Daily Swarm just posted some quotes (and then predicted that assholes like me would blog about it) from a great interview that music critic Jim DeRogatis did with Pitchfork Media head honcho Ryan Schreiber regarding the upcoming launch of Pitchfork.tv and (oh, god) Pitchfork licensing -- and what that means for the ever-so-strict journalistic and critical standards of the site.
There are some who regard Pitchfork as the ultimate in current tastemaking; others think it's devolved from such to a bunch of narrow-minded old-school Pavement fans trying far too hard to write snarky, literary reviews bound entirely to the fast-changing hipster notions of what's cool in the totally passe genre of good old "indie rock." Regardless, its influence and audience remain wide, and this obviously has the potential to become a BFD pretty quickly (case in point: my first reaction was along the lines of "Well, better get to know one of their content editors, ASAP.") But can a company licensing songs to video games be taken seriously as a source of unbiased criticism? Will the user rating system (think stars on YouTube, or a section of most-viewed or most-favourited) influence the site's reviews and choice of news to publish?
DeRogatis: Fair enough, and that’s a valid point: Everybody is talking about what the models of the new media universe will be, but what you’re talking about is one of the oldest ideals that have existed from the start of print journalism: The advertising people don’t talk to the editorial people. There’s a firewall between them.
Schreiber: Right! Exactly. Exactly! And I mean, that’s the way that it’s always been set up, and that’s the way that we’re setting up Pitchfork.tv as well. And Pitchfork.tv is not even in the same city as Pitchfork editorial! They are independent things; it’s not the same people writing who are shooting.
DeRogatis: Sure. But at the end of the day, you’re the owner of all of those businesses.
Schreiber claims that nothing will change and that Pitchfork is still based on loyalty to fans and not, well, royalty, but DeRogatis definitely ruffled a few feathers with comparisons to the MTV empire and Jann Wenner of Rolling Stone. Seems to me proof of Pitchfork's widespread media influence and position in pop culture, and an interest comment on the power of more personal internet-based media over print and television -- but the final death knell of the site as a trustworthy source of unbiased indie journalism and quality criticism. The whole interview, though lengthy, is a worthy read -- check out the whole thing at the Sun Times here.
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