James's Updates en-US Mon, 09 Jun 2025 20:54:07 -0700 60 James's Updates 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg Rating866208271 Mon, 09 Jun 2025 20:54:07 -0700 <![CDATA[James Marlowe liked a review]]> /
Mood Machine by Liz Pelly
"Serendipitously, I'm writing this review as I sit on my porch listening to someone play jazz covers across the street. Today is Open Tuning, a free neighbourhood music festival where musicians set up performance-shop on front yards and sidewalks. I'm watching pedestrians wander into the vicinity of a makeshift stage, stay, chat with one another, vibe, and pay attention to the talent and skill of the artists in front of them.

Spotify would rather all of that not exist.

Why? You already know the answer -- 'profit' -- but Liz Pelly's book demonstrates that the collateral damage of it is even worse than you think.

Spotify, for anyone who doesn't know and as you'll learn early on in Mood Machine, was born out of a desire not to revolutionize music, as is often touted -- but to make a fuck ton of money selling ads. Music ended up the traffic source, and the success of Spotify as a company has had massive impacts across the music industry. These impacts, or some of them, are catalogued deftly and thoughtfully, with sources from Spotify, the music industry, and artists themselves.

It's a big project and Pelly does it well, if a little densely at times. I couldn't help but compare it to the exceptional How Music Got Free -- in many ways, this is a direct sequel to that book, picking up almost exactly where Stephen Witt leaves off. What makes Witt's book so excellent, though, is his ability to weave a story and bring the characters to life while still jamming the narrative full of important information and commentary. Pelly doesn't quite pull off that fifth star, but the information is well-expressed and extremely important, so...who cares, read this.

I don't think it's a spoiler for anyone who spends any amount of time thinking about music that Pelly's overall point ends up being: Spotify is a symptom of our hypercapitalist world, and to change the music industry requires changing our world. She offers hope at the end, in the guise of organizations working towards better conditions for artists and workers at large, but it's all pretty depressing in the context of a current US presidency so favourable towards the interests of big tech (AMONG OTHER THINGS).

But, Pelly reminds us, and it's worth repeating: "Music is too important to be left solely to the marketplace." It is. And it, and other art forms, always will be.

Because, amidst the glut of takes on AI and how it's coming for all of us, I just keep coming back to the fact that humans want story. We want art. We might not always be able to tell the difference between what's entirely human generated and what isn't, but the lines there have been blurry for a long time. Our pop stars and biggest authors all follow a formula -- is it so different? Some might say yes, and that opinion has merit.

But -- there has always been a tension between those who make money off of their creations, formulaic or not, and those who don't. And I'm NOT in any way saying any of what Spotify or the industry at large does is acceptable -- it's not, and we need to push for better legal and financial protections for our artists and musicians.

But, despite how bleak everything seems right now, I guess I remain ever the optimist, because several dozen people are clapping across the street right now, and I can hear another concert happening a few streets over, and everyone is curious, everyone is present, no one is on their phones, even (shocking!) -- they're all watching, talking to each other, and moving to the rhythms and melodies.

Music is fundamental to our species. Algorithms aside, I believe the majority of us will always want to protect it. Mood Machine tells us not only why that's important, but why our engagement with streaming services is reshaping how we listen to it. And while I don't think the core of our desire for real, live, community-creating music will ever go away -- there's a better path forward than the one we're heading towards. Read this book and let's push for it."
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Review6376955822 Mon, 09 Jun 2025 19:52:24 -0700 <![CDATA[James added 'The Interrogative Mood']]> /review/show/6376955822 The Interrogative Mood by Padgett Powell James gave 5 stars to The Interrogative Mood (Hardcover) by Padgett Powell
bookshelves: fiction, fiction-american, fiction-experimental, fiction-novel, own
“Is there a natural law that draws a plastic bag to an infant similar to the law that draws a tornado to a mobile home?�

“Is a body catching a body coming through the rye regarded as a good thing or a bad thing?�

“Is there enough time left? Does it matter that I do not specify for what? Was there ever enough time? Was there once too much? Does the notion of ‘enough time� actually make sense? Does it suggest we had things to do and could not do them for reasons other than that we were incompetents? Did we have things to do? Things better done than not? Thus, important things? Are there important things? Are we as a species rolling together the great dungball of the importantly done into itself and making thereby a better world for the dungball rollers to follow us?�

