I look at Pitchfork regulalrly to pick up music I want to explore, and keep abreast of new releases. Their year end list often gives me few new titles too. The reviews can be a bit pretentious at times but at least they are reasonably well written and have some argued content. The scoring system is bit silly-but in the end I have found lots of music from the site which is what matters. It always felt independent, not spouting the PR-provided scipt.
Hope it stays the same; but nothing does does it? For me Bob Boilen retiring from NPR All Songs Considered was also a blow, he seemed to mirror a fair few of my tastes and had unfailing enthusiasm. Bandcamp has changed its ownership model too.
Hey ho. I guess if I Pitchfork got paid every time I looked it may have helped?
Bruce
PS I note that the recipient of a truly terrible review said the following
"Pitchfork getting gutted is a net negative for musicians everywhere. And I say that as the proud owner of (potentially) the lowest score on the site.
“Whether you agree with a reviewer or not, music needs more journalism, not less.”