How Spotify hacked our ears (and our data)

Switched on Pop

Vox Media Podcast Network

Music Interviews, Music History, Music, Music Commentary

4.6 • 2.7K Ratings

🗓️ 4 February 2025

⏱️ 53 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Behind Spotify's promise of infinite music lies a carefully engineered system that shapes not just what we hear, but how music itself gets made. Journalist Liz Pelly's explosive new book "Mood Machine" rips away the curtain on streaming's biggest player, revealing how its algorithms and backroom deals dictate the soundtrack to our lives. With major labels controlling 70% of streams and Spotify commanding over 600 million users, the stakes couldn't be higher. As artists like Björk decry streaming as "the worst thing that's happened to musicians," Pelly uncovers the true cost of our perfect playlists - and what we're really sacrificing for the illusion of endless choice. MORE Subscribe to our newsletter to receive your own bingo card! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Switched On Pop. I'm songwriter Charlie Harding.
0:12.2	There's no denying it.
0:13.6	Streaming has completely changed the way that we access and enjoy songs.
0:17.8	It gives us an unprecedented library right at our fingertips. And for some independent
0:22.6	musicians, it's broken down traditional label barriers, providing a platform to share their art with the
0:27.8	whole world. Yet, not all that glitters is gold. Just recently, Bjork described Spotify as probably
0:34.9	the worst thing that's happened for musicians. Spotify may seem like a
0:39.6	limitless jukebox, but behind the scenes, it's anything but neutral. Label-owned music still dominates
0:45.0	at about 70% of music listened to on Spotify, and the platform is shaped by tons of hidden
0:50.6	business agreements and opaque algorithms. And because Spotify is the biggest player boasting over 600 million users and more than 30% of the global streaming market,
1:00.0	its business model doesn't just reflect the industry, it actively reshapes it.
1:05.0	And that's why I want to speak to Liz Pelly, a music journalist who has contributed to the Baffler, The Guardian, and NPR, among many other publications.
1:12.4	Full disclosure, she's also an adjunct at NYU, where I also teach.
1:15.8	Liz has a new book called Mood Machine, The Rise of Spotify and the Cost of the Perfect Playlist,
1:21.6	where she suggests that much of what we're listening to isn't actually what we think it is.
1:27.2	And that's why I wanted to
1:27.9	have Liz Pelly on the show today to deliberately listen to less music than we usually do in the show
1:33.6	in order to understand how the music business, its practices and algorithms are shaping us as
1:38.8	listeners in ways that we may not suspect. This episode is brought to you by Sun Express Airlines.
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