Mood Machine by Liz Pelly

The revolution will not be digitized

Mood Machine by Liz Pelly is a story about how Spotify has monopolized streaming, razed the music industry, and homogenized the culture.

When the story begins, we learn about the origins of the lime green app and its plans for the “revolution” or “democratization” of music. But as Pelly digs deeper it becomes clear that akin to most tech companies, the story is far more banal than portrayed. The co-founders of Spotify originally got their start in ad-tech and during the early days of its founding, they conceived of a platform that would suit their skillsets. Advertising first, content second. It just so happened that due to piracy laws at the time, music was one of the cheapest forms of content around. Thus, Spotify was born.

The company was initially an illegal operation that gained legitimacy over time as they acquired both funding and traction. Th…