Thu 9 Jul 2009
According to Forbes,“The Big Four of music publishing–Rolling Stone, Blender, Spin, Vibe–became the Big Two this year.”
Insiders weren’t surprised when 8-year-old Blender kicked the bucket.
But, with a “healthy circulation” of 800,000, the Vibe demise came out the blue!
The print music magazine industry may be on the rocks, but don’t get it twisted.
One music mag is gettin it’s paper…online.
Though they don’t have any celebrity backings, Pitchfork.com delivers the goods…with out all the costly printing overhead.
Founded in 1996 by Ryan Schreiber, in his parents’ basement, Pitchfork was born as a means for Schreiber, a 19-year old record clerk, to express his love for cult bands and niche artists.
Today Pitchfork is an on-line, multimedia hub for indie-rock lovers to review new music and exchange industry news stories.
Since the basement days, Pitchfork has grown to a staff of 17 full-timers operating from a second-floor loft above a yoga center in Wicker Park, a hip Chicago hood.
Pitchfork averages 1.8 million visitors a month, who generate some 23 million page views. Pitchfork is a hot advertising platform for corporate advertisers which include Apple and Toyota.
Writers get paid between $80 to $110 for a review and the site posts 25 new album reviews a week plus an average 15 news items and 15 track reviews a day.
For you indie artists out there, a hot Pitchfork review can put you in The Game!
Bands like Arcade Fire and Broken Social Scene, who once had to gain fans by touring po-dunk towns in broken down Chevy Astros and sleeping on piss stained mattresses in flea-bag hotels (wait…that’s my story) can now generate followings with Pitchfork “airplay” and site reviews.(But flea-bag tours are still a good idea!)
Pitchfork Music Festival 2008
So to all you Independent artists…you don’t have to keep jocking sleazy pay-for-play DJs and snobby print magazine editors to get your music heard.
And to all you old school print mag publishers…print mags are still cool, you can take them into the bathroom…but if you don’t get your digital game up fast, you’ll find yourself going the way of the dinosaur.
-J
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