The New York-based journalist talks about her breakout book, Mood Machine, live from Soft Centre Festival in Sydney.

As we approach the end of 2025, it's clear that one of the year's most zeitgeist-defining books has been Liz Pelly's Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlist. The New York-based writer has been on a promotional tour, speaking at festivals around the world, and one of her recent stops was at Soft Centre in Sydney, where this Exchange was recorded live with writer, editor and DJ Audrey Pfister.

Pelly's background is in the DIY scene, college radio and independent alt weeklies, all of which ignited her interest in writing about music. Over the last few years, she has become an outspoken advocate for underground music, and an incisive critic of how the streaming economy has debilitated independent artistry. In this conversation, she unpacks some of her book's main conceits. Spotify, for example, was originally designed around advertising models rather than music-first models, which is why it rewards music that performs well at scale. She explains how that's created so much growing inequity in what performs well on the platform, and she also draws fascinating parallels between the streaming economy and digital media.

Mood Machine ends on a somewhat hopeful note, and Pelly proposes some solutions: as custodians of the independent music scene, we have a responsibility to go to live shows, subscribe to emerging DIY media projects and give money directly to artists by buying their music and merch. Listen to the episode in full. -Chloe Lula

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