An online magazine is a magazine published on the Internet , through bulletin board systems and other forms of public computer networks.
150-567: Pitchfork (formerly Pitchfork Media ) is an American online music magazine founded in 1996 by Ryan Schreiber in Minneapolis . It originally covered alternative and independent music , and expanded to cover genres including pop, hip hop, jazz and metal. Pitchfork is one of the most influential music publications to have emerged in the internet age . In the 2000s, Pitchfork distinguished itself from print media through its unusual style, frequent updates and coverage of emerging acts. It
300-551: A box set of Radiohead material recorded before In Rainbows , released in the same week as the In Rainbows special edition. Commentators including the Guardian saw the move as retaliation for the band choosing not to re-sign with EMI. In June 2008, EMI released a greatest hits album, Radiohead: The Best Of . It was made without Radiohead's involvement and contains only songs recorded under their contract with EMI. Yorke
450-517: A disruptive technology to traditional publishing houses. The high cost of print publication and large Web readership has encouraged these publishers to embrace the World Wide Web as a marketing and content delivery system and another medium for delivering their advertisers' messages. In the late 1990s, e-zine publishers began adapting to the interactive and informative qualities of the internet instead of simply duplicating print magazines on
600-600: A minimalist and textured style with more diverse instrumentation, including the ondes Martenot , programmed electronic beats, strings , and jazz horns. It debuted at number one in many countries, including the US, where it became the first Radiohead album to debut atop the Billboard chart and the first US number-one album by any UK act since the Spice Girls in 1996. This success was attributed variously to marketing, to
750-428: A paywall by the end of the year. It abandoned experiments with Pitchfork paywalls following criticism from readers. In 2020, Condé Nast laid off the executive editor Matthew Schnipper and the features editor and union chair Stacey Anderson. In 2022 and 2023, Pitchfork had about three million unique visitors a month, down by about 36% from 2021. On January 17, 2024, Wintour announced that Pitchfork would merge with
900-447: A skeleton crew continuing its mission, and said he was pleased with the work it had published since the announcement. On July 2, 2024, Pitchfork named Mano Sundaresan, the founder of the music blog No Bells , as the new head of editorial content. Sundaresan denied that Pitchfork was "going away", and said he aimed to adapt it to modern media and cater to more specialized audiences. That October, five former Pitchfork writers launched
1050-403: A "commercial suicide note" and "intentionally difficult", and longed for a return to Radiohead's earlier style. Fans were similarly divided; along with those who were appalled or mystified, many saw it as the band's best work. Yorke denied that Radiohead had set out to eschew expectations, saying: "We're not trying to be difficult ... We're actually trying to communicate but somewhere along
1200-629: A "distinguished digital property that brings a strong editorial voice, an enthusiastic and young audience, a growing video platform and a thriving events business". Kaskie said "our needs and wants were converging", and that Pitchfork needed capital and expertise to expand its publication and festivals. The sale boosted Pitchfork's value to advertisers. Pitchfork relocated to the Condé Nast offices in One World Trade Center , Manhattan. Previously, Pitchfork 's independence had been
1350-467: A 2000 tour of Europe in a custom-built tent free of advertising; they also promoted Kid A with three sold-out North American theatre concerts. Kid A received a Grammy Award for Best Alternative Album and a nomination for Album of the Year in early 2001. It won both praise and criticism in independent music circles for appropriating underground styles of music; some British critics saw Kid A as
1500-619: A North American tour, their first there in three years, in June 2001. With a string of sold-out dates, The Observer described it as "the most sweeping conquest of America by a British group" since Beatlemania , succeeding where bands such as Oasis had failed. Recordings from the Kid A and Amnesiac tours were released on I Might Be Wrong: Live Recordings in November 2001. In July and August 2002, Radiohead toured Portugal and Spain, playing
1650-430: A band." In later years, The Bends appeared in many publications' lists of the best albums of all time, including Rolling Stone 's 2012 edition of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" at No. 111. In 1995, Radiohead again toured North America and Europe, this time in support of R.E.M. , one of their formative influences and at the time one of the biggest rock bands in the world. Attention from famous fans such as
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#17327908306541800-701: A collaboration between Greenwood, Godrich, the Israeli composer Shye Ben Tzur and Indian musicians, was released in November 2015, accompanied by a documentary directed by Anderson . In April 2016, Radiohead's back catalogue was acquired by XL Recordings , which had released the retail editions of In Rainbows and The King of Limbs and most of Yorke's solo work. XL reissued Radiohead's back catalogue on vinyl in May 2016. Radiohead began work on their ninth studio album in September 2014. In 2015, they resumed work in
1950-496: A consistent content strategy, and packaging a love of music in a compelling way", according to its founder, Alex Young. The critic Carl Wilson said Pitchfork drove a "feeding frenzy about band discovery" in North American music journalism, with publications vying to discover new acts. In the 2000s, Pitchfork was credited with "making or breaking" musical careers, a phenomenon known as the " Pitchfork effect". In 2006,
2100-594: A converted apple shed in the countryside near Didcot , Oxfordshire. In August 1996, Radiohead toured as the opening act for Alanis Morissette . They resumed recording not at a studio but at St. Catherine's Court , a 15th-century mansion near Bath . The sessions were relaxed, with the band playing at all hours of the day, recording in different rooms, and listening to the Beatles , DJ Shadow , Ennio Morricone and Miles Davis for inspiration. Radiohead released their third album, OK Computer , in May 1997. It found
2250-549: A critical review. Itzkoff argued that the obtuse and confrontational style was part of the Pitchfork business model and made their reviews memorable. He suggested that the writers' lack of training or experience, and the fact that they worked for low or no pay, created a sense of authenticity and undermined the authority of traditional media. Schreiber conceded that Pitchfork had a reputation for snobbery, but said its writers were "really just honest, opinionated music fans". In
2400-668: A dance piece by the Merce Cunningham Dance Company , which debuted in October 2003 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music . Radiohead's sixth album, Hail to the Thief , was released in June 2003. Its lyrics were influenced by what Yorke called "the general sense of ignorance and intolerance and panic and stupidity" following the 2000 election of US President George W. Bush . The album was promoted with
2550-413: A deadlock, Radiohead toured Asia, Australasia and Mexico and found greater confidence performing their new music live. However, troubled by his new fame, Yorke became disillusioned with being "at the sharp end of the sexy, sassy, MTV eye-candy lifestyle" he felt he was helping to sell to the world. The My Iron Lung EP and single, released in 1994, was Radiohead's reaction, marking a transition towards
2700-439: A difference to social causes. In July 2010, Pitchfork launched Altered Zones , a blog aggregator devoted to underground and DIY music . In 2011, Pitchfork relocated to Brooklyn , New York. On May 21, Pitchfork announced a partnership with the website Kill Screen , in which Pitchfork would publish some of their articles. Altered Zones closed on November 30. On December 26, 2012, Pitchfork launched Nothing Major ,
2850-552: A fan-made video of the performance, Radiohead for Haiti , was released via YouTube and torrent with Radiohead's support and a "pay-what-you-want" link to donate to Oxfam. Radiohead also released the soundboard recording of their 2009 Prague performance for use in a fan-made concert video, Live in Praha . The videos were described as examples of Radiohead's openness to fans and positivity toward non-commercial internet distribution. In June 2010, Yorke and Jonny Greenwood performed
