Back in November we got the disappointing news that Condé Nast, the publishing giant that has own Pitchfork since 2015, was permanently shutting down the flagship Chicago edition of Pitchfork Music Festival. Today, WBEZ has published the first interview since the cancellation with festival co-founder Mike Reed, whose Chicago-based company At Pluto produced the festival every year.
In the article, Reed acknowledges that costs are skyrocketing in the festival industry on multiple fronts, including union costs, insurance, taxes, security, fuel, and all sorts of production expenses. Artist guarantees are the biggest factor, Reed said, reporting that a headliner now costs $1 million minimum compared to about $20,000 at most more than a decade ago. "If you saw that in any other industry, it would be insane," Reed said. With those factors in mind, he thinks it's better to end Pitchfork Fest than continue it in a lesser form: "The costs are out of control. The compromise you have to make on festivals like this is not something I’m deeply interested in."
That said, Condé's handling of Pitchfork has been a historic fumble. Last year they laid off more than half the editorial staff despite Pitchfork, with its loyal audience, outpacing legacy brands like Vogue and GQ in terms of homepage traffic, per Semafor. That Semafor report also indicated that Condé execs felt the fest was "not chic enough" and urged Pitchfork to build out a more robust VIP experience as a revenue driver, which apparently led to the creation of a bizarre, frat-house-like structure in the middle of the main viewing area. Last year also saw P4K book Black Pumas, a puzzling selection completely out of step with the site's brand, which suggested the meddling hand of someone with no understanding of Pitchfork.
On that same note, WBEZ's new report today includes the juicy tidbit that Condé urged Reed to book headliners such as Justin Bieber or Demi Lovato, artists who, even at the peak of poptimism, have never embodied the Pitchfork zeitgeist. Bieber certainly would not bring those artist guarantee costs down, and he would likely attract a crowd too large to fit in Union Park, where the festival took place for the past 20 years. On top of that, how many festivals has Bieber ever headlined? With the likes of Coachella presumably permanently on the table, I can promise you Pitchfork would not have been at the top of his list.
Damn. The world was a little bit better with this festival in it. I'm going to miss it a lot.
