Stereogum Explained

Stereogum
Type:Online music magazine
Format:Internet
Chiefeditor:Scott Lapatine
Owners:Scott Lapatine
Language:English
Oclc:1142733705

Stereogum is a daily Internet publication that focuses on music news, reviews, interviews, and commentary. The site was created in January 2002 by Scott Lapatine.

Stereogum was one of the first MP3 blogs and has received several awards and citations, including the PLUG Award for Music Blog of the Year, Blenders Powergeek 25, and Entertainment Weeklys Best Music Websites. The site was named an Official Honoree of the Webby Awards in the music category and won the OMMA Award for Web Site Excellence in the Entertainment/Music category. In 2011, Stereogum won The Village Voices Music Blog of the Year.[1]

History

The site was named after a lyric from the song "Radio #1" by the French electronic duo Air.[2]

In late 2006, Stereogum received an investment from Bob Pittman's private investment entity The Pilot Group.[3] In November 2007, it was purchased by SpinMedia (formerly known as Buzz Media). April 2008 saw the launch of Videogum, a sister site focused on television, movies, and Web videos. Videogum later closed.

In December 2016, Eldridge Industries acquired SpinMedia via the Hollywood Reporter-Billboard Media Group for an undisclosed amount.[4]

Stereogums first SXSW event in 2006 was hosted by then-emerging comedian Aziz Ansari and featured a headline performance from Ted Leo. In the years since, Stereogum's events have included sets from Ben Gibbard,[5] Sky Ferreira, Mitski, Beach House, St. Vincent, Deerhunter, Japanese Breakfast, Rico Nasty,[6] and other popular acts.

Popular musicians have been known to participate in Stereogums active comments section, such as Father John Misty, Weezer's Rivers Cuomo, and Fleet Foxes' Robin Pecknold.

In July 2017, Arcade Fire created the parody site Stereoyum featuring a "Premature Premature Evaluation" of their then-forthcoming album Everything Now.[7]

In January 2020, it was announced that Scott Lapatine, the site's founder and editor-and-chief, had reached an agreement to purchase Stereogum from the Hollywood Reporter-Billboard Media Group, making it once again an independent publication.[8]

Stereogum senior editor Tom Breihan began writing the column "The Number Ones" in September 2018, in which he reviews, analyzes and provides historical context for every number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100.[9] In November 2022, Hatchette Book Group published The Number Ones: Twenty Chart-Topping Hits That Reveal The History Of Pop Music, a music history book by Breihan based on his column.[10] [11] In July 2023, Breihan began a counterpart column available to the site's subscribers in which he reviews the number one singles on the Billboard Alternative Airplay chart.[12]

Album of the Year

YearArtistAlbumSource
2009 Merriweather Post Pavilion [13]
2010 My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy [14]
2011 Father, Son, Holy Ghost [15]
2012 The Idler Wheel... [16]
2013 Kanye West Yeezus [17]
2014 Run the Jewels 2 [18]
2015 Art Angels [19]
2016 Lemonade [20]
2017 Melodrama [21]
2018 Golden Hour [22]
2019 Norman Fucking Rockwell! [23]
2020 Fiona Apple Fetch the Bolt Cutters [24]
2021 I Don't Live Here Anymore [25]
2022 Blue Rev [26]
2023 Rat Saw God [27]

Music releases

In July 2007, Stereogum released OKX, a tenth anniversary tribute to Radiohead's OK Computer. Cover songs were solicited from fourteen indie rock artists including Doveman, Vampire Weekend, John Vanderslice, David Bazan, Cold War Kids, My Brightest Diamond, Marissa Nadler, Chris Funk of The Decemberists, and Chris Walla of Death Cab for Cutie. The album can be heard free of charge at

http://www.stereogum.com/okx.

Other free Stereogum compilation albums include: Drive XV, a tribute to R.E.M.'s Automatic for the People (featuring Rogue Wave, Meat Puppets, Sara Quin, and Dr. Dog); Enjoyed, a tribute to Björk's Post (featuring Liars, Edward Droste, Dirty Projectors, Final Fantasy, and Atlas Sound); Stroked, a tribute to The Strokes's Is This It (featuring Real Estate, Owen Pallett, Peter Bjorn & John, and The Morning Benders); MySplice Vols 1-4:, an annual mashup collaboration with team9; and Stereogum Presents... RAC Vol. 1, the first release from Grammy-winning producer RAC.