3000-422: A gap in the market for faster-moving publication that emphasized new acts. Pitchfork could publish several articles a day, greatly outpacing print media. New technologies such as MP3 , the iPod and the file-sharing service Napster created greater access to music, and music blogs became an important resource, creating further opportunity for Pitchfork. The contributors Mark Richardson and Eric Harvey said this
3150-472: A key aspect of its image. Schreiber said it would continue to have "creative independence". The acquisition triggered concern; the New York Observer wrote that was a "death knell for indie rock". The Condé Nast chief digital officer, Fred Santarpia, was criticized when he said the acquisition would bring "a very passionate audience of millennial males into our roster". The Atlantic connected
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#17327908306543300-562: A landmark record of the 1990s and the Generation X era, and one of the greatest albums in recording history. In 1998, Radiohead performed at a Paris Amnesty International concert and the Tibetan Freedom Concert . In March, they and Godrich entered Abbey Road Studios to record a song for the 1998 film The Avengers , " Man of War ", but were unsatisfied with the results and it went unreleased. Yorke described
3450-412: A large advance, but had instead wanted control over their back catalogue. Radiohead self-released their seventh album, In Rainbows , on their website on 10 October 2007 as a download , for any amount users wanted, including £0. The landmark pay-what-you-want release, the first for a major act, made headlines worldwide and created debate about the implications for the music industry. Media reaction
3600-488: A limited-edition quarterly publication of about 10,000 copies of each issue, printed on glossy, high-quality paper. About two thirds of the content would be original, with the remaining reused from the Pitchfork website. The International Business Times likened the literary aspirations to The New Yorker and the Paris Review . The Pitchfork Review ended after 11 issues in November 2016. As of 2014, Pitchfork
3750-427: A modest hit, but Radiohead's growing fanbase was insufficient to repeat the worldwide success of "Creep". The Bends reached number 88 on the US album charts, and remains Radiohead's lowest showing there. Jonny Greenwood later said The Bends was turning point for Radiohead: "It started appearing in people's [best-of] polls for the end of the year. That's when it started to feel like we made the right choice about being
3900-660: A new band, Atoms for Peace , to perform his solo material, with musicians including Godrich and the Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea . They played eight North American shows in 2010. In January 2010, Radiohead played their only full concert of the year in the Los Angeles Henry Fonda Theater as a benefit for Oxfam . Tickets were auctioned, raising over half a million US dollars for the NGO's 2010 Haiti earthquake relief. That December,
4050-407: A new means for listeners to discover music. Pitchfork staff conflicted with Condé Nast over its attempts to monetize Pitchfork Music Festival by making it into a "luxury" experience. Santarpia left Condé Nast in 2018, leaving Pitchfork under the purview of Anna Wintour , the chief content officer. Two former Pitchfork staffers told The Verge that Wintour did not care about music or understand
4200-487: A non-album single, also sold poorly. O'Brien later called it "a hideous mistake". Some critics compared Radiohead to the wave of grunge music popular in the early 1990s, dubbing them " Nirvana -lite", and Pablo Honey initially failed to make a critical or a commercial impact. The members of Radiohead expressed dissatisfaction with the album in later years. In early 1993, Radiohead began to attract listeners elsewhere. "Creep" had been played frequently on Israeli radio by
4350-492: A number of new songs. For their next album, they sought to explore the tension between human and machine-generated music and capture a more immediate, live sound. They and Godrich recorded most of the material in two weeks at Ocean Way Recording in Los Angeles. The band described the recording process as relaxed, in contrast to the tense sessions for Kid A and Amnesiac . Radiohead also composed music for "Split Sides",
4500-469: A number, these albums were given fixed scores. In the 2000s, Pitchfork reviews were criticized as pretentious, verbose and inaccurate. Itzkoff wrote that Pitchfork was overwrought and sometimes hard to understand, with an abundance of adjectives, adverbs and misused words. Shaer identified examples of "verbose and unreadable writing ... dense without being insightful, personal without being interesting". In City Pages , Thomas Lindsay wrote that its prose
4650-564: A piano dirge , for the War Child charity album Help: A Day in the Life . The album was sold online, with "I Want None of This" the most downloaded track, though it was not released as a single. In late 2006, after touring Europe and North America with new material, Radiohead re-enlisted Godrich and resumed work in London, Oxford and rural Somerset , England. Recording ended in June 2007 and
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4800-778: A quality control function to ensure that all material meets the expectations of the publishers (those investing time or money in its production) and the readership. Many large print publishers now provide digital reproduction of their print magazine titles through various online services for a fee. These service providers also refer to their collections of these digital format products as online magazines, and sometimes as digital magazines. Online magazines representing matters of interest to specialists or societies for academic subjects, science, trade, or industry are typically referred to as online journals . Many general interest online magazines provide free access to all aspects of their online content, although some publishers have opted to require
4950-439: A reliable source of recommendations. Without the limitations of print media, Pitchfork was able to champion emerging independent acts that major print magazines, which had to sell millions of copies every year, could not. Schreiber felt the magazines were "not even trying to discover new music ... Publications used to take more chances on artists, putting bands on the cover that they thought deserved to be there." He said Pitchfork
5100-463: A review or $ 40 for a feature. In 2004, following staff tensions about Schreiber's advertising income, Pitchfork started paying writers from their first articles at a slightly improved rate. That year, Pitchfork published a positive review of the debut album by Arcade Fire , Funeral . It became a bestseller and is cited as the first major example of Pitchfork 's influence on independent music, attracting coverage of Pitchfork from outlets such as
5250-527: A signature 10-point scale with punitive zeal." Schreiber said the site's early period "was about really laying into people who really deserved it", and defended the importance of honesty in arts criticism. In 1999, Schreiber relocated Pitchfork to Chicago. He estimated that Pitchfork had published 1,000 reviews by this point. Around the turn of the millennium, the American music press was dominated by monthly print magazines such as Rolling Stone , creating
5400-559: A six-album recording contract with EMI. At EMI's request, they changed their name; "Radiohead" was taken from the song "Radio Head" on the Talking Heads album True Stories (1986). Yorke said the name "sums up all these things about receiving stuff ... It's about the way you take information in, the way you respond to the environment you're put in." Radiohead recorded their debut EP, Drill , with Hufford and Edge at Courtyard Studios. Released in May 1992, its chart performance
5550-471: A soundtrack, Subterranea , to The Panic Office , an installation of Radiohead artwork in Sydney, Australia. Yorke and Selway released their solo albums Tomorrow's Modern Boxes and Weatherhouse in late 2014. Jonny Greenwood scored his third Anderson film, Inherent Vice ; it features a version of an unreleased Radiohead song, "Spooks", performed by Greenwood and members of Supergrass . Junun ,
5700-515: A string arrangement composed by Jonny Greenwood. Later that month, another new song, " These Are My Twisted Words ", featuring krautrock -like drumming and guitars, was leaked via torrent , possibly by Radiohead. It was released as a free download on the Radiohead website the following week. Commentators saw the releases as part of Radiohead's new unpredictable release strategy, without the need for traditional marketing. In 2009, Yorke formed
