Spotify Teardown: Inside the Black Box of Streaming Music (Mit Press) - Softcover

Eriksson, Maria; Fleischer, Rasmus; Johansson, Anna; Snickars, Pelle; Vonderau, Patrick

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0262038900 ISBN 13: 9780262038904

Publisher: The MIT Press, 2019

Synopsis

An innovative investigation of the inner workings of Spotify that traces the transformation of audio files into streamed experience.

About this title

About the Author:

Maria Eriksson is a social anthropologist and a PhD candidate in the Department of Culture and Media Studies at Umeå University.

Rasmus Fleischer is a postdoctoral Researcher in the Department of Economic History at Stockholm University.

Anna Johansson is an Associate Senior Lecturer in Ethnology at HUMlab at Umeå University.

Pelle Snickars is Professor of Media and Communication Studies at Umeå University.

Patrick Vonderau is Professor of Media Studies at Stockholm University.

Review:

“We live in a world that has changed beyond all recognition. Spotify Teardown is a powerful book exploring the new dimensions of streaming culture. Think of it as a roadmap to the near future of online media. Streaming has redefined how we consume media, and this excellent investigation into how, and why, we have all changed our media habits is a must-read for anyone who cares about the future of media. It's that good!”

―Paul D. Miller, aka DJ Spooky

“Spotify Teardown pries open the streaming giant's black box, looking under the service's glossy interfaces, curated playlists, and 'personalized' algorithms to provide an essential analysis that holds lessons not only for music but for digital media writ large. The book traces Spotify's rise from its pirate origins in the Swedish music/tech start-up scene to its current status as a publicly traded global media company enmeshed in a complicated assemblage of ad networks, venture capital investments, and major record label music licenses. This team of creative researchers shows how methodology is the new punk and provides a breakdown of one digital era's biggest players. The authors show how a company, platform, and metaphor outline the changing standards, values, and politics that 'map and shape the lives of streaming users.'”

―Jeremy Morris, Associate Professor of Media and Cultural Studies, University of Wisconsin–Madison; author of Selling Digital Music, Formatting Culture

“Employing a unique set of methods to study a streaming giant, Spotify Teardown provides an important investigation into the potential impacts of new media platforms on artists, culture, and the creative economy.”

―David Touve, Senior Director, iLab, Darden School of Business, University of Virginia

“A highly entertaining tale. You'll learn about: music spam, what constitutes a 'play,' the mysterious power of 'a better algorithm,' and mostly how venture capital and marketing hype have built an experiment with no exit.”

―Geoffrey Jennings, Rainy Day Books

About this edition

• Publisher: The MIT Press
• Publication date: 2019
• ISBN 10: 0262038900
• ISBN 13: 9780262038904
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 286