The Scene and Its Leaders: Pitchfork Music Festival 2012 Review

Ty Segall @ Pitchfork Festival 2012

Almost at the end of their second decade, Pitchfork Media has changed the way we find, listen, experience, and most importantly, talk about music. The largest force in the music industry of the last 20 years save file-sharing websites and Kanye West’s twitter account, Pitchfork is more consequential to the development of the independent scene than any previous media entity, Rolling Stone and associates included. For starters, there has never been a Rolling Stone Music Festival.

The Eighth Annual Pitchfork Music Festival was a weekend of exploration, a theme consistent with the mission of the site. We drifted through 29 shows at Chicago’s Union Park, led by the promise of indie pop, grunge revival, electronica, hip hop and all things “post-“, and while performances were largely inconsistent, the rewards were greater than the detractors.

Thee Oh Sees @ Pitchfork 2012

The clear purpose of the Pitchfork Music Festival is to create a live music experience that is consistent with the online experience of the publication. In most ways, they succeeded. By bringing acts such as Ty Segall, Beach House, Dirty Projectors and Kendrick Lamar, all with the online stamp of approval “Best New Music”, the Pitchfork Music Festival organizers managed to present up-and-coming artists (to the layperson) as established and largely successful. All of these artists can thank Pitchfork Media at least partially for their growth over the last few years, so it would make sense that they would be given the opportunity to represent the publication’s real life counterpart.

However, it’s possible their journalistic integrity could be compromised by their assumed role of festival organizers and promoters. After all, the goal of the fest is to sell tickets. Is it right to use their considerable influence as music journalists to sell tickets to their own curated festival? Or better stated: Is their coverage of these bands influenced by the fact that they want to sell tickets? Obviously, the role of a media entity has changed in recent years, due in part to the success of Pitchfork Media, but do the old rules of impartial coverage still apply?

Beach House @ Pitchfork 2012

Working for a small shop like ours, it’s easy to envy Pitchfork Media. With an expanded staff, accommodating resources and a revenue flow, Pitchfork churns out review after review, feature after feature, announcement after announcement, and so on. The FP skeleton crew busts their ass to bring you daily essays, recipes, photo journals, lists and of course, reviews, all (we hope) with the signature FP seal of quality. This isn’t to say their editors and writers don’t work hard or that they don’t employ quality standards, it’s just that the economies of scale are clearly in their favor. What is more difficult is to give credit where credit is due.

Pitchfork Media and its subsequent Music Festival are evidence of our new era of music consumption and enjoyment. Due in part to the hard work of creator and owner Ryan Schreiber and his staff, the joy of seeking out new music is not only  shared by record store employees and nerds like us, but everyone. While it’s clearly not democratic (we don’t choose what they report on), Pitchfork Media has opened the door for so many listeners and artists alike. And for that, they deserve credit.

Below is a complete list of all the acts we saw this weekend.

Friday

-Willis Earl Beale
-A$AP Rocky - That Pretty Motherfucker = PMF = Pitchfork Music Festival. Coincidence?