Stereogum soldiers on in the era of streaming and AI

"The site was launched "January 1st, 2002, on a whim," founder Scott Lapatine told The Verge. Originally, this early staple of the music blog era was focused almost entirely on music discovery and posting MP3s. "It was the early days of like Windows Media Player and Real Player," Scott remembers. Today, the site is focused on music journalism and has just relaunched to keep up with a media landscape being overrun by AI."

"Lapatine has been with Stereogum from the beginning, and watched as both the music and media world rapidly changed around him. Though he sold the site in 2006 and watched it change hands several times in the ensuing years, he bought it back from the previous owner in 2020, making it arguably the most popular bastion of independent music journalism on the internet."

Stereogum launched January 1, 2002, as an indie rock–focused site centered on music discovery and posting MP3s. The site emerged during the early days of Windows Media Player and RealPlayer. Over time the focus shifted to music journalism and the site relaunched to adapt to a media landscape increasingly shaped by AI and algorithmic content. Founder Scott Lapatine sold Stereogum in 2006, watched it change ownership, and repurchased it in 2020. The site is positioned as a prominent bastion of independent music journalism and is implementing its most significant updates since it stopped hosting MP3s after nearly 24 years.

Read at The Verge