Book: MOOD MACHINE: THE RISE OF SPOTIFY AND THE COSTS OF THE PERFECT PLAYLIST
Author: Liz Pelly
Published by: Atria
Price: $28.99
In Mood Machine, Liz Pelly, a former music journalist, asks us to envision a scene that is hard to imagine for the modern reader — informal, non-commercial spaces where music is produced and from where it is accessed, such as hastily set up gigs at bars, indie record stores and so on. This setting was transformed drastically by Spotify, the Swedish audio streaming and media service provider. Founded by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon in 2006, in the nearly two decades that have followed, Spotify has single-handedly replaced the radio and the record store as well as music channels. The perfect playlist is now just a click away.
One might assume that a streaming platform of this nature would democratise music by making it more accessible. But Pelly’s analysis suggests that the opposite has been the case. For instance, not every track, artist and album is promoted equally on Spotify. The tracks that are promoted the most are the ones that have been the cheapest to produce. This, Kelly argues, has led to the homogenisation of not only music taste but also the way music is produced and conceived.
Pelly also alleges that Spotify encourages passive listening with its readily-delivered playlists — the successor of the ’90s mixtape that one spent hours to make and was cherished as a gift. Walking to the record store, pondering a purchase, or even waiting for one’s favourite songs on the radio have all been rendered unnecessary.
What are the implications of this easy access? Music, once its own pursuit, occupying joyful hours and spirited conversations, has been relegated to the background, droning on as one works or struggles to fall asleep. The Mood Machine is an apt name for Pelly’s book as it keenly registers this shift — now it is the customer and his/her mood that must be catered to.
The debate about the digitisation of music has gained added momentum in the wake of the Labour government’s proposal in the United Kingdom to create a copyright exemption that will allow Artificial Intelligence to use artistic content unless their owners actively prevent it. This has prompted discussions not only on the ethical question of consent but also on the role of creativity in art. As the Led Zeppelin guitarist, Jimmy Page, remarked caustically in a recent Instagram post: “Music is not data.” But that is precisely how music is viewed by companies like Spotify. What does this say about the future of music?
