PopMatters is an international magazine of cultural criticism. Our scope is broadly cast on all things pop culture, and our content is updated daily, Monday through Friday.  We provide intelligent reviews, engaging interviews, and in-depth essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, books, video games, sports, theatre, the visual arts, travel, and the Internet. Since 1999, PopMatters has been providing smart readers with sharp, entertaining writing on a wide range of topics in pop culture, offering a refuge from the usual hype and gossip.

PopMatters cultivates smart writers from the world-at-large. Our staff ranges from the multiple-degreed and/or well traveled, to young writers of high caliber, to ‘seasoned’ folks who punch the 9-5 clock, regardless of what type of degree, if any, they may hold. PopMatters recognizes that creative, compassionate intellectuals reside in all levels of society, in all types of societies, and we value their ability to provide intelligent, entertaining cultural criticism in the form of thoughtful, magazine-style essays. Many of our writers are called upon for their opinion by notable members of the media such as the BBC, NPR, MSNBC, Radio Australia, and VH1. Publications such as USA Today.com, Alternet.org, and Imdb.com regularly pick up links to PopMatters articles and post quotes from PopMatters writers.  Our articles are also indexed by all English language Google News sites and by NewsNow in the UK.

Naturally, this value for our staff and our content extends to great respect for our readers, who also hail from many parts of the world, are inquisitive and savvy, and bring many experiences and expectations to this magazine. Our intent is to reach the broadest possible audience with intelligent and thought-provoking writing that is often not readily available within the mainstream mass media.  We currently have over 1 million unique readers per month, and counting.

Among those readers, Entertainment Weekly has listed PopMatters as one of its favorite popular culture websites. Music critic Jim DeRogatis has said that “writing as thought-provoking, engaging, insightful, witty, and just plain ol’ fun as much of the fare on PopMatters is a rare and wonderful thing, and it should be treasured.”

PopMatters has had essays published in Da Capo’s Best Music Writing series for several years.  In 2006’s edition, we are represented by two essays.  PopMatters was also nominated for a Plug Award for best music website in 2006.

PopMatters has been profiled and/or namedropped in all of these reputable sources: BBC, New York Times, The Times (London), The Guardian, Slate, Salon, Entertainment Weekly, Financial Times, NME, CBC, Variety, The Globe & Mail (Canada), Scotland on Sunday, Daily Telegraph, Chicago Sun-Times, USA Today, Newsday, Boston Globe, Baltimore Sun, and Curve among others.

PopMatters has a partnership with McClatchy-Tribune, whereby some of our content is syndicated into newspapers via both the MCT newswires and their premium package, “What’s Next”, targeting 18-34-year-olds. PopMatters produces four nationally syndicated newspaper columns weekly, distributed to over 1,000 U.S. metro dailies via MCT Direct, and over 1,000 college newspapers via MCT Campus: “PopMatters Picks”, details the best in pop culture each week (MCT Direct and MCT Campus); “20 Questions”, a playful Q&A, reveals the gist of national and internationally-renowned artists and intellectuals (MCT Direct); “Sound Affects”, zeroes in on the week’s top topics in music (MCT Direct and MCT Campus); and “The Riff Report”, a twice weekly music news column penned by PopMatters editor and publisher Sarah Zupko (MCT Direct and MCT Campus).

Contributors

Information about PopMatters contributors are on the Contributors page.

Submissions

Details about submitting articles, columns, and reviews for publication consideration are on the Submissions page.

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Review Materials

PopMatters reviews music, film, television, DVD, books, comic books/graphic fiction, and video games.  Please use the following mailing addresses for sending product, media kits, and press releases.

Music Reviews
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Attn: Sarah Zupko/Music Editor
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Film Reviews
PopMatters Media
film(at)popmatters.com
Attn: Film Editor
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Evanston, IL 60201
USA

Television Reviews
PopMatters Media
tv(at)popmatters.com
Attn: Television Editor
1555 Sherman Avenue #324
Evanston, IL 60201
USA

DVD Reviews
PopMatters Media
dvds@popmatters.com
Attn: Karen Zarker
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Evanston, IL 60201
USA

Book Reviews
PopMatters Media
books(at)popmatters.com
Attn: Karen Zarker
1555 Sherman Avenue #324
Evanston, IL 60201
USA

Software and Video Game Reviews
PopMatters Media
multimedia(at)popmatters.com
Attn: Multimedia Editor
1555 Sherman Avenue #324
Evanston, IL 60201
USA

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