Author Liz Pelly in conversation with WNYC's John Schaefer about her new book Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlist

Liz Pelly, author of the widely acclaimed Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlist, sits down with John Schaefer, the host of WNYC's New Sounds, to discuss her investigation into Spotify’s origins, influence on music, and how streaming 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 autoplayed.

Building on her years of wide-ranging reporting on streaming, music journalist Liz Pelly details the consequences of the Spotify model by examining both sides of what the company calls its two-sided marketplace: the listeners who pay with their dollars and data, and the musicians who provide the material powering it all. The music business is notoriously opaque, but here Pelly lifts the veil on major stories like streaming services filling popular playlists with low-cost stock music and the rise of new payola-like practices.

For all of the inequities exacerbated by streaming, Pelly also finds hope in chronicling the artist-led fight for better models, pointing toward what must be done collectively to revalue music and create sustainable systems. A timely exploration of a company that has become synonymous with music, Mood Machine will change the way you think about and listen to music.

Copies of Mood Machine will be available for purchase onsite at the event courtesy of the NYPL Shop.

Borrow the book (and more than 300,000 others) for free through the Library’s e-reader app SimplyE, available for iOS and Android devices.

Join Liz Pelly and John Schaefer for a live conversation, in-person or online, on Tuesday, March 11 at 7 PM. 

To join in person | Please be sure to register for an In-Person Ticket. Doors will open 30 minutes before the program begins. For free events, we generally overbook to ensure a full house. Priority will be given to those who have registered in advance, but registration does not guarantee admission. If you register for multiple tickets, please provide the name of each person who will be attending the event or arrive with your entire party present. Seats cannot be saved for late arrivals. Only registered patrons will be granted initial entry into the event space. All registered seats are released shortly before start time, and seats may become available at that time. A standby line will form 30 minutes before the program for any seats that may become available prior to showtime.

To join the livestream | A livestream of this event will be available on the NYPL event page. To receive an email reminder shortly in advance of the event, please be sure to register!

COVID PROTOCOLS FOR IN-PERSON PROGRAMS

The New York Public Library no longer mandates proof of vaccination at large-scale public events.

If you have symptoms consistent with COVID-19 or suspect you have been in close contact with someone who has tested positive, please stay home.

ACCESSIBILITY

In-Person | Assistive listening devices and/or hearing loops are available at the venue. You can request a free ASL (American Sign Language) interpretation or CART (Communication Access Real-Time Translation) captioning service by emailing your request at least two weeks in advance of the event: email accessibility@nypl.org or use this Gmail template. This venue is fully accessible to wheelchairs.

Livestream | Captions and a transcript will be provided. You can request a free ASL (American Sign Language) interpretation by emailing your request at least two weeks in advance of the event: email accessibility@nypl.org or use this Gmail template.

GET THE BOOK

• Borrow: NYPL Catalog


• E-Book app: SimplyE, soon available on iOS and Android

Don't have a New York Public Library card? Get one here!

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Liz Pelly is a writer and editor based in New York. She is the author of Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlist (One Signal Publishers). Her byline has appeared at The Baffler, Guardian, NPR, Pioneer Works Broadcast, and many other outlets. She is an adjunct instructor at NYU Tisch. You can see more of her work at lizpelly.info.

John Schaefer is the host and producer of WNYC’s long-running new music show New Sounds (“The #1 radio show for the Global Village” – Billboard), founded in 1982, and its innovative Soundcheck podcast, which has featured live performances and interviews with a variety of guests since 2002.  He created the New Sounds Live concert series in 1986, which features new works, commissioned pieces, and a special series devoted to live music for silent films. Schaefer has written extensively about music, including the book New Sounds: A Listener’s Guide to New Music (Harper & Row, NY, 1987; Virgin Books, London, 1990); the Cambridge Companion to Singing: World Music (Cambridge University Press, U.K., 2000); the TV program Bravo Profile: Bobby McFerrin (Bravo Television, 2003); and the documentary film The Art Of Ostad Elahi (sold out debut at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2019).  He has also written about horse racing (Bloodlines: A Horse Racing Anthology, Vintage, NY 2006), hosted panels for the World Science Festival, and been a regular panelist on the BBC’s soccer-based program Sports World.

CONNECT

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