5850-529: A subscription fee to access premium online article and/or multimedia content. Online magazines may generate revenue based on targeted search ads to website visitors, banner ads ( online display advertising ), affiliations to retail web sites, classified advertisements, product-purchase capabilities, advertiser directory links, or alternative informational/commercial purpose. Due to their low cost and initial non-mainstream targets, The original online magazines, e-zines and disk magazines (or diskmags), may be seen as
6000-462: A surprise set at Glastonbury Festival , performing Eraser and Radiohead songs. Selway released his debut solo album, Familial , in August. Pitchfork described it as a collection of "hushed" folk songs in the tradition of Nick Drake , with Selway on guitar and vocals. Radiohead released their eighth album, The King of Limbs , on 18 February 2011 as a download from their website. Following
6150-476: A time when music has proven to be one of our culture's most beautifully progressive spaces". In The Guardian , Laura Snapes wrote that Pitchfork had provided a vital "leading example" and doubted that specialist music journalism could survive without it. She lamented the job losses, saying that Pitchfork had been one of the last stable employers of freelance music writers. Schreiber said that commentators were "premature to eulogize Pitchfork ", as it retained
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6300-426: A variety of genres and artists. Under Puja Patel, who became the editor in 2018, Pitchfork covered more female, non-binary, queer and non-white artists. Pitchfork also switched to a more professional style. The editor Amy Phillips illustrated this by comparing her coverage of the announcement of two Radiohead albums, years apart; the first was excitable, whereas the second was more professional and factual. In 2014,
6450-516: A website that covered visual arts, which closed in October 2013. Pitchfork launched a film website, The Dissolve , in 2013. It closed in 2015, citing "financial challenges". In 2017, Kaskie said he remained proud of The Dissolve and that it was "a huge success from the creative and editorial, design and everything else". In 2013, Pitchfork won the National Magazine Award for general excellence in digital media. That year,
6600-584: A website, radiohead.tv, where short films, music videos, and studio webcasts were streamed. Hail to the Thief debuted at number one in the UK and number three on the Billboard chart, and was eventually certified platinum in the UK and gold in the US. The singles " There There ", " Go to Sleep " and " 2 + 2 = 5 " achieved heavy circulation on modern rock radio. At the 2004 Grammy Awards , Radiohead were again nominated for Best Alternative Album , and Godrich and
6750-490: A whole and gave it a score of 6.8. The music blog Idolator ran a feature asking readers to guess which lines came from Pitchfork reviews and which were fabricated. In 2010, the writer David Shapiro started a Tumblr blog, "Pitchfork Reviews Reviews", which reviewed Pitchfork reviews and assessed their arguments. It attracted more than 100,000 followers and a profile in the New York Times . Spencer Kornhaber of
6900-409: Is acclaimed as a landmark record and one of the best albums in popular music, with complex production and themes of modern alienation . Their fourth album, Kid A (2000), marked a dramatic change in style, incorporating influences from electronic music , jazz , classical music and krautrock . Though Kid A divided listeners, it was later named the best album of the decade by multiple outlets. It
7050-635: The Atlantic described Pitchfork as the most influential music publication to emerge in the internet age . Itzkoff, a former editor for Spin , described the Spin staff checking Pitchfork regularly: "If it was lavishing attention on a new band, we at least had to ask ourselves why we weren't doing the same: by then, our value as a trustworthy and consistent filter had waned." The online magazine Consequence of Sound emulated Pitchfork early on, "especially as it came to creating an editorial voice, developing
7200-549: The Billboard Hot 100 ; it was Radiohead's first song to enter the chart since "High and Dry" (1995) and their first US top 40 since "Creep". In July, Radiohead released a digitally shot video for " House of Cards ". Radiohead held remix competitions for "Nude" and " Reckoner ", releasing the separated stems for fans to remix. In April 2008, Radiohead launched W.A.S.T.E. Central, a social networking service for Radiohead fans. In May, VH1 broadcast In Rainbows – From
7350-652: The Los Angeles Times . The contributor Jess Weiss said the review "changed everything". By 2005, Pitchfork was attracting around one million readers a month, with an annual revenue of around $ 5 million. That year, Schreiber said he was uninterested in selling Pitchfork: "It would change into the antithesis of the reason I started it. This is something I am so in love with—this is my entire adult life's work." By 2006, traditional music media, such as print magazines, music video channels and radio stations, had declined or changed focus, but music listeners still sought
7500-566: The 100 greatest artists of all time , and included five of their albums in its lists of the " 500 Greatest Albums of All Time ". Radiohead were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019. The members of Radiohead met while attending Abingdon School , a private school for boys in Abingdon, Oxfordshire . The guitarist and singer Thom Yorke and the bassist Colin Greenwood were in
7650-648: The Coachella and Glastonbury festivals. They were joined again by Deamer. The tours included a performance in Tel Aviv in July 2017, disregarding the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign for an international cultural boycott of Israel . The performance was criticised by artists including Roger Waters and Ken Loach , and a petition urging Radiohead to cancel it was signed by more than 50 prominent figures. In
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#17327908306547800-528: The EMI A&;R representative Keith Wozencroft at a record shop and handed him a copy of the demo. Wozencroft was impressed and attended a performance. That November, On a Friday performed at the Jericho Tavern to an audience that included several A&R representatives. It was only their eighth gig, but they had attracted interest from several record companies. On 21 December, On a Friday signed
7950-532: The Flaming Lips , NYC Ghosts & Flowers (2000) by Sonic Youth , Liz Phair (2003) by Liz Phair and Shine On (2006) by Jet . The Jet review consisted entirely of a video of a chimp urinating into its own mouth and was widely shared. The authors of the Phair and Sonic Youth reviews later changed their opinions and apologized to the artists. In Slate , Amos Barshad cited the band Black Kids as
8100-507: The Hail to the Thief tour, Radiohead went on hiatus to spend time with their families and work on solo projects. Yorke and Jonny Greenwood contributed to the Band Aid 20 charity single " Do They Know It's Christmas? ", produced by Godrich. Greenwood composed soundtracks for the films Bodysong (2004) and There Will Be Blood (2007); the latter was the first of several collaborations with
8250-683: The Kid A sessions, including "Life in a Glasshouse", featuring the Humphrey Lyttelton Band . Radiohead stressed that they saw Amnesiac not as a collection of B-sides or outtakes from Kid A but an album in its own right. It topped the UK Albums Chart and reached number two in the US, and was nominated for a Grammy Award and the Mercury Music Prize . Radiohead released " Pyramid Song " and " Knives Out " as singles, their first since 1998. Radiohead began
8400-478: The UK singles chart when EMI rereleased it in September. To build on the success, Radiohead embarked on a US tour supporting Belly and PJ Harvey , followed by a European tour supporting James and Tears for Fears . Radiohead began work on their second album in 1994 with the veteran Abbey Road Studios producer John Leckie . Tensions were high, with mounting expectations to match the success of "Creep". To break
8550-486: The US charts , the album eventually met with mainstream recognition there, earning Radiohead their first Grammy Awards recognition, winning Best Alternative Album and a nomination for Album of the Year . " Paranoid Android ", " Karma Police " and " No Surprises " were released as singles, of which "Karma Police" was most successful internationally. OK Computer went on to become a staple of "best-of" British album lists. In
