Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlist
Liz Pelly
With unprecedented access and unsparing analysis, this is the definitive investigation into Spotify, weaving interviews with incisive cultural criticism, and illuminating how streaming has reshaped music for listeners and artists alike.Flush with testimony from over a hundred industry insiders, former Spotify employees, and musicians, Mood Machine takes us into the inner workings of the highly consolidated modern music business and how it has become personalized, playlisted, autoplayed, and algorithmic. With an expert’s eye, music journalist Liz Pelly reveals how Spotify’s two-sided marketplace—the listeners who pay with their dollars and data, and the musicians who provide the material powering it all—has changed music media forever. She also explores how musicians and listeners are coming together to fight this era of musical individualism and advocate for artists’ futures. Amazon Unbound and Weapons of Math Destruction for the music industry, Mood Machine is a timely and unputdownable exploration of a company that has become synonymous with music.
Oh ok, we're doing a little intersection with the for-profit US healthcare system?? Go offff
0"In the end, it's not data about listening to music, it's data about listening to Spotify" OOF. BIG HUGE OOF. But also weirdly validating of every time I thought JEEZ all these playlists sure end up pushing me to the same stuff over and over again!
0Informally polling a couple friends, they each mentioned they could never "give up" Spotify because they have it on in the background all the time at work and around the house. One even specifically mentioned that she'd feel unmoored without the chill vibes playlists she has on while she's trying to focus. Now I'm multiple chapters into a thorough analysis of what's in those playlists, how they're formed, and how most of the artists aren't "real" / don't make any money off of millions of streams!! Getting to the pop section next and already feeling feisty 👿
0Your rating:
This is going to be one I'm thinking about and probably unable to shut up about for a long time. The breadth of coverage here is amazing! Great investigative work, good sources, and thorough discussion of where the really alarming gray areas are in Spotify's relationship with artists, users, and employees alike. The conclusion is also succinct and effective in saying that the way forward is not just to switch to another streamer, but to rethink the way we engage with music - and streaming - more broadly. I originally put this book on hold because I heard someone say in an interview "it's kind of crazy that we now demand to have access to all music all of the time! It's not sustainable" and I think that changed something in my brain chemistry because I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. This book gave SO MUCH more context and weight to that line of thinking. Definitely going to reread at some point.
0lo largo que se me ha hecho....
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