Pitchfork (website)

Pitchfork
Three black arrows pointing 45° up and to the right, arrows twice in black circles. The Pitchfork wordmark which displays the name Pitchfork in a black serif font.
The Pitchfork homepage in 2016
Type of site
Online music magazine
Available inEnglish
Founded1996 (1996)
Country of originUnited States
OwnerCondé Nast
Created byRyan Schreiber
URLpitchfork.com
CommercialYes
RegistrationNo
Launched1996 (1996)
Current statusActive

Pitchfork (formerly Pitchfork Media) is an American online music publication founded in 1996 by Ryan Schreiber in Minneapolis. It originally covered alternative and independent music, and expanded to cover genres including pop, hip hop, jazz and metal. Pitchfork is one of the most influential music publications to have emerged in the internet age.

In the 2000s, Pitchfork distinguished itself from print media through its unusual reviews, frequent updates and coverage of emerging acts. It was praised as passionate, authentic and unique, but criticized as pretentious, mean-spirited and elitist, playing into stereotypes of the cynical hipster. It is credited with popularizing acts such as Arcade Fire, Broken Social Scene, Bon Iver and Sufjan Stevens.

Pitchfork relocated to Chicago in 1999 and Brooklyn, New York, in 2011. It expanded in the 2010s, launching projects including the annual Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago, the video site Pitchfork.tv, and a print publication, The Pitchfork Review. It also began covering more mainstream music and issues of gender, race and identity. As of 2014, Pitchfork was receiving around 6.2 million unique visitors every month.

The influence of Pitchfork declined in the 2010s with the growth of streaming and social media. In 2015, it was acquired by the mass media company Condé Nast and moved to One World Trade Center. Schreiber left in 2019. In 2024, Condé Nast announced plans to merge Pitchfork into the men's magazine GQ, resulting in layoffs. The merge drew criticism and triggered concern about the implications for music journalism.