8700-524: The University of Exeter , Yorke played with the band Headless Chickens, performing songs including future Radiohead material. He also met Stanley Donwood , who later became Radiohead's cover artist. In 1991, the band regrouped in Oxford, sharing a house on the corner of Magdalen Road and Ridgefield Road. They recorded another demo, which attracted the attention of Chris Hufford, Slowdive's producer and
8850-538: The Washington Post described Schreiber as an "indie-rock kingmaker" and wrote that "an endorsement from Pitchfork ... is very valuable, indeed". Megan Jasper, the CEO of the record label Sub Pop , said favorable Pitchfork reviews would boost sales and that it became normal for indie rock bands to sell 100,000 records, exceeding expectations. Poorly reviewed albums made no impact. After Pitchfork awarded 9.7 to
9000-432: The 2000s, Pitchfork was criticized for focusing on music made by white men. In its early years, its staff comprised almost entirely white men. In 2007, the rapper M.I.A. criticized Pitchfork for assuming that her album Kala had been produced entirely by the male producer Diplo . Another Pitchfork writer described the error as "perpetuating the male-led ingenue myth". M.I.A. and the singer Björk argued that this
9150-468: The 2001 Tool album Lateralus consisted mostly of a list of the equipment used by the drummer. Some reviews consist only of single images or videos, implying the record is beneath critical analysis. Shaer wrote in 2006 that Pitchfork typically triumphed acts it had "discovered" and attacked beloved legacy acts and bands popular on music blogs. Some believed that Pitchfork deliberately waited for excitement to build around an act before dismissing it with
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#17327908306549300-413: The 2010s with the growth of streaming and social media . In 2015, it was acquired by the mass media company Condé Nast and moved to One World Trade Center . The Pitchfork president, Chris Kaskie, left in 2017, followed by Schreiber in 2019. In 2024, Condé Nast announced plans to merge Pitchfork into the men's magazine GQ , resulting in layoffs. The merge drew criticism and triggered concern about
9450-564: The Astoria , was released in 1995. By late 1995, Radiohead had already recorded one song that would appear on their next record. " Lucky ", released as a single to promote the War Child charity's The Help Album , was recorded in a brief session with Nigel Godrich, the young audio engineer who had assisted on The Bends. Radiohead decided to self-produce their next album with Godrich, and began work in early 1996. By July they had recorded four songs at their rehearsal studio, Canned Applause,
9600-524: The Basement , a special episode of the music television show From the Basement in which Radiohead performed songs from In Rainbows . It was released on iTunes in June. From mid-2008 to early 2009, Radiohead toured North America, Europe, Japan and South America to promote In Rainbows , and headlined the Reading and Leeds Festivals in August 2009. Days after Radiohead signed to XL, EMI announced
9750-573: The La Fabrique studio near Saint-Rémy-de-Provence , France. The sessions were marred by the death of Godrich's father and Yorke's separation from his wife, Rachel Owen , who died from cancer in 2016. Work was interrupted when Radiohead were commissioned to write the theme for the 2015 James Bond film Spectre . After their song, " Spectre ", was rejected, Radiohead released it on the audio streaming site SoundCloud on Christmas Day 2015. Radiohead's ninth studio album, A Moon Shaped Pool ,
9900-546: The Moon , although Yorke said the lyrics were inspired by observing the "speed" of the world in the 1990s. Yorke's lyrics, embodying different characters, had expressed what one magazine called "end-of-the-millennium blues" in contrast to the more personal songs of The Bends . According to the journalist Alex Ross , Radiohead had become "the poster boys for a certain kind of knowing alienation" as Talking Heads and R.E.M. had been before. OK Computer received acclaim. Yorke said he
10050-491: The R.E.M. singer Michael Stipe , along with distinctive music videos for "Just" and "Street Spirit", helped sustain Radiohead's popularity outside the UK. The night before a performance in Denver, Colorado, Radiohead's tour van was stolen, and with it their musical equipment. Yorke and Jonny Greenwood performed a stripped-down acoustic set with rented instruments and several shows were cancelled. Their first live video, Live at
10200-590: The Radiohead consensus." Selway and Jonny Greenwood appeared in the 2005 film Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire as members of the fictional band the Weird Sisters . Radiohead began work on their seventh album in February 2005. Instead of involving Godrich, Radiohead hired the producer Spike Stent , but the collaboration was unsuccessful. In September 2005, Radiohead contributed "I Want None of This",
10350-651: The Trail of Dead and Wilco . According to Harvilla, a perfect score given to an album on release "qualifies as a seismic event for the rock-critic universe as a whole". Some reviews experimented with the score system. The 2005 Robert Pollard album Relaxation of the Asshole received a simultaneous 10 and 0; the review for the 2007 Radiohead album In Rainbows , which allowed fans to pay what they wanted to download, allowed readers to enter their own score. After Pitchfork changed its content management system to require
10500-444: The UK and in the US. The success was Radiohead's highest chart placement in the US since Kid A . It became their fifth UK number-one album and sold more than three million copies in one year. The album received acclaim for its more accessible sound and personal lyrics. It was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize and won the 2009 Grammy awards for Best Alternative Music Album and Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package. It
10650-532: The US Billboard 200 and number seven on the UK Albums Chart . It was nominated for five categories in the 54th Grammy Awards . Two tracks not included on The King of Limbs , " Supercollider" and "The Butcher ", were released as a double A-side single for Record Store Day in April. A compilation of King of Limbs remixes by various artists, TKOL RMX 1234567 , was released in September. To perform
10800-640: The US. It was the fifth Radiohead album nominated for the Mercury Prize , making Radiohead the most shortlisted act in Mercury history, and was nominated for Best Alternative Music Album and Best Rock Song (for "Burn the Witch") at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards . It appeared on several publications' lists of the best albums of the year. In 2016, 2017 and 2018, Radiohead toured Europe, Japan, and North and South America, including headline shows at
10950-426: The album's leak on the file-sharing network Napster a few months before its release, and to advance anticipation based, in part, on the success of OK Computer . Although Radiohead released no singles from Kid A , promos of " Optimistic " and " Idioteque " received radio play, and a series of "blips", short videos set to portions of tracks, were played on music channels and released free online. Radiohead continued
11100-406: The band experimenting with song structures and incorporating ambient , avant-garde and electronic influences, prompting Rolling Stone to call the album a "stunning art-rock tour de force". Radiohead denied being part of the progressive rock genre, but critics began to compare their work to Pink Floyd . Some compared OK Computer thematically to the 1973 Pink Floyd album The Dark Side of
11250-540: The band's early period, Yorke emerged as the main songwriter. According to Colin, the band members picked their instruments because they wanted to play together, rather than through any particular interest: "It was more of a collective angle, and if you could contribute by having someone else play your instrument, then that was really cool." They played few gigs, and focused on rehearsing in village halls in Oxfordshire. The area had an active independent music scene in
11400-538: The case was dropped under the Jordan ruling , which sets strict time limits on trials. Radiohead released a statement condemning the decision. A 2019 inquest returned a verdict of accidental death . After the King of Limbs tour, the band members worked on further side projects. In February 2013, Yorke and Godrich's band, Atoms for Peace, released an album, Amok . The pair made headlines that year for their criticism of
11550-532: The co-owner of Oxford's Courtyard Studios. Hufford and his business partner, Bryce Edge, attended a concert at the Jericho Tavern; impressed, they became On a Friday's managers. According to Hufford, at this point the band had "all of the elements of Radiohead", but with a rougher, punkier sound and faster tempos. At Courtyard Studios, On a Friday recorded the Manic Hedgehog demo tape, named after an Oxford record shop. In late 1991, Colin happened to meet
