I wonder how much $$$ ryan schreiber makes from pitchfork?

Octopus Jar · 07-20-2004, 08:49 AM

anyone got any idea? I'm curious

Lie · 07-21-2004, 10:46 PM

I wonder if Pixies are touring.

Irrelevant · 07-21-2004, 11:00 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Sean Casey
he claimed it wasn't that much one time back when he used to post on the board

chris ott said a few months ago that it was quite a bit. the site brings in enough money to have a Pitchfork office, and schreiber lives off it.

sleeper · 07-21-2004, 11:12 PM

theyre not exactly running on the indie business model. not that its wrong, but every aspect of that site is contrived into some kinda of marketing tool. oh look they have free downloads, how generous. no

Lie · 07-21-2004, 11:29 PM

RYAN SCHREIBER IS TEH MAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mayfuck · 07-22-2004, 12:53 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by sleeper
theyre not exactly running on the indie business model. not that its wrong,

Yeah Pitchfork is becoming more business-oriented and while it's not wrong I just hope it doesn't seep into their reviews, although I've already seen some hype reviews (Fiery Furnaces, Rapture) that suspiciously seem like they're marketing the bands...

Mayfuck · 07-22-2004, 12:53 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Lie
RYAN SCHREIBER IS TEH MAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Matt LeMay is my favorite.

daydreamer999 · 07-22-2004, 02:47 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Mayfuck

I've already seen some hype reviews (Fiery Furnaces, Rapture) that suspiciously seem like they're marketing the bands...

Actually it seems more like they like the bands because they're good

Why Am I So Ugly? · 07-22-2004, 06:39 AM

http://www.chicagotribune.com/techno...ogyreviews-utl

AT RANDOM INTERNET

Pitchfork site takes a stab at independent music scene

By Whet Moser
Tribune staff reporter
Published October 16, 2003

Pitchforkmedia.com, one of independent music's most influential online voices, is sent throughout the world from a homey but spare office on Chicago's far North Side, inhabited by two guys, their computers and a stereo.

The surroundings are in keeping with the Pitchfork aesthetic, a D.I.Y. vibe that doesn't reward wretched excess. RollingStone.com and MTV.com might cover the latest exploits by Britney, Madonna and the Neptunes, but if you want to read a feature on Broken Social Scene, Pitchfork is the place to go.

Pitchfork's dedicated, feisty coverage of such music has carved out a surprisingly successful niche, one that's allowed editor-in-chief Ryan Schreiber to make a living from the site's advertising. Recently the site has been bringing in more than 500,000 visitors a month, which is more than respectable; Spin magazine, after all, has a print circulation of 525,000.

When the Web site made its debut in 1995, the 19-year-old Schreiber was living in Minneapolis and working in a computer store. He'd never written about music and confined his reading to a few 'zines and indie magazines. Like most fans of obscure music, though, he was highly opinionated, and he started Pitchfork to speak his mind and to meet his heroes.

Free CDs!

"I just wanted to interview and meet bands," he says. "Then I found out I could get free CDs, and the focus soon turned to that."

By 1999, the voluble Schreiber had learned to make a good living in telemarketing -- "it was good enough that I could make full-time money working part time," he says. With that income and the money he was making through selling ads on Pitchfork, he decided he had the funds to move to Chicago. He got an apartment and started running Pitchfork full time. "I was very, very, very poor," he says. "It was fun, though."

Fun, but the fear of financial ruin eventually forced him to shore up Pitchfork's business plan; ads on the site now cost $100-$700, and Schreiber recently hired Eric Carr, a longtime Pitchfork writer, to sell advertising. Schreiber also rented office space so that Carr wouldn't have to work out of Schreiber's apartment.

Much of Schreiber's day is spent trolling the Internet for music news and reviews; he uses smaller indie-music sites to get tips on what bands are getting attention. Schreiber gets hundreds of CDs a month, and despite listening to music constantly, he still has to do research just to figure out what CDs to listen to.

