An excellent, clear, and thoroughly researched history of Spotify and its primary product: music as a vehicle for advertisements, personal data collection, and upholder of the unjust, inequitable status quo within the music industry. The middle chapters were somewhat repetitive but I especially appreciated how Pelly incorporates so much history and context about music's role in twentieth and twenty-first century American culture. Any consumer of Spotify, which is most of us, ought to understand this history as thoroughly as the author presents it in this book. So glad this book is coming to market and more people can reconsider how they engage with Spotify, along with reconsidering how they engage with music in their everyday lives.

This is a really well-researched and well-told history of the rise of Spotify, which at this point feels ubiquitous. I admire the book, but I feel like nothing really surprising or revolutionary was revealed? I think if you use the service and pay attention to the general trends of capitalism and the music industry, it’s mostly a more detailed investigation into what feels obvious.

3.5 stars rounded up. I think there is definitely an audience for this! I just felt like a lot of it was stuff I already knew or assumed.