Spotify’s biggest sin? Its algorithms have pushed artists to make joyless, toothless music | John Harris

Most musicians can only make money on the platform by writing songs inoffensive enough to get on to one of its vapid playlistsIn the hands of some of its most gifted practitioners, songwriting is a kind of emotional alchemy. For the past week, I have been returning to a perfect example: Every Time the Sun Comes Up by the US singer Sharon Van Etten, which was released in 2014. Its lyrics might be fractured and fragmented, but it is an almost perfect portrait of self-doubt and downward spirals: one of those songs that captures feelings so deep that they go way beyond words.I went back to that song as I read a superb new book that has both educated and profoundly depressed me. Mood Machine, by the New York-based journalist Liz Pelly, is about the music-streaming giant Spotify, and how it attracted its current 615 million subscribers, making a billionaire of its Swedish co-founder and CEO, Daniel Ek. But its most compelling story centres on what Spotify has done to people’s appreciation of songs and the people who make them – much of which is down to the platform’s ubiquitous playlists.John Harris is a Guardian columnist. His memoir Maybe I’m Amazed, about his autistic son James and how music became their shared language, is published on 27 March. For more information, visit maybeimamazed.substack.com Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2025-03-09 16:38:43 UTC ]

Other news stories related to: "Spotify’s biggest sin? Its algorithms have pushed artists to make joyless, toothless music | John Harris"

Sopan Deb on Approaching His Own Memoir as a Journalist

Sopan Deb, a culture reporter for The New York Times, has interviewed the cast of Arrested Development, reviewed theater on Broadway, and currently reports on professional basketball. Before joining the Times, he covered Donald Trump’s presidential campaign for CBS News. He is also—I love this—a... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-04-20 08:48:57 UTC ]
More news stories like this

From house of horrors to family home

Erica Bauermeister’s latest book is a thoughtful, entertaining memoir of the time she and her family spent renovating the mother of all fixer-uppers. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2020-04-17 22:35:19 UTC ]
More news stories like this

From house of horrors to family home

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2020-04-17 22:35:19 UTC ]
More news stories like this

From house of horrors to family home

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2020-04-17 22:35:19 UTC ]
More news stories like this

What if the problem of racism has no solution?

Frank Wilderson weaves together memoir and theory to make the case for Afropessimism. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-04-17 12:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this

The Poet Laureate and Her Mother

Pulitzer Prize–winning poet and former poet laureate Natasha Trethewey’s memoir tells a tragic and inspiring story that shaped her life and work. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-04-17 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this

Personal Space: Samantha Irby is Fine Not Leaving the House

This is Personal Space: The Memoir Show, with Sari Botton. On this episode, Botton speaks with Samantha Irby about her recently released essay collection, Wow, No Thank You. Irby discusses what it was like to move to a small town in the country after a lifetime of city living, how people wearing... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-04-16 20:00:01 UTC ]
More news stories like this

Alicia Keys Can Now Add ‘Best-Selling Author’ to Her Résumé

The singer’s latest hit is “Underdog.” Her memoir proves she is anything but one. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2020-04-16 09:00:04 UTC ]
More news stories like this

Alex Trebek Memoir Is Coming in July

The book, “The Answer Is …,” arose from the “Jeopardy!” host’s desire to give fans more insight into his life after his pancreatic cancer diagnosis. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2020-04-15 16:08:39 UTC ]
More news stories like this

'Jeopardy' Host Alex Trebek Releasing Memoir One Day Before 80th Birthday

The book will reportedly feature what the publisher calls “illuminating personal anecdotes.” Continue reading at HuffPost

[ HuffPost | 2020-04-14 20:21:27 UTC ]
More news stories like this

Alex Trebek set to publish a memoir while fighting pancreatic cancer

On Tuesday, Simon & Schuster announced it will publish Alex Trebek's memoir, "The Answer Is…: Reflections on My Life," on July 21. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2020-04-14 19:35:53 UTC ]
More news stories like this

From Hollywood ‘Pretty Girl’ to Empowered Novelist

Susanna Moore’s memoir “Miss Aluminum” is a provocative look at the early circumstances that shaped her writing career. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2020-04-14 09:00:20 UTC ]
More news stories like this

Freeway Dreams

“I KNEW I WAS QUEER the moment my consciousness had evolved enough to formulate thoughts,” Lydia R. Otero writes in the introduction to the memoir In the Shadows of the Freeway: Growing Up Brown & Queer. In this compelling examination, Otero draws upon decades of experience as a historian... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books

[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2020-04-13 17:00:43 UTC ]
More news stories like this

Personal Space: Hadley Freeman on Finding Out the Tall Family Tales Were All True

This is Personal Space: The Memoir Show, with Sari Botton. On this episode, Botton talks to Hadley Freeman about her fourth book, House of Glass: The Story and Secrets of a Twentieth-Century Jewish Family, a memoir and family Holocaust history published by Simon & Schuster. Botton and... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-04-09 17:00:34 UTC ]
More news stories like this

Religion Book Deals: April 8, 2020

A former beauty queen lands at Convergent, country music singer Sara Evans brings a memoir to Howard Books; and more. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-04-08 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this

‘Walden’ may be the most famous act of social distancing. It’s also a lesson on the importance of community.

Henry David Thoreau’s most famous book is more than a guide to nature. It’s a memoir of grieving. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-04-07 12:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this

In ‘Afropessimism,’ a Black Intellectual Mixes Memoir and Theory

Frank B. Wilderson III talks about his experimental approach to writing about blackness and violence, as well as the solace he found in Sarah Vaughan. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2020-04-05 09:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this

Personal Space: Sue William Silverman on Being Fascinated with the Thing You Fear Most

On the debut episode of Personal Space: The Memoir Show, Sari Botton talks to Sue William Silverman about her seventh book, How to Survive Death and Other Inconveniences, a memoir in essays published by the University of Nebraska Press on March 1st. In the book, Silverman explores her... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-04-03 18:00:03 UTC ]
More news stories like this

Book Deals: Week of April 6, 2020

Among the big books that sold this week are a memoir by actor Billy Dee Williams and Elizabeth George’s 21st Inspector Lynley mystery. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-04-03 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this

Kathy Valentine's hair-raising memoir 'All I Ever Wanted' recounts the Go-Go's wild ride

Kathy Valentine's hair-raising memoir recounts life before, during and shortly after the Go-Go's ascended to become the darlings of the MTV generation. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2020-04-02 19:09:22 UTC ]
More news stories like this