11700-418: The comedian David Cross to write a list of his favorite albums. Cross wrote that he was surprised by the invitation, citing several insulting Pitchfork reviews of his comedy albums, and instead wrote a "withering and absurdist" article titled "Albums to listen to while reading overwrought Pitchfork reviews". In 2007, the satirical website The Onion published a piece in which Pitchfork reviewed music as
11850-718: The comment to a 2014 Nielsen report that found that millennial men were heavy music listeners and were more interested in streaming services than other demographics. In 2012, a Pitchfork poll asking readers to vote for their favorite music found that 88% of respondents were male, and statistics recorded by Quantcast in 2015 found that 82% of Pitchfork readers were men, most aged 18–34. Schreiber responded on Twitter that women were "a huge part of Pitchfork's staff and readership" and that Pitchfork aimed to reach "all music fans everywhere". On March 13, 2016, Pitchfork launched its first new design since 2011. That October, Pitchfork had 4.1 million unique visitors, up from 2.7 million
12000-506: The contributor Nate Patrin said Pitchfork had become "what publications like the Village Voice used to be in terms of letting writers go deep without feeling pressured to talk down to readers", with long-form articles and documentaries. By 2017, according to Bloomberg , its reviews had become "as erudite as those of the music magazines that Pitchfork had all but eclipsed in influence". The critic Ann Powers wrote in 2024 that "in
12150-624: The debut album by Arcade Fire , Funeral (2004), it became the fastest-selling record in the history of Merge Records . Other acts whose careers were boosted by Pitchfork in the 2000s include the Dismemberment Plan , Clap Your Hands Say Yeah , Modest Mouse , Broken Social Scene , Bon Iver and Sufjan Stevens . Schreiber said they wanted to create a roster of artists whom people discovered with Pitchfork and became associated them. The managing editor, Scott Plagenhoef, downplayed their influence, saying Pitchfork merely "accelerated
12300-399: The director Paul Thomas Anderson . In July 2006, Yorke released his debut solo album, The Eraser , comprising mainly electronic music. He stressed it was made with the band's blessing, and that Radiohead were not breaking up. Jonny Greenwood said: "He had to get this stuff out, and everyone was happy [for Yorke to make it] ... He'd go mad if every time he wrote a song it had to go through
12450-465: The end of the 2000s, Pitchfork had become influential in the music industry, credited for launching acts such as Arcade Fire and Bon Iver . Employees at record labels and record stores would use it to anticipate interest in acts. It was also attracting large sponsors such as American Express and Apple . The influence of Pitchfork on music careers declined around the turn of the decade, as streaming and social media fractured audiences and reduced
12600-485: The end of the 20th century, which were publishing content about Star Wars , nu metal and pop punk. He characterized the Pitchfork voice as that of the outsider mocking the mainstream. In The Verge , Elizabeth Lopatto wrote that early Pitchfork reviews were unpolished and sometimes unprofessional, and "brash, sometimes bizarre, often typo-ridden", but that this distinguished Pitchfork from traditional media and made it fun to read. Contributors to Pitchfork said it
12750-530: The engineer Darrell Thorp received the Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album . In May 2003, Radiohead launched radiohead.tv, where they streamed short films, music videos and live webcasts from their studio. The material was released on the 2004 DVD The Most Gigantic Lying Mouth of All Time . A compilation of Hail to the Thief B-sides, remixes and live performances, Com Lag (2plus2isfive) ,
12900-509: The following decade, Pitchfork shifted its editorial range and style. It began running news and features alongside reviews, coming to resemble a more conventional music publication. It also diversified from indie rock to cover mainstream music including pop, rap and metal, and began covering issues of gender, race and identity in music, influenced by movements such as MeToo and Black Lives Matter . Schreiber said that "our tastes broadened with age and experience", and that Pitchfork could make
13050-484: The free music streaming service Spotify . Yorke accused Spotify of only benefiting major labels with large back catalogues, and encouraged artists to build their own "direct connections" with audiences instead. In February 2014, Radiohead released an app, Polyfauna , a collaboration with the British digital arts studio Universal Everything, with music and imagery from The King of Limbs . In May, Yorke contributed
13200-511: The grand tradition of rock criticism, joining the ranks of imperious and opinionated writers". Schreiber described the reviews of one early Pitchfork writer, Brent DiCrescenzo, as dense with dialogue and pop culture references, "exploring outlandish scenarios". Pitchfork 's style changed in the 2010s as it broadened its scope and audience, shifting to poptimism . The contributor Craig Jenkins said Pitchfork had needed to change its "walled-in" perspective, and that it had been "antagonistic toward
13350-578: The greater depth they aimed for on their second album. It was Radiohead's first collaboration with their future producer, Nigel Godrich , then working under Leckie as an audio engineer , and the artist Stanley Donwood . Both have worked on every Radiohead album since. Though sales of My Iron Lung were low, it boosted Radiohead's credibility in alternative circles, creating commercial opportunity for their next album. Having introduced more new songs on tour, Radiohead finished recording their second album, The Bends , by 1995, and released it that March. It
13500-447: The implications for music journalism. Pitchfork was created in February 1996 by Ryan Schreiber, a high school graduate living in his parents' home in Minneapolis . Schreiber grew up listening to indie rock acts such as Fugazi , Jawbox and Guided by Voices . He was influenced by fanzine culture and had no previous writing experience. Schreiber initially named the website Turntable , but changed it after another website claimed
13650-680: The impression of a "forward-facing, vibrant title". Unlike other music publications, which typically assign scores out of five or ten, Pitchfork uses a decimal scale of 0.0 to 10.0. The system has drawn mockery as arbitrary and overprecise. DiCrescenzo described it as "knowingly silly", and in 2021 Pitchfork wrote that it was an "admittedly absurd and subjective" signature element. Schreiber said he liked its absurdity and how "it felt kind of scientific without any actual science to it". Early reviews used percentages rather than decimals. By 2021, Pitchfork had published more than 28,000 reviews. Pitchfork reviews do not represent an editorial consensus but
13800-680: The influential DJ Yoav Kutner , and in March, after the song became a hit there, Radiohead were invited to Tel Aviv for their first show overseas. Around the same time, "Creep" became a hit in America, a " slacker anthem" in the vein of " Smells Like Teen Spirit " by Nirvana and " Loser " by Beck . It reached number two on the Billboard Modern Rock chart , number 34 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and number seven on
13950-528: The internet throwing rocks at big artists". Online music magazine One of the first magazines to convert from a print magazine format to an online only magazine was the computer magazine Datamation . Some online magazines distributed through the World Wide Web call themselves webzines . An ezine (also spelled e- zine ) is a more specialized term appropriately used for small magazines and newsletters distributed by any electronic method, for example, by email. Some social groups may use
14100-455: The internet. Schreiber announced his departure on January 8, 2019, saying he wanted to "keep pushing boundaries and exploring new things". The Los Angeles Times said the departure came at a time of "existential change" for the media industries, citing the rise of streaming services and social media and the downsizing of many major music publications. That month, Condé Nast announced it would put all its publications, including Pitchfork , behind
14250-476: The journalistic form and temperament of the time". While it was widely mocked, it boosted Pitchfork 's profile. Schreiber said he understood the review would make Pitchfork subject to ridicule, but "wanted Pitchfork to be daring and to surprise people". In 2001, Pitchfork had 30,000 daily readers. In 2004, Pitchfork hired its first full-time employee, Chris Kaskie, formerly of the satirical website The Onion , to run business operations. Kaskie later became
