33. 'I Listen to Bands that Don’t Even Exist Yet': Pitchfork and Cultural Capital

• In Event: Scholar to Scholar Presents: Popular Culture Extravaganza
  In Paper Session: Scholar to Scholar Presents: Where the 'Popular' Kids Are: Popular Culture Research and Theory

Abstract

Pitchfork is said to be the modern-day equivalent of Rolling Stone magazine (Boyd, 2006). The site is considered to be the arbiter of what is popular in indie music (du Lac, 2006). This paper situates Pitchfork in relation to literature on cultural capital, ultimately making the case that the site acts as a tastemaker. Second, a textual analysis of press about the site showcases whether it is concurrent with the view of Pitchfork as tastemaker.

Author

• Marilda Oviedo, University of Iowa