Spotify
2023 in Review
The Best Podcasts of 2023
With stellar shows about clothing, class politics, pop stars, and urban infrastructure, the year had something for everybody.
Cultural Comment
Apple Again Fails to Save Classical Music
As classical listeners shift to streaming, Apple’s bespoke app falls short of its smaller-scale competitors.
The Political Scene Podcast
The Joe Rogan Controversy and Spotify’s Stranglehold on the Music Industry
Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, and other artists have removed their songs from the platform to protest the spread of COVID misinformation. Do such boycotts affect how Spotify conducts its business?
Cultural Comment
Imagine a World Without Spotify
In order to support musicians you care about, you may have to give up the idea that all music should be available on demand.
Culture Desk
NBA YoungBoy and the Music Industry’s Unseen Stars
In 2020, a twenty-two-year-old rapper from Baton Rouge brought in nearly as much streaming revenue as Taylor Swift did. Why haven’t most people heard of him?
Infinite Scroll
Why Twitter’s New Interface Makes Us Mad
A change like the new Chirp font might seem subtle. The effects are anything but.
Pop Music
Genre Is Disappearing. What Comes Next?
As record stores close and streaming algorithms dominate, the identities that music fandom supplies are in flux.
Podcast Dept.
Obama and Springsteen’s Podcast Is Here to Lull America
In “Renegades,” a new Spotify podcast, the rock superstar and the ex-President dub themselves rebellious outsiders while playing their familiar hits.
Cultural Comment
The Hidden Costs of Streaming Music
We overlook the environmental damage of listening to songs online.
Shouts & Murmurs
Your Spotify Quarantine-in-Review
You shared your original playlist “Crazy Boy Loves Crazy Frog” with a hundred and thirty-two acquaintances.
Cultural Comment
Against Chill: Apathetic Music to Make Spreadsheets To
Background music was once relegated to elevators and waiting rooms. Now the groundless consumption of music has become omnipresent.
Culture Desk
A Year in Marking the Time with Music
In 2018, I found myself particularly drawn to artists whose music allowed me to lose track of time, or fall into some accidental void.
Cultural Comment
The Lofty Optimism of Spotify and the Influence of the Streaming Revolution
A company that once seemed untenable, if not immoral—all of this music, for free, and it’s legal?—is now mainstream. On Tuesday, it will go public.
Likes
What We’re Listening To This Week
Freddie Gibbs, a blind synth pioneer, and the excavation of a jazz classic.
Likes
What We’re Listening To This Week
An app that offers unlimited ambient music, another treasure from the ECM Records catalogue, and a soulful tune fit for a movie soundtrack.
Likes
What We’re Listening to This Week
A Kurt and