Pitchfork Media Acquired by Conde Nast for Undisclosed Sum

Pitchfork may have started as a highly-opinionated music blog out of Minnesota, but the media company has grown immensely from its humble beginnings. Publisher Condé Nast has noticed, and announced plans to acquire for an undisclosed amount.

The New York Times first reported the acquisition, which is set to take effect immediately on Tuesday.

According to Billboard, Condé Nast is the publisher behind 15 highly respected publications including Vogue, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker and Wired.

Ryan Schreiber founded Pitchfork in 1996, which quickly gained a reputation for in-depth, honest music reviews and discovering up-and-coming underground artists. The music fanzine even instituted what became known as the Pitchfork Effect, which is the publication's ability to bump a band's sales or popularity if the album is given an 8.3 or higher, denoting it the coveted title of "Best New Music." The effect is certainly real and has made the publication prime fodder for jokes and debates over the years, but mostly admiration from artists and music fans alike.

Condé Nast obviously sees a lot of value in the kind of influence Pitchfork wields. The publication also adds a stand-alone music blog to the publisher's already diverse catalog of publications, said Fred Santarpia, the company's chief digital officer, who led the acquisition, according to The New York Times. "(It brings) a very passionate audience of millennial males into our roster," he said.

Pitchfork claims it draws more than 6 million unique visitors per month to its site. It is also a proven concert promoter as it hosts annual music festivals in Chicago and Paris. The publication launched a quarterly print publication in 2013 and now has a robust online video division that produces viral videos for YouTube alongside filming the concerts it promotes.

"Pitchfork is incredibly fortunate to have found in Condé Nast a team of people who share our commitment to editorial excellence," Schreiber said in a statement according to Billboard. "Their belief in what we do, combined with their additional expertise and resources, will allow us to extend our coverage of the artists and stories that shape the music landscape on every platform."

WARNING: VIDEO CONTAINS GRAPHIC LANGUAGE

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