~ Hardcover
~ New Release - 2025
Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlist
An unsparing investigation into Spotify's origins and influence on music, weaving unprecedented reporting with incisive cultural criticism to illuminate how steaming is reshaping music for listeners and artists alike.
Drawing on over one hundred interviews with industry insiders, former Spotify employees, and musicians, Mood Machine takes us to the inner workings of today’s highly consolidated record business, showing what has changed as music has become increasingly playlisted, personalized, and auto-played.
"A reported look inside the guts of an app millions of us use daily. Mood Machine digs into the app's origins, the economic toll its influence has taken on artists, but also how it's shaped the way we all listen to music." -- NPR