14400-426: The late 1980s, but it centred on shoegazing bands such as Ride and Slowdive . On a Friday played their first gig in 1987, at Oxford's Jericho Tavern . On the strength of an early demo, On a Friday were offered a record deal by Island Records , but they decided they were not ready and wanted to go to university first. They continued to rehearse on weekends and holidays, but did not perform for four years. At
14550-451: The line, we just seemed to piss off a lot of people ... What we're doing isn't that radical." The album was ranked one of the best of all time by publications including Time and Rolling Stone; Rolling Stone , Pitchfork and the Times named it the best album of the decade. Radiohead's fifth album, Amnesiac , was released in May 2001. It comprised additional tracks from
14700-505: The men's magazine GQ . Staff including Patel were laid off, leaving around a dozen editorial staff, including some working on multiple Condé Nast publications. Max Tani of Semafor reported that the remaining staff were "depressed and embarrassed" by the merge. One writer who was laid off, Andy Cush, said "there was this real sense of despair ... about ever having a place to do the kind of work you feel like you're good at and that you're interested in again". As of that month, Pitchfork had
14850-415: The most daily active users of any Condé Nast publication. Journalists reacted with sadness and concern for the future of music journalism. Tani and The Washington Post 's Chris Richards expressed disgust that Pitchfork , once independent and provocative, would be absorbed into an establishment men's magazine. The music critic Ann Powers wrote that the merge felt "like a highly conservative move at
15000-552: The most infamous example of Pitchfork "at its most deleterious". Pitchfork 's review of their debut EP, Wizard of Ahhhs , boosted the Black Kids' career; however, it collapsed when Pitchfork gave their debut album, Partie Traumatic (2008), a score of 3.3, with a review consisting entirely of a photograph of two frowning dogs and a frowning emoticon . Plagenhoef said Pitchfork later became more cautious in publishing negative reviews, as they were no longer "little guys on
15150-470: The most of any act. Seven Radiohead singles have reached the top 10 on the UK singles chart : "Creep" (1992), " Street Spirit (Fade Out) " (1996), " Paranoid Android " (1997), " Karma Police " (1997), " No Surprises " (1998), " Pyramid Song " (2001), and " There There " (2003). "Creep" and " Nude " (2008) reached the top 40 on the US Billboard Hot 100 . Rolling Stone named Radiohead one of
15300-528: The music site Hearing Things , which aims to "capture the original independent spirit" of Pitchfork . In November, Pitchfork announced that it had canceled Pitchfork Music Festival but would continue to produce events and "create spaces where music, culture, and community intersect". Pitchfork's unusual, passionate and stylized reviews differentiated it from the more scholarly and formal style of print magazines such as Rolling Stone . The critic Steven Hyden said it offered an alternative to music magazines at
15450-433: The music, playing into stereotypes of the cynical hipster . In 2018, the music journalist Robert Christgau described the early years of Pitchfork as "a snotty boys' club open to many 'critics' ... Too many amateur wise-asses and self-appointed aesthetes throwing their weight around." Many scathing early reviews were by Brent DiCrescenzo, who wrote lengthy reviews that rarely addressed the music. For example, his review of
15600-502: The need for gatekeepers. Streaming services began to fulfill Pitchfork 's function of helping new artists find audiences, and independent music criticism moved to podcasts and YouTube . Declining music industry revenues reduced advertising spending, and Pitchfork faced competition from advertisers such as Facebook . According to the Los Angeles Times , "The internet era that birthed Pitchfork 's blend of saucy writing, outre tastes and massive popularity [was] by and large over." Over
15750-962: The opinion of the individual reviewer. Writers who did not want to use their names, or failed to include bylines with their submissions, were credited as Ray Suzuki, similarly to the filmmaker pseudonym Alan Smithee . In The Ringer , Rob Harvilla wrote that a 10.0 from Pitchfork "carries all the historical weight of five stars in Rolling Stone or five mics in The Source ... with its maddening and theoretically precise approach to decimal places, such that an ocean of feeling separates an 8.1 from an 8.9". Pitchfork has awarded perfect scores to more than 50 albums, most of them in its "Sunday Reviews" feature, which publishes retrospective reviews of classic albums. Artists who have received perfect scores on release include Radiohead, Fiona Apple , Kanye West , Bonnie "Prince" Billy , And You Will Know Us by
15900-512: The past decade Pitchfork had nurtured many of the best and most influential writers working today". She felt that "great music writing messes with productivity by creating a space to slow down and really immerse in someone else's creative work ... The best writing at Pitchfork or anywhere reflects that process and is as variegated as the human experience itself." In 2015, The Guardian credited Pitchfork for pioneering design techniques that combined print design and technical innovation to create
16050-483: The period as a "real low point"; he and O'Brien developed depression, and the band came close to splitting up. After the success of OK Computer , Radiohead bought a barn in Oxfordshire and converted it into a recording studio. They began work on their next album with Godrich in early 1999, working in studios in Paris, Copenhagen, and Gloucester before their new studio was completed. Although their success meant there
16200-569: The president and co-owner. Pitchfork 's first professional editor, Scott Plagenhoef, was hired shortly afterwards. Kaskie and Plagenhoef are credited for turning Pitchfork into a professional operation. It began to scale quickly; the more money it made, the more resources it had for reviews and articles. As of 2004, Pitchfork had eight full-time employees and about 50 freelance staff members, most of whom worked remotely and co-ordinated through phone and internet. Writers were unpaid for their first six months, after which they could earn $ 10 or $ 20 for
16350-428: The previous October. With Schreiber aiming to make it the world's best repository for music content, Pitchfork began creating videos and retrospective articles, covering classic albums released before its founding. Kaskie announced his departure from Pitchfork in May 2017. He had been frustrated by his diminished role under Condé Nast and Pitchfork 's reduced autonomy. On September 18, 2018, Schreiber stepped down as
16500-483: The process". After Pitchfork awarded 0.0 to Travistan (2004), the debut solo album by the Dismemberment Plan singer Travis Morrison , his solo career effectively ended. Years later, Morrison described the experience as "frightening and awful". Schreiber said he felt bad for him, but that it was important for Pitchfork writers to be honest. Other albums to receive 0.0 include Zaireeka (1995) by
16650-440: The producer Nigel Godrich and the cover artist Stanley Donwood since 1994. Radiohead's experimental approach is credited with advancing the sound of alternative rock . Radiohead signed to EMI in 1991 and released their debut album, Pablo Honey , in 1993. Their debut single, " Creep ", was a worldwide hit, and their popularity and critical standing rose with The Bends in 1995. Their third album, OK Computer (1997),
16800-438: The protracted recording and more conventional rock instrumentation of In Rainbows , Radiohead developed The King of Limbs by sampling and looping their recordings with turntables . It was followed by a retail release in March through XL, and a special "newspaper album" edition in May. The King of Limbs sold an estimated 300,000 to 400,000 copies through Radiohead's website. The retail edition debuted at number six on
16950-407: The rapper Chief Keef was arrested for violating a probation sentence by using a rifle in a promotional video by Pitchfork . Staff later described the episode as a low point and an example of how Pitchfork mishandled hip-hop artists. In December, Pitchfork launched The Pitchfork Review , a quarterly print journal focused on long-form music writing and design-focused content. Pitchfork planned
