardless of my feelings on it, its place in Internet history and music history is undeniable. The article does a nice job of capturing that.