He's also constantly checking e-mail, instant messages and the internal Pitchfork message board, where Pitchfork writers meet to talk shop, settle arguments and set the magazine's wide-ranging but ultimately distinctive tone.

"It all comes down to Ryan, the host through which everything flows," says Rob Mitchum, a PhD student in neuroscience at the University of Chicago and a Pitchfork writer for two years.

Ranting as a style

Mitchum, 24, started as a typical Pitchfork reader. He had written music reviews for his college paper at the University of Michigan, but gave up in frustration over the form. "I very quickly ran up against the wall of conventional review writing where you go track [by] track. ... I realized I could write a freeform rant and just type."

He found fellow travelers at Pitchfork, which he'd heard about through word of mouth. Mitchum credits Brett DiCrescenzo, whom Schreiber calls the Lester Bangs of the site, for drawing him in. "He is the big reason that Pitchfork got moving," Mitchum says.

While rock reviews in mainstream publications are getting shorter, Pitchfork's have continued to grow. "We're clinging to a longer review style," says Mitchum. "It's a sign of being excited about the music [that] you can't stop writing about it. A lot of people are turned off that Spin and Rolling Stone have gone to bite-size reviews that are 100 words max."

Like the independent scene Pitchfork covers, the magazine's reviews are not only challenging, they're stylistically diverse and sometimes completely unhinged. A review of Pavement's lo-fi classic "Slanted and Enchanted" was written on notebook paper and scanned in, the better to mimic the band's distinctive "we're not really trying" aesthetic.

While Pitchfork continues to buck mainstream stylistic trends, top 40 music has crept into its coverage. Indie stalwarts still make up the bulk of features and album reviews, but Mary J. Blige, Jay-Z and Nelly have sneaked in. This hasn't happened without consternation from fans -- "Pitchfork, please Pitchfork, don't do this" read one letter -- or from the staff.

"There was a lot of intelligent criticism of the Pitchfork philosophy [on other Web sites] and we took that to heart," says Mitchum. "The rap was that we were too standoffish and elitist, that because the bands that we listened to only sold so many copies, we were smarter than everyone else. It's a dead-end street."

For the time being, though, Pitchfork's pop criticism is limited to the occasional single; the music that turned Schreiber into a fan still predominates. "Indie music doesn't have much of an outlet," he says. "There needs to be a place to find out about these things, so we're not going to change the focus of the site."

07-20-2004, 08:49 AM	#1
Octopus Jar Demi-God Location: in an octopus's garden Interests: hot sweaty sex Occupation: racist Posts: 455	I wonder how much $$$ ryan schreiber makes from pitchfork? anyone got any idea? I'm curious

07-21-2004, 10:46 PM	#2
Lie Socialphobic Location: Goin' out West where they'll appreciate me Posts: 10,001	I wonder if Pixies are touring.

07-21-2004, 11:12 PM	#4
sleeper Minion of Satan Posts: 8,801	theyre not exactly running on the indie business model. not that its wrong, but every aspect of that site is contrived into some kinda of marketing tool. oh look they have free downloads, how generous. no

07-21-2004, 11:29 PM	#5
Lie Socialphobic Location: Goin' out West where they'll appreciate me Posts: 10,001	RYAN SCHREIBER IS TEH MAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

