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Podcast: New Books in Performing Arts
Episode: Liz Pelly, "Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlist" (Atria, 2025)
Description: Liz Pelly has been closely following the evolution of Spotify and other music streaming services and the effect they have had on the music sector and musicians themselves for several years. Her book, Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlist (Atria, 2025), paints a depressing picture of how the company has exploited the popularity of playlists to grab a larger share of the money we spend on recorded music. Along with the record companies, Spotify has done this at the expense of musicians themselves and especially those is less popular areas like jazz and cla...