Pitchfork (formerly Pitchfork Media) is an American online music publication (currently owned by Condé Nast) that was launched in 1995 by writer Ryan Schreiber as an independent music blog.
Schreiber started Pitchfork while working at a record store in suburban Minneapolis, and the website earned a reputation for its extensive coverage of alternative and independent music. It has since expanded and covers all genres of music. Pitchfork was sold to Condé Nast in 2015, although Schreiber, along with his partner in Pitchfork president Chris Kaskie, remained the site's editor-in-chief and president/publisher until they eventually left the company in 2019 and 2017, respectively. Initially based in Minneapolis, Pitchfork later moved to Chicago (which remained its official headquarters up until its acquisition) and then Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Its offices are currently located in One World Trade Center alongside other Condé Nast publications.
The site is best known for its daily output of music reviews but also regularly reviews reissues and box sets. Since 2016, it has published retrospective reviews of classics, and other albums that it had not previously reviewed, each Sunday. The site publishes "best-of" lists—albums, songs—and annual features and retrospectives each year. During the 1990s and 2000s the site's reviews—favorable or otherwise—were considered widely influential in making or breaking careers.
The Dissolve
In 1996, Ryan Schreiber, a recent high school graduate, influenced by fanzine culture and with no previous writing experience, created the website. Initially called Turntable, the site was updated monthly with interviews and reviews. In May 1996, the site began publishing daily and was renamed Pitchfork, alluding to Tony Montana's tattoo in Scarface. Schreiber wrote the website's first review, of Pacer by The Amps.
In early 1999, Schreiber relocated Pitchfork to Chicago, Illinois.