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"


Review: Colin Dayan's 'In the Belly of Her Ghost' exorcises memories of mother after she's gone

Colin Dayan's brief but explosive memoir of her relationship to her mother should find a place among the more indelible life histories of the last several years. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2019-06-05 16:00:01 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Rob Zabrecky's memoir 'Strange Cures' is an ode to a forgotten L.A.

In musician and magician Rob Zabrecky's new memoir, "Strange Cures," the Los Angeles of the 1980s and early '90s is an alien landscape of raucous underground nightclubs, seedy Hollywood crack dens and low-rent Silver Lake duplexes; and the Valley is a place where errant teens roam free, sans... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2019-05-30 18:01:20 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Debbie Harry of Blondie to release her first memoir

Blondie lead singer Debbie Harry will tell the story of her career as a musician and actress in a new memoir set for release this fall. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2019-05-30 16:44:35 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Jonas Brothers announce a memoir for fall release

Pop sensations the Jonas Brothers will tell the story of their lives in the music world in a new memoir. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2019-05-29 17:59:56 UTC ]
More news stories like this


What We're Reading – April 2019

Her Body and Other Parties, by Carmen Maria Machado I've absolutely loved this collection of short stories, which floats between the weird and the queer, passing horror, black comedy and feminism along the way. Doubles and others are especially important: a wife enters her wife’s dream when they... Continue reading at British Council global

[ British Council global | 2019-04-11 08:49:28 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Art Connects Us: Sarah Odedina

As a recipient of the Arts Connects Us Grant I travelled to Ghana and Sierra Leone to meet with writers and publishing professionals working in the field of books for young readers to foster creative and collaborative exchanges between those contacts and publishing professionals and readers in... Continue reading at British Council global

[ British Council global | 2019-03-19 11:10:28 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Polar Vortex Slams Midwestern Booksellers This Past Week

While much of the U.S. experienced cold weather this past week, Midwestern booksellers were especially affected by the Polar Vortex, causing days of subzero temperatures that kept customers out of stores. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-02-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


iBooks Bestsellers: Baldacci Is Back at #1

David Baldacci returns, with hero Amos Decker at the fore, to the top of Apple's iBooks store with 'The Fallen,' which took the top slot this past week. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-05-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Here’s everything Mark Zuckerberg didn’t say, and probably won’t

Cambridge Analytica’s improper access to Facebook user data turned into a firestorm for the social media giant this past week. Four days later, CEO Mark Zuckerberg finally responded, publishing a Facebook post in which he made a familiar vow to do “what it takes to protect our community.” He... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2018-03-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Amid Sexual Harassment Allegations, PRH Drops An Apologetic Dashner

Following a sexual harassment scandal that has embroiled the children's sector of the publishing industry for the past week, James Dashner, author of the bestselling Maze Runner series, has been dropped by his publisher. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-02-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


iBooks Bestsellers: Helen Hardt's 'Shattered' Claims Top Slot

Hardt's novel claimed the #1 spot on the iBooks Bestseller list this past week, followed by Sandra Brown's 'Seeing Red' and Karin Slaughter's 'The Good Daughter' in slots #2 and #3, respectively. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-09-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


iBooks Bestsellers: The Return of E.L. James

Initials ruled the iBooks Bestsellers list this past week, with J.P Delaney's 'The Girl Before' and J.D. Robb's 'Echoes In Death' nabbing the top two slots respectively and E.L. James netting five slots total on the list. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-02-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


iBooks Bestsellers: Delaney, Patterson, James On Top

J.P. Delaney's 'The Girl Before' rose to the top of the iBooks Bestseller list this past week, followed by another strong showing by James Patterson and Candice Fox's 'Never Never.' Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-02-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Self-Publishing: An Insult to the Written Word or a Boon to the Industry?

A few months ago, after I picked up and devoured a beautifully written memoir by Elisa Hategan and was left with a serious Continue reading at HuffPost

[ HuffPost | 2017-01-03 15:48:11 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Eva Longoria Will Read You Your Favorite Book: It's Last Night's New Ads

Every weekday, we bring you the Ad Age/iSpot Hot Spots, new and trending TV commercials tracked by iSpot.tv, a company that catalogs, tags and measures activity around TV ads in real time. The new releases here ran on TV for the first time yesterday. The Most Engaging ads are showing sustained... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2016-12-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Chloé Esposito 'bad twin' trilogy bags over £2m at London book fair

Thriller series Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know sets publishing showcase buzzing, but there’s cash left for a novel from Bake Off’s Nadiya Hussain, a Little Prince sequel and a pride of literary lionsWest London has been filled in the past week with publishers offering first hints about new books... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2016-04-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


One world for all

This past week has seen two of my favourite publishing events overlap, the Frankfurt Book Fair and the Man Booker Prize, proving that, for all of the industry’s foibles, we still know how to put on a show. The backdrop to the Frankfurt Book Fair this year is intriguing: as with the London Book... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-10-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Zach LaVine Couldn't Care Less About Dunking in Foot Locker Spot

Every weekday, we bring you the Ad Age/iSpot Hot Spots, new and trending TV commercials tracked by iSpot.tv, a company that catalogs, tags and measures activity around TV ads in real time. The New Releases here ran on TV for the first time over the weekend. The Most Engaging ads are showing... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2015-08-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Quercus signs Lindy West

Quercus has acquired a book by Guardian columnist and GQ culture writer Lindy West. Shrill will be a “laugh-out-loud portrayal of what it means to become self-aware the hard way, in a popular culture that is hostile to women (especially fat women) and doesn't think women (especially feminists)... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-04-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


'A Book Is a Gift Like No Other,' Says Barnes & Noble (See the Newest Ads on TV)

Every weekday, we bring you the Ad Age/iSpot Hot Spots, new and trending TV commercials tracked by iSpot.tv, a company that catalogs, tags and measures activity around TV ads in real time. The New Releases here ran on TV for the first time yesterday. The Most Engaging ads are showing sustained... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2014-11-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this