Spotify’s impact goes well beyond just how we access and pay for music – it’s transforming our relationship with music and its cultural meaning.

Dylan Bird is joined by American music journalist Liz Pelly to dive into her book Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlist, the origins of Spotify as an advertisement platform, the proliferation of ‘lean-back listening’ and the music that the platform incentivises, the impact of streaming on local music scenes and cultures, and possible solutions to support a healthier music consumption ecosystem.

'When you start thinking about the type of music that "does well" in the streaming era … different pressures that artists might feel when they’re trying to contend with a system that financially rewards music that gets repeat listens … there’s all sorts of different impacts that this has on listeners, artists, our relationships with music … the sense of what music’s purpose even is.'

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