“Can you think of a musical instrument useful in murder other than piano wire?�

“Does Carole Lombard stir you in any way?�

“Do you know where it went wrong with you?� ]]>
ReadStatus9528767877 Mon, 09 Jun 2025 16:24:11 -0700 <![CDATA[James wants to read 'The Snow Killings: Inside the Oakland County Child Killer Investigation']]> /review/show/7641689064 The Snow Killings by Marney Rich Keenan James wants to read The Snow Killings: Inside the Oakland County Child Killer Investigation by Marney Rich Keenan
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Review6376955822 Mon, 09 Jun 2025 14:47:14 -0700 <![CDATA[James added 'The Interrogative Mood']]> /review/show/6376955822 The Interrogative Mood by Padgett Powell James gave 5 stars to The Interrogative Mood (Hardcover) by Padgett Powell
bookshelves: fiction, fiction-american, fiction-experimental, fiction-novel, own
“Is there a natural law that draws a plastic bag to an infant similar to the law that draws a tornado to a mobile home?�

“Is a body catching a body coming through the rye regarded as a good thing or a bad thing?�

“Is there enough time left? Does it matter that I do not specify for what? Was there ever enough time? Was there once too much? Does the notion of ‘enough time� actually make sense? Does it suggest we had things to do and could not do them for reasons other than that we were incompetents? Did we have things to do? Things better done than not? Thus, important things? Are there important things? Are we as a species rolling together the great dungball of the importantly done into itself and making thereby a better world for the dungball rollers to follow us?�

“Can you think of a musical instrument useful in murder other than piano wire?�

“Does Carole Lombard stir you in any way?�

“Do you know where it went wrong with you?� ]]>
Review7620293641 Mon, 09 Jun 2025 13:56:01 -0700 <![CDATA[James added 'Debriefing: Collected Stories']]> /review/show/7620293641 Debriefing by Susan Sontag James gave 5 stars to Debriefing: Collected Stories (Hardcover) by Susan Sontag
bookshelves: fiction, fiction-american, fiction-memory, fiction-stories, own
wasn’t surprised at how good this was b/c i’ve generally liked most sontag i’ve read, but i will say i was slightly surprised at just how enjoyable reading it was. this was the first fiction of hers that i’ve read; &, not unlike some—but certainly not all—of her non-fiction, the stories here also have that excellent, if rare, quality of making me feel smart while i’m reading them. &, imho, this is no small feat, the making me feel smart part. ]]>
Review6376955822 Mon, 09 Jun 2025 13:55:40 -0700 <![CDATA[James added 'The Interrogative Mood']]> /review/show/6376955822 The Interrogative Mood by Padgett Powell James gave 5 stars to The Interrogative Mood (Hardcover) by Padgett Powell
bookshelves: fiction, fiction-american, fiction-experimental, fiction-novel, own
“Is there a natural law that draws a plastic bag to an infant similar to the law that draws a tornado to a mobile home?�

“Is a body catching a body coming through the rye regarded as a good thing or a bad thing?�

“Is there enough time left? Does it matter that I do not specify for what? Was there ever enough time? Was there once too much? Does the notion of ‘enough time� actually make sense? Does it suggest we had things to do and could not do them for reasons other than that we were incompetents? Did we have things to do? Things better done than not? Thus, important things? Are there important things? Are we as a species rolling together the great dungball of the importantly done into itself and making thereby a better world for the dungball rollers to follow us?�

“Can you think of a musical instrument useful in murder other than piano wire?�

“Does Carole Lombard stir you in any way?�

“Do you know where it went wrong with you?� ]]>
UserStatus1077263079 Mon, 09 Jun 2025 13:54:51 -0700 <![CDATA[ James is on page 103 of 480 of Fat Leonard ]]> Fat Leonard by Craig Whitlock James Marlowe is on page 103 of 480 of <a href="/book/show/199798167-fat-leonard">Fat Leonard</a>. ]]> ReadStatus9519021265 Sat, 07 Jun 2025 08:16:43 -0700 <![CDATA[James wants to read 'But for the Lovers']]> /review/show/7634952033 But for the Lovers by Wilfrido D. Nolledo James wants to read But for the Lovers by Wilfrido D. Nolledo
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Review7634941591 Sat, 07 Jun 2025 08:12:08 -0700 <![CDATA[James added 'A Convergence of Birds: Original Fiction and Poetry Inspired by Joseph Cornell']]> /review/show/7634941591 A Convergence of Birds by Jonathan Safran Foer James gave 4 stars to A Convergence of Birds: Original Fiction and Poetry Inspired by Joseph Cornell (Hardcover) by Jonathan Safran Foer
bookshelves: art, fiction, fiction-historical, fiction-stories, illustrated, own, fiction-american, fiction-anthology, poetry
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Review7634937253 Sat, 07 Jun 2025 08:09:49 -0700 <![CDATA[James added 'Hair O' The Chine: A Documentary Film Script']]> /review/show/7634937253 Hair O' The Chine by Robert Coover James gave 4 stars to Hair O' The Chine: A Documentary Film Script (Hardcover) by Robert Coover
bookshelves: fiction, fiction-american, fiction-experimental, own, fiction-screenplay
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