Pitchfork Gets Absorbed by GQ - Ludwig Van Weekly

Condé Nast’s Chief Content Officer Anna Wintour announced that Pitchfork will become part of GQ Men’s Magazine.

What happened: On January 17th, Condé Nast’s Chief Content Officer Anna Wintour announced that Pitchfork music magazine’s employees will be laid off. The magazine will cease its current operations and become part of the men’s magazine GQ. Wintour cited the magazine’s performance evaluations as the reasons for the restructuring, as well as the need for their music coverage to “thrive with the company.”

Zoom out: Pitchfork’s restructuring reflects a larger pattern of layoffs in the music, tech and media industries. 2023 saw some of the largest numbers of job cuts in the media ever. For the classical music industry, the end of Pitchfork hits particularly hard. Musicians are still recovering from the folding of Opera News magazine in 2023. Pitchfork’s closure means there are currently no major music reviews sites live on the internet.

The end of an era: On X, musicians, fans and writers alike expressed their dismay over Pitchfork’s closure:

Classical music fans may want to read a few of Pitchfork’s reviews, features or think pieces before they’re lost forever. Another one bites the dust.

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Sara Schabas

Sara Schabas is a soprano and writer born and bred in the heart of Toronto’s musical community. When she’s not singing opera, you can find her covering Carole King on the ukulele, biking through the Annex and advocating the merits of Puccini.