Hi. I don’t think we’ve ever been properly introduced. I’m Matt, and I’ve been editing Paste Media’s music vertical since April 2023. I knew about Paste Magazine first in the late 2010s, when their live video session series became my go-to YouTube click. That’s how I discovered Her’s, the 1975, Durand Jones & The Indications, and Phoebe Bridgers in college, by watching them turn it up in a shoebox studio in nearby Manhattan, or on a stage in faraway Austin. Paste was founded as a print quarterly in July 2002, serving as an independent answer to the big mags like Rolling Stone by covering folk, country, and Americana artists while championing legacy acts instead of chart-mongering pop stars. The magazine got just big enough to make a noise on the newsstands. Hell, Joni Mitchell painted one of our magazine covers from scratch! And those CD samplers, right?
But it worked until it didn’t. I was initially brought into this position on a temporary basis, to fill a quick need during one of the many turnover periods that have impacted our industry since COVID. There wasn’t much fanfare with the hire, but I got to stick around and write some fun stuff, like one of Wednesday’s first cover stories and a long explainer on why McKinley Dixon wields rap’s toughest pen. Since then I’ve stuck around, and Paste has welcomed Talking Heads, Japanese Breakfast, Sufjan Stevens, Blondie, Lady Gaga, Wilco, and more onto its pages, re-establishing itself as a sincere and curious home for the music criticism we grew up hoping to someday write. After more than a decade of hosting an ambitious and necessary vertical of entertainment beats, Paste is finally (and fully) returning to its roots: music.
Starting today, Paste’s focus will be on generating new, music-focused content. I believe this magazine is the heart and soul of music journalism, delivering thoughtful, insightful criticism and storytelling at a time when PR machines dominate the rigmarole of news cycles, editorial staffs are being replaced with A.I. slop, and the interview features being generated are just glorified puff pieces. Since 2023, Paste has established a balanced style of reporting, attacking new and exciting artists and genres without forgetting the art that preceded it. This is the website you go to for essays about Bruce Springsteen and reviews of DIY albums on the same homepage. Pointed news coverage, opinionated blogging, global highlights, and 5,000-word articles on musicians who deserve every word—all of that is powered by a curated team of writers who put every part of themselves into the work they turn in. That’s what we’ll be chasing in 2026 and onward without hesitation.
Effective as of yesterday, Endless Mode (fka Paste Games) will operate exclusively under the The A.V. Club banner. Film and TV coverage will continue at Paste, led by our great film and TV teams at The A.V. Club. Books will remain present at Paste, but with a music bent. Think biographies and memoirs—like Cocteau Twins’ Simon Raymonde’s new book—or documentaries and biopics—like the forthcoming Michael Jackson movie. There will be monthly columns covering these verticals, and every single film, TV, drink, food, tech, travel, and comedy article previously published by Paste will remain present and accessible on this site. I’ll be joined by Associate Editor Casey Epstein-Gross, whom you may know from her list about horse songs or her great profiles on Neko Case, clipping., and Ezra Furman, and a tight-knit crew of regular contributors, many of whom I believe to be not only among the most talented young writers in the business, but responsible for Paste’s voice existing as it does in 2025.
Google’s adoption of an A.I.-powered search feature, and the subsequent traffic and ad revenue gouging it spawned, has severely wounded the journalism industry—especially music journalism. But Paste is ready to push back and keep its lights on. When you come to our homepage, you’ll find album reviews, cover stories, time capsules, mega lists, columns, and staff picks written and published by human beings. We’re not interested in lip service or algorithmic demands. Music criticism is for readers, not publicists or search bots. You’re going to see stories about the artists you love and the artists you’ve never heard about. So stick around with us. Make yourself comfortable in the comment section, and give us hell. Tell us what you want to see more or less of. We’re going to make this place fun.
