01/18/2024
Hello all presumable alumni! I'm Max Levin '25, the current editor-in-chief (unofficial — long story) at Aural Wes
It's been a while since the AW page has been active, since everyone who frequents the blog today has moved to Instagram, but I wanted to reach out to you all in the wake of Condé Nast's restructuring of Pitchfork under GQ and their layoffs of Pitchfork staff, alongside the departure of editor-in-chief Puja Patel. I've linked a Quietus article below.
I don't know what the collective status of college-student-run music publications is (are there any others???), but as the current steward of a platform that got some fantastic people into various corners of music business & culture writing, I would be remiss not to speak out. I'll be writing an article about Pitchfork's restructuring, among other facets of music business bureaucratic goo inside & outside Wesleyan, and with your permission (and optional anonymity) I'd like to hear from you, the alumni!
If you have been directly affected by the Pitchfork layoffs, or if you currently work in music/culture and have thoughts you'd like to share, please send me an e-mail at [email protected] (or the team email [email protected]) with however much you'd like to say.
In particular, I'm looking for the following anecdotes:
- how you understood music journalism as a job, if you were going into that line of work after graduating
- how the music scene at Wesleyan (including AW) shaped your understanding of local scenes & live music generally
- overall changes in culture writing that you've noticed (regardless if it's been your job or not)
You don't have to write about these things — anything helps.
Thanks for your time, and take care of yourself!
—Max
The restructure will mean that the influential music publication will be moved under men's fashion magazine GQ