17100-521: The recordings were mastered the following month. In 2007, EMI was acquired by the private equity firm Terra Firma . Radiohead were critical of the new management, and no new deal was agreed. The Independent reported that EMI had offered Radiohead a £3 million advance, but had refused to relinquish rights to the band's back catalogue. An EMI spokesman stated that Radiohead had demanded "an extraordinary amount of money". Radiohead's management and Yorke released statements denying that they had asked for
17250-674: The recordings. On 16 June 2012, an hour before gates were due to open at Toronto's Downsview Park for the final concert of Radiohead's North American tour, the roof of the venue's temporary stage collapsed , killing the drum technician Scott Johnson and injuring three other members of Radiohead's road crew . After rescheduling the tour, Radiohead paid tribute to Johnson at their next concert, in Nîmes, France, in July. In June 2013, Live Nation Canada Inc, two other organisations and an engineer were charged with 13 charges under Ontario health and safety laws. In September 2017, after several delays,
17400-528: The release of their debut single, " Creep ", that September, Radiohead began to receive attention in the British music press, not all of it favourable; NME described them as "a lily-livered excuse for a rock band", and "Creep" was blacklisted by BBC Radio 1 as "too depressing". Radiohead released their debut album, Pablo Honey , in February 1993. It reached number 22 in the UK charts. "Creep" and its follow-up singles "Anyone Can Play Guitar" and " Stop Whispering " failed to become hits, and " Pop Is Dead ",
17550-552: The rhythmically complex King of Limbs material live, Radiohead enlisted a second drummer, Clive Deamer , who had worked with Portishead and Get the Blessing . In June, Radiohead played a surprise performance on the Park stage at the 2011 Glastonbury Festival, performing songs from The King of Limbs for the first time. With Deamer, Radiohead recorded The King of Limbs: Live from the Basement , released online in August 2011. It
17700-679: The rights. The name Pitchfork was inspired by the tattoo on the assassin Tony Montana in the film Scarface . Schreiber chose it as it was concise and had "evilish overtones". The first review was of Pacer (1995) by the Amps , and the record store Insound was Pitchfork 's first advertiser. Early Pitchfork reviews focused on indie rock and were often critical. The Washington Post described them as "brutal" and "merciless", writing: "The site's stable of critics often seemed capricious, uninvested, sometimes spiteful, assigning low scores on
17850-416: The same year, Radiohead became one of the first bands in the world to have a website, and developed a devoted online following; within a few years, there were dozens of fansites devoted to them. OK Computer was followed by the year-long Against Demons world tour, including Radiohead's first headline Glastonbury Festival performance in 1997. Despite technical problems that almost caused Yorke to abandon
18000-587: The same year; the guitarist Ed O'Brien was one year above, and the drummer Philip Selway was in the year above O'Brien. In 1985, they formed On a Friday, the name referring to their usual rehearsal day in the school's music room. The band disliked the school's strict atmosphere—the headmaster once charged them for using a rehearsal room on a Sunday—and found solace in the music department. They credited their music teacher for introducing them to jazz , film scores , postwar avant-garde music , and 20th-century classical music . While each member contributed songs in
18150-404: The size of their biggest show ever. That's the goal, man. To put fucking Titus Andronicus in front of 10,000 people." In April 2008, after acquiring the live music show Juan's Basement , Pitchfork launched Pitchfork.tv , a website displaying interviews, music videos and feature-length films. In November, it published a book, The Pitchfork 500 , covering the preceding 30 years of music. By
18300-404: The stage, the performance was acclaimed and cemented Radiohead as a major live act. Grant Gee , the director of the "No Surprises" video, filmed the band on tour for the 1999 documentary Meeting People Is Easy . The film portrays the band's disaffection with the music industry and press, showing their burnout over the course of the tour. Since its release, OK Computer is often acclaimed as
18450-411: The stuff that the average person would be appreciating". Plagenhoef felt that the inflammatory "stunt reviews" were limiting, and wanted Pitchfork to be seen as trustworthy and thoughtful. Snapes said some had lamented the change, suggesting that it made Pitchfork "a less specific proposition". However, she felt it reflected modern music consumption and found it heartening that Pitchfork was reviewing
18600-572: The terms cyberzine and hyperzine when referring to electronically distributed resources. Similarly, some online magazines may refer to themselves as "electronic magazines", "digital magazines", or "e-magazines" to reflect their readership demographics or to capture alternative terms and spellings in online searches. An online magazine shares some features with a blog and also with online newspapers , but can usually be distinguished by its approach to editorial control. Magazines typically have editors or editorial boards who review submissions and perform
18750-434: The top editor. He was replaced by Puja Patel, who had worked at Spin and Gawker Media , as editor-in-chief on October 15. Schreiber remained as a strategic advisor. He said he later realized that Condé Nast did not understand Pitchfork and had unrealistic expectations of its performance. Patel came under pressure to cut costs amid declining traffic from social media, and competition from streaming platforms, which offered
18900-595: The typical formalities of record promotion, placing them on the same level as Beyoncé and Kanye West ". In May 2009, Radiohead began new recording sessions with Godrich. In August, they released " Harry Patch (In Memory Of) ", a tribute song to Harry Patch , the last surviving British soldier to have fought in World War I , with proceeds donated to the British Legion . The song has no conventional rock instrumentation, and instead comprises Yorke's vocals and
19050-460: The video site Pitchfork.tv and book, The Pitchfork 500 , both launched in 2008; and a print publication, The Pitchfork Review , published between 2013 and 2016. In later years, Pitchfork became less antagonistic and more professional in style, and began covering more mainstream music and issues of gender, race and identity. As of 2014, it was receiving around 6.2 million unique visitors every month. The influence of Pitchfork declined in
19200-786: The web. Publishers of traditional print magazines and entrepreneurs with an eye to a potential readership in the millions started publishing online magazines. Salon.com , founded in July 1995 by David Talbot, was launched with considerable media exposure and today reports 5.8 million monthly unique visitors. In the 2000s, some webzines began appearing in a printed format to complement their online versions. Radiohead Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon , Oxfordshire , in 1985. They comprise Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Greenwood (bass); Ed O'Brien (guitar, backing vocals); and Philip Selway (drums, percussion). They have worked with
19350-572: The world could experience the music at the same time, and preventing leaks in advance of a physical release. A special "discbox" edition of In Rainbows , containing the record on vinyl, a book of artwork, and a CD of extra songs, was also sold from Radiohead's website. The retail version of In Rainbows was released in the UK in late December 2007 on XL Recordings and in North America in January 2008 on TBD Records , reaching number one in
19500-405: Was "amazed it got the reaction it did. None of us fucking knew any more whether it was good or bad. What really blew my head off was the fact that people got all the things, all the textures and the sounds and the atmospheres we were trying to create." OK Computer was Radiohead's first number-one UK chart debut, and brought them commercial success around the world. Despite peaking at number 21 in
19650-466: Was able to take risks as it was not interested in appeasing bands, record labels or advertisers. In 2006, Pitchfork had 170,000 daily readers and was publishing five album reviews a day, with six full-time employees. Schreiber said that Pitchfork was able to sustain paid freelancers and eight employees, though they were "always cutting it close". He said he had attracted interest from investors, but wanted to retain control and that journalistic integrity
