Why Did Pitchfork Publish 39 Best Albums?

Duffy says Pitchfork has paused the mid-year list, the click bucket he looks forward to at Stereogum. Stereogum numbers everything, which Duffy likes more, but Pitchfork still dipped in. Duffy says the count is on purpose: the 39 best albums of 2022, our favorite music of the year so far. He thinks 39 is random on purpose, or that the staff had 35 albums and then had to add four more.

Mack asks whether an arbitrary number is just an engagement tactic. He then separates the piece from the year-end poll. The year-end list is voted on and crafted by the institution. The mid-year article, Mack says, is an unordered list. It is not ranked and it is not numbered. Each entry is a staff favorite, credited to the staffer who wrote the blurb, and Mack believes they did not vote the way they normally do.