Each December, journalist Liz Pelly observesSpotify Wrappedday with a mix of horror and hope.
This year, thosecritiquessurfaced more than ever.
The broader question is How do we contract corporate power in music and culture?
Illustration by Matthew Cooley
How do we minimize the influence of corporations in our lives?
Rolling Stonespoke with Pelly about her book.
What was your experience dealing with, or not dealing with, Spotify?
They dont always have the same platform as, maybe, the press person for Spotify.
There are so many examples already out there of Spotify sharing its own story on its own terms.
Focusing on individual scammers always seemed like a distraction from the systemic grift of it all.
But its not like theyre the only company in the music business deserving of such critique.
Hopefully, this book could motivate further reckoning with other powerful forces in music.
Contemplating the impact of commercialism on art is something people have been doing for a really long time.
Im happy with that.