In 2020, as part of a fundraising effort to keep the site operational and independent,[28] an original 55-track compilation of covers of songs from the 2000s by various artists titled Save Stereogum: An '00s Covers Comp was released as an incentive for donors to the site's Indiegogo campaign.[29] [30] The campaign totaled over $370,000 in donations.[31] It debuted at #1 on Billboard's Compilation Albums chart and #11 on Billboard's Top Album Sales chart.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Stabile . Francesca . The Winners Of The 2011 Village Voice Web Awards . . 4 April 2019 . December 7, 2011.
  2. Web site: Q&A: Air's Jean-Benoît Dunckel On The Future Of The Band, Working With Sofia Coppola, And Inspiring The Name "Stereogum". Stereogum. 14 August 2015. May 9, 2018.
  3. Web site: Lauria . Peter . Pittman Flips Stake . New York Post . December 7, 2007 . 5 May 2020.
  4. Web site: Billboard Buys Spin and Vibe in a Quest to 'Own the Topic of Music Online'. Adweek. March 10, 2017.
  5. Web site: Duffy . Robert . SXSW Updates Stereogum Brings Ben Gibbard . Done Waiting .
  6. Web site: Superlatives from SXSW Music . Austin Monthly . March 19, 2019 . 5 May 2020.
  7. Web site: Arcade Fire spoof music website with 'Premature Premature Evaluation' review of own album. NME. July 22, 2016. May 9, 2018.
  8. Web site: Billboard-The Hollywood Reporter Media Group Sells Spin, Agreement in Place for Sale of Stereogum. Billboard. January 16, 2019. January 16, 2020.
  9. Web site: Unterberger . Andrew . 'The Number Ones' Author Tom Briehan on the Book Version of His Chart Column and Why There's 'More Interest in No. 1s Now Than Any Time I Can Remember' . Billboard . 17 July 2023 . 25 October 2022.
  10. Web site: The Number Ones: Twenty Chart-Topping Hits That Reveal The History Of Pop Music Is Out Now . Stereogum . 17 July 2023 . en . 15 November 2022.
  11. Web site: Greene . Jayson . Tom Breihan’s The Number Ones Tells the Secret History of the Pop Charts . Pitchfork . 17 July 2023 . 17 November 2022.
  12. Web site: Breihan . Tom . The Alternative Number Ones: Siouxsie And The Banshees’ “Peek-A-Boo” . Stereogum . 4 September 2023 . en . 5 July 2023.
  13. Web site: Best Album 2009 . Stereogum . 18 December 2022 . en . 7 December 2009.
  14. Web site: Stereogum's Top 50 Albums Of 2010 . Stereogum . 18 December 2022 . en . 8 December 2010.
  15. Web site: Stereogum's Top 50 Albums Of 2011 . Stereogum . 18 December 2022 . en . 5 December 2011.
  16. Web site: Stereogum's Top 50 Albums Of 2012 . Stereogum . 18 December 2022 . en . 5 December 2012.
  17. Web site: The 50 Best Albums Of 2013 . Stereogum . 18 December 2022 . en . 3 December 2013.
  18. Web site: The 50 Best Albums Of 2014 . Stereogum . 18 December 2022 . en . 2 December 2014.
  19. Web site: The 50 Best Albums Of 2015 . Stereogum . 18 December 2022 . en . 1 December 2015.
  20. Web site: 50 Best Albums of 2016 . Stereogum . 18 December 2022 . en . 1 December 2016.
  21. Web site: The 50 Best Albums Of 2017 . Stereogum . 18 December 2022 . en . 5 December 2017.
  22. Web site: The 50 Best Albums Of 2018 . Stereogum . 18 December 2022 . en . 4 December 2018.
  23. Web site: The 50 Best Albums Of 2019 . Stereogum . 18 December 2022 . en . 3 December 2019.
  24. Web site: The 50 Best Albums Of 2020 . Stereogum . 18 December 2022 . en . 1 December 2020.
  25. Web site: The 50 Best Albums Of 2021 . Stereogum . 26 December 2021 . en . 6 December 2021.
  26. Web site: The 50 Best Albums Of 2022 . Stereogum . 6 December 2022 . en . 6 December 2022.
  27. Web site: The 50 Best Albums Of 2023 . Stereogum . 5 December 2023 . en . 5 December 2023.
  28. Web site: Save Stereogum: An '00s Covers Comp. Stereogum. June 29, 2020. September 9, 2020.
  29. Web site: Tan . Emily . 2020-06-29 . Ben Gibbard, El-P and More to Help 'Stereogum' . 2023-03-23 . Spin.
  30. Web site: Curto . Justin . 2020-09-10 . How Stereogum Made Its 2000s Covers Compilation . 2023-03-23 . Vulture.
  31. Web site: Indiegogo-Save Stereogum: An '00s Covers Comp. Indiegogo. June 29, 2020. September 9, 2020.