The Hard Times

Last updated
The Hard Times
"Punk News Comin' Your Way!" [1] [2]
Type Satirical website
Founder(s) Matt Saincome
Bill Conway
Ed Saincome
Staff writers250-300 contributors (July 2017) [3]
FoundedDecember 2014
Headquarters San Francisco [4]
Website thehardtimes.net

The Hard Times is a satirical website with a focus on punk (especially hardcore punk and first wave screamo), alt music, and millennial culture [3] [1] [5] [6] founded in 2014 by former SF Weekly music editor Matt Saincome, [1] [2] [7] his brother Ed Saincome, and comedian Bill Conway. [5] [6] [8] It has been compared to The Onion , ClickHole , and Reductress in style, [1] [5] and has received praise for its specificity and niche appeal. [8] [9]

Contents

The Hard Times also publishes Hard Drive , a satirical video game vertical, hosts stand-up comedy shows at music festivals, and produces podcasts. [3] [6] [10] As of 2021, [11] the Hard Times podcast network included:

Content published by The Hard Times is typically virally spread through engagement on social media such as Facebook. [1] [5] [8] The site averages between 2 and 6 million views a month. [3] [8]

History

Founder Matt Saincome began pitching the idea for The Hard Times in 2012 as a junior studying journalism at San Francisco State. [9] [12] [4] [13] [10] He formally founded The Hard Times with his brother Ed and comedian Bill Conway in December 2014, following a soft launch earlier in the year. [1]

In September 2016, the site passed 3 million views, and entered into an advertising partnership with Vice Media. [5]

In 2017, the site launched Hard Drive for video game related articles, [3] and began developing video content. [9] The site tapped Jeremy Kaplowitz, Mike Amory, and Mark Roebuck as co-founding editors.

In 2018, The Hard Times began work on a book and a television show. [6] [12]

In 2019, several editors of The Hard Times and actor Phil Jamesson created a parody presidential candidate Ace Watkins account on Twitter, with the fictional candidate claiming to aspire to be "the first gamer president". [14] The Twitter account amassed more than 40,000 followers within several days after the account's creation. [14]

Hard Times Media LLC sold The Hard Times to Project M Group, the parent company of Revolver magazine and Inked magazine, in July 2020, while maintaining ownership of Hard Drive. [15]

In May of 2023 The Hard Times parted ways with Project M and is once again owned and operated independently by the site's founders.

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Raggett, Ned. "Punk And Irony Are Dead; Long Live The Hard Times". The Concourse. Archived from the original on 2018-09-22. Retrieved 2018-09-22.
  2. 1 2 "About - The Hard Times". The Hard Times. Archived from the original on 2018-09-22. Retrieved 2018-09-22.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Daniels, Melissa. "How The Hard Times Is Building A Bridge Between Punk and Comedy". Forbes . Archived from the original on 2018-09-22. Retrieved 2018-09-22.
  4. 1 2 "The Hard Times founder sent us this article he wrote about himself". Alternative Press . 2018-02-06. Archived from the original on 2018-09-22. Retrieved 2018-09-22.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 "The Hard Times is perfecting punk satire". The Daily Dot . 2016-11-06. Archived from the original on 2018-09-22. Retrieved 2018-09-22.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Spotlight: 'The Hard Times' Founder Matt Saincome on Turning Punk Into Comedy & Developing a New TV Show". Billboard . Archived from the original on 2018-09-22. Retrieved 2018-09-22.
  7. ↑ "The Hard Times Unveils Its First Ever Documentary - October 4, 2016 - SF Weekly". SF Weekly . 2016-10-04. Archived from the original on 2018-09-22. Retrieved 2018-09-22.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Brown, August (13 January 2017). "In strange times for Internet satire, the Hard Times grows beyond its punk niche". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 2018-09-22. Retrieved 2018-09-22.
  9. 1 2 3 "'The Hard Times' Founder Gives An Inside Look At His Punk Satire Site". Uproxx. 2017-11-08. Archived from the original on 2018-09-22. Retrieved 2018-09-22.
  10. 1 2 Douglas, Nick (10 April 2019). "We're the Founders of the Hard Times, and This Is How We Work". Lifehacker. Archived from the original on 2019-07-17. Retrieved 2019-08-02.
  11. ↑ "Hard Times Podcast Network". The Hard Times. Retrieved 2021-08-14.
  12. 1 2 "Area Punk, Founder of 'The Hard Times', and Entertainer of Millions Lands Major Interview with RiotFest.org | Riot Fest". Riot Fest. 2018-01-05. Archived from the original on 2018-09-22. Retrieved 2018-09-22.
  13. ↑ "Alum Matt Saincome Founded Satirical Punk-Rock Website The Hard Times | College of Liberal & Creative Arts". lca.sfsu.edu. Archived from the original on 2018-09-22. Retrieved 2018-09-22.
  14. 1 2 "Ace Watkins, the first 'gamer candidate,' gains thousands of Twitter followers". The Daily Dot. 13 July 2019. Archived from the original on 15 July 2019. Retrieved 7 September 2019.
  15. ↑ Ha, Anthony (July 2, 2020). "Project M acquires punk rock satire site The Hard Times". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on 10 July 2020. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
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