07-22-2004, 06:39 AM	#9
Why Am I So Ugly? Apocalyptic Poster Location: in a bottle for 100 years Posts: 3,835	http://www.chicagotribune.com/techno...ogyreviews-utl AT RANDOM INTERNET Pitchfork site takes a stab at independent music scene By Whet Moser Tribune staff reporter Published October 16, 2003 Pitchforkmedia.com, one of independent music's most influential online voices, is sent throughout the world from a homey but spare office on Chicago's far North Side, inhabited by two guys, their computers and a stereo. The surroundings are in keeping with the Pitchfork aesthetic, a D.I.Y. vibe that doesn't reward wretched excess. RollingStone.com and MTV.com might cover the latest exploits by Britney, Madonna and the Neptunes, but if you want to read a feature on Broken Social Scene, Pitchfork is the place to go. Pitchfork's dedicated, feisty coverage of such music has carved out a surprisingly successful niche, one that's allowed editor-in-chief Ryan Schreiber to make a living from the site's advertising. Recently the site has been bringing in more than 500,000 visitors a month, which is more than respectable; Spin magazine, after all, has a print circulation of 525,000. When the Web site made its debut in 1995, the 19-year-old Schreiber was living in Minneapolis and working in a computer store. He'd never written about music and confined his reading to a few 'zines and indie magazines. Like most fans of obscure music, though, he was highly opinionated, and he started Pitchfork to speak his mind and to meet his heroes. Free CDs! "I just wanted to interview and meet bands," he says. "Then I found out I could get free CDs, and the focus soon turned to that." By 1999, the voluble Schreiber had learned to make a good living in telemarketing -- "it was good enough that I could make full-time money working part time," he says. With that income and the money he was making through selling ads on Pitchfork, he decided he had the funds to move to Chicago. He got an apartment and started running Pitchfork full time. "I was very, very, very poor," he says. "It was fun, though." Fun, but the fear of financial ruin eventually forced him to shore up Pitchfork's business plan; ads on the site now cost $100-$700, and Schreiber recently hired Eric Carr, a longtime Pitchfork writer, to sell advertising. Schreiber also rented office space so that Carr wouldn't have to work out of Schreiber's apartment. Much of Schreiber's day is spent trolling the Internet for music news and reviews; he uses smaller indie-music sites to get tips on what bands are getting attention. Schreiber gets hundreds of CDs a month, and despite listening to music constantly, he still has to do research just to figure out what CDs to listen to. He's also constantly checking e-mail, instant messages and the internal Pitchfork message board, where Pitchfork writers meet to talk shop, settle arguments and set the magazine's wide-ranging but ultimately distinctive tone. "It all comes down to Ryan, the host through which everything flows," says Rob Mitchum, a PhD student in neuroscience at the University of Chicago and a Pitchfork writer for two years. Ranting as a style Mitchum, 24, started as a typical Pitchfork reader. He had written music reviews for his college paper at the University of Michigan, but gave up in frustration over the form. "I very quickly ran up against the wall of conventional review writing where you go track [by] track. ... I realized I could write a freeform rant and just type." He found fellow travelers at Pitchfork, which he'd heard about through word of mouth. Mitchum credits Brett DiCrescenzo, whom Schreiber calls the Lester Bangs of the site, for drawing him in. "He is the big reason that Pitchfork got moving," Mitchum says. While rock reviews in mainstream publications are getting shorter, Pitchfork's have continued to grow. "We're clinging to a longer review style," says Mitchum. "It's a sign of being excited about the music [that] you can't stop writing about it. A lot of people are turned off that Spin and Rolling Stone have gone to bite-size reviews that are 100 words max." Like the independent scene Pitchfork covers, the magazine's reviews are not only challenging, they're stylistically diverse and sometimes completely unhinged. A review of Pavement's lo-fi classic "Slanted and Enchanted" was written on notebook paper and scanned in, the better to mimic the band's distinctive "we're not really trying" aesthetic. While Pitchfork continues to buck mainstream stylistic trends, top 40 music has crept into its coverage. Indie stalwarts still make up the bulk of features and album reviews, but Mary J. Blige, Jay-Z and Nelly have sneaked in. This hasn't happened without consternation from fans -- "Pitchfork, please Pitchfork, don't do this" read one letter -- or from the staff. "There was a lot of intelligent criticism of the Pitchfork philosophy [on other Web sites] and we took that to heart," says Mitchum. "The rap was that we were too standoffish and elitist, that because the bands that we listened to only sold so many copies, we were smarter than everyone else. It's a dead-end street." For the time being, though, Pitchfork's pop criticism is limited to the occasional single; the music that turned Schreiber into a fan still predominates. "Indie music doesn't have much of an outlet," he says. "There needs to be a place to find out about these things, so we're not going to change the focus of the site."