19800-597: Was also broadcast by international BBC channels and released on DVD and Blu-ray in January 2012. The performance included two new songs, " The Daily Mail" and "Staircase ", released as a double A-side download single in December 2011. In February 2012, Radiohead began their first extended North American tour in four years, including dates in the United States, Canada and Mexico. On tour, they recorded material at Jack White 's studio Third Man Records , but discarded
19950-547: Was an important part of Pitchfork 's early popularity, as music fans could share and listen to recordings while reading daily updates. In 2000, Pitchfork ' s 10.0/10.0 review of the highly anticipated Radiohead album Kid A , written by Brent DiCrescenzo, generated a surge in readership and was one of the first signs of Pitchfork becoming a major publication. One of the first Kid A reviews published, it attracted attention for its unusual style. Billboard described it as "extremely long-winded and brazenly unhinged from
20100-415: Was critical of the release, calling it a "wasted opportunity". In 2009, EMI reissued Radiohead's back catalogue in expanded editions. As social media expanded around the turn of the decade, Radiohead gradually withdrew their public presence, with no promotional interviews or tours to promote new releases. Pitchfork wrote that around this time Radiohead's "popularity became increasingly untethered from
20250-534: Was developed using extensive looping and sampling . A Moon Shaped Pool (2016) prominently featured Jonny Greenwood's orchestral arrangements. Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, Selway and O'Brien have released solo albums. In 2021, Yorke and Jonny Greenwood debuted a new band, the Smile . By 2011, Radiohead had sold more than 30 million albums worldwide. Their awards include six Grammy Awards and four Ivor Novello Awards , and they hold five Mercury Prize nominations,
20400-494: Was driven by dense riffs and ethereal atmospheres, with greater use of keyboards. It received stronger reviews for its songwriting and performances. While Radiohead were seen as outsiders to the Britpop scene that dominated music media at the time, they were finally successful in the UK, as the singles " Fake Plastic Trees ", " High and Dry ", " Just ", and " Street Spirit (Fade Out) " became chart successes. "High and Dry" became
20550-538: Was facing mounting financial problems, and Kaskie spent the year attempting to find funding. On October 13, 2015, the American mass media company Condé Nast announced that it had acquired Pitchfork . At this point, Pitchfork had about 50 employees, with editorial and video production staff in Brooklyn and advertising, sales and development staff in Chicago. The Condé Nast CEO, Bob Sauerberg, described Pitchfork as
20700-468: Was florid and sometimes impenetrable, and contained factual errors. Similar criticisms came from Rob Harvilla of the East Bay Express and Claire Suddath of Time . Responding to criticism in 2006, Schreiber said he trusted his writers' style and opinions. In its early years, Pitchfork was criticized as mean-spirited and elitist , and for publishing reviews that do not meaningfully discuss
20850-471: Was followed by Amnesiac (2001), recorded in the same sessions. Hail to the Thief (2003), with lyrics addressing the war on terror , blended the band's rock and electronic sides, and was Radiohead's final album for EMI. Radiohead self-released their seventh album, In Rainbows (2007), as a download for which customers could set their own price , to critical and chart success. Their eighth album, The King of Limbs (2011), an exploration of rhythm,
21000-531: Was his priority. In August 2006, an internal Pitchfork server containing promotional copies of hundreds of albums was hacked, including the forthcoming Joanna Newsom album Ys . In the mid-2000s, Pitchfork expanded its operations. In 2006, it launched the annual Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago. The first Paris Pitchfork Music Festival was held in 2011. Kaskie said it was exciting to see acts Pitchfork had championed playing to large crowds: "We start to see these bands playing in front of audiences 10 times
21150-676: Was immediately divisive among music fans. In the Washington Post , J. Freedom du Lac described Pitchfork as entertaining, "hilariously snarky" and "occasionally even enlightening". The Los Angeles Times writer August Brown described it as "raucous, passionate, sometimes blinkered but always evolving". In Slate , Matthew Shaer wrote that the best Pitchfork reviews were "cagey, fierce, witty and graceful". The journalist Dave Itzkoff described Pitchfork reviews as "defiantly passionate and frustratingly capricious" with an "aura of integrity and authenticity that made such pronouncements credible, even definitive, to fans ... insinuating themselves into
21300-462: Was no longer pressure from their record label, tensions were high. The members had different visions for Radiohead's future, and Yorke suffered from writer's block , influencing him toward more abstract, fragmented songwriting. O'Brien kept an online diary of their progress. After nearly 18 months, recording was completed in April 2000. Radiohead's fourth album, Kid A , was released in October 2000. A departure from OK Computer , Kid A featured
21450-408: Was nominated for five other Grammy awards, including Radiohead's third nomination for Album of the Year . Yorke and Jonny Greenwood performed " 15 Step " with the University of Southern California Marching Band at the televised award show. The first single from In Rainbows , " Jigsaw Falling into Place ", was released in January 2008, followed by " Nude " in March, which debuted at number 37 in
21600-455: Was part of a wider problem of journalists assuming that female artists do not write or produce their own music. In 2024, the Pitchfork contributor Andrew Nosnitsky argued that hip-hop, not indie rock, was the "defining music" of his generation, but that Pitchfork was viewed as the defining music publication for "purely mechanical and straight-up white-supremacy reasons". Pitchfork has attracted multiple parodies. In 2005, Pitchfork invited
21750-483: Was poor. As it was difficult for major labels such as EMI to promote bands in the UK, where independent labels dominated the indie charts , Radiohead's managers planned to have Radiohead use American producers and tour aggressively in America, then return to build a following in the UK. Paul Kolderie and Sean Slade , who had worked with the US bands Pixies and Dinosaur Jr. , were enlisted to produce Radiohead's debut album, recorded quickly in Oxford in 1992. With
21900-459: Was positive, and Radiohead were praised for finding new ways to connect with fans. However, it drew criticism from musicians such as Lily Allen and Kim Gordon , who felt it undercut less successful acts. In Rainbows was downloaded an estimated 1.2 million times on the day of release. Colin Greenwood explained the internet release as a way of avoiding the "regulated playlists" and "straitened formats" of radio and TV, ensuring fans around
22050-458: Was praised as passionate, authentic and unique, but criticized as pretentious, mean-spirited and elitist, playing into stereotypes of the cynical hipster . It is credited with popularizing acts such as Arcade Fire , Broken Social Scene , Bon Iver and Sufjan Stevens . Pitchfork relocated to Chicago in 1999 and Brooklyn , New York, in 2011. It expanded with projects including the annual Pitchfork Music Festival , launched in Chicago in 2006;
22200-420: Was receiving around 6.2 million unique visitors and 40 million pageviews every month, with an expected annual revenue growth of 25 to 40 percent. Its primary revenue came from advertising. According to the media analytics firm Comscore , Pitchfork had 2.47 million unique visitors that August, more than the websites for Spin or Vibe but fewer than Rolling Stone 's 11 million. By this point, Pitchfork
22350-547: Was released digitally in May 2016, followed by retail versions in June via XL Recordings. It was promoted with music videos for the singles " Burn the Witch " and " Daydreaming ", the latter directed by Anderson. The album includes several songs written years earlier, including " True Love Waits ", and strings and choral vocals performed by the London Contemporary Orchestra . It became Radiohead's sixth UK number-one album and reached number three in
22500-526: Was released in April 2004. In May 2003, Radiohead embarked on a world tour and headlined Glastonbury Festival for the second time. The tour finished in May 2004 with a performance at the Coachella Festival in California. Hail to the Thief was Radiohead's final album with EMI; in 2006, The New York Times described Radiohead as "by far the world's most popular unsigned band". Following
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