Stereogum Sold Back to Founder

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Stereogum has been sold back to founder Scott Lapatine.

“It’s been a privilege to watch Stereogum grow over the past 18 years — the site saw record traffic in 2019 — and I’m thrilled about our next chapter as an independent, music-only publication. Also, launching later this year, a robust new user experience will be sure to delight and infuriate Stereogum’s dedicated commentariat in equal measure,” Lapatine said.

Congratulations Scott!

Taylor Swift to Release New Documentary This Month

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Taylor Swift’s new documentary, Miss Americana, will arrive on Netflix on January 31st.

Miss Americana, directed by Lana Wilson, looks at Swift’s career and is “a raw and emotionally revealing look at one of the most iconic artists of our time during a transformational period in her life as she learns to embrace her role not only as a songwriter and performer but as a woman harnessing the full power of her voice,” according to a statement.

Ranking the Re-Rankings of the Rankings

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If there’s one thing we like doing on this website, it’s ranking things. We like ranking things so much it’s become a meme in the forums for just how often it happens in threads. From albums to food, to the new sub-genre of brackets, ranking has become a core part of our little culture. It’s also part of what we do on a pretty regular basis here on the editorial side of things. We’ve got our yearly most anticipated lists and the mid and end of the year “best-of lists.” Back in the days of AbsolutePunk, we scored these lists using a basic scale that I think Thomas Nassiff originally came up with. When there were 30+ staff members all contributing, it worked pretty well to give a basic structure to what albums were the most popular amongst staff members. I never really gave much thought to it, and it’s been passed down and continued to be used by different contributors that help put together all of the various lists here on the website. Last week I got the itch to re-think this process.

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U.S. Music Streams Topped a Trillion in 2019

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Anne Steele, writing for the Wall Street Journal:

U.S. music streams on services like Spotify Technology AB, Apple Music and YouTube rose 30% last year to top one trillion for the first time, according to Nielsen Music’s annual report, fueled by big releases from artists like Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish and Post Malone.

Streaming services have upended how people listen to and pay for music, and now account for 82% of music consumption in the U.S., according to Nielsen. Sales of physical albums, meanwhile, dropped off 19% in 2019 and now make up just 9% of overall music consumption.