Exclusive: Pitchfork allows comments with new $5 subscription
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Illustration: Maura Losch/Axios
Pitchfork is launching a new subscription that lets readers comment on reviews, rate albums themselves and access its full archive of more than 30,000 reviews, the publication's editorial leaders exclusively tell Axios.
Why it matters: The move marks a major business shift by introducing its first-ever paywall and a philosophical one by inviting readers to respond on the site.
- "Music is a very social media, for lack of a better term. We've done 30 years of us not talking to people," Pitchfork deputy director Jeremy D. Larson tells Axios. "I think we want to do the next 30 years where we're really talking to people and making music about people."
Zoom in: Subscribers will now see an aggregated reader score below Pitchfork's. The score appears once at least five people have rated an album, similar to Rotten Tomatoes. Subscribers can also comment on reviews.
- Comments will be moderated by Pitchfork editors and the system will automatically filter out spam and bots. Each subscriber can post one score per album and can comment under a username of their choosing. Impersonation is not allowed.
- Anyone can access Pitchfork's news, features and columns sections for free, along with four reviews per month. But full access to reviews and the ability to see reader scores and comments is limited to subscribers.
- A subscription costs $5 a month or $50 per year.
Zoom out: Pitchfork's new subscription comes two years after its owner Condé Nast merged it with GQ and cut staff, including editor-in-chief Puja Patel, prompting eulogies from Ezra Klein, Casey Newton and others.
- Mano Sundaresan joined as head of editorial content in July 2024, inheriting a newsroom reeling from layoffs and uncertainty.
- "It was a really, admittedly, scary situation to enter as somebody who really hasn't had any media role like this, let alone head of editorial content," Sundaresan says. "I was nervous."
- With Larson's and others' support, Sundaresan says they have worked to "define the taste and vision of Pitchfork" and launched new initiatives such as quarterly zines. "I feel so good" about the year-end list, he says.
- Pitchfork recently hired Kiana Mickles and Hattie Lindert, both of Resident Advisor, as writers and Lily Goldberg as social media manager. It also added Alex Suskind as news director.
The big picture: As site traffic and ad revenue have become unreliable, publishers have pivoted from focusing on reach to relationships.
- Media companies are embracing fandom and betting that perks and community engagement through paid subscriptions can help sustain them.
- At the same time, the space for cultural criticism is shrinking in newsrooms as voices on social media, podcasts and newsletters dominate attention. Pitchfork's move tests whether professional criticism in traditional media can remain vital and profitable in the social video era.
What to watch: Pitchfork is planning a 30th anniversary celebration later this year and will host its first-ever Grammys party in Los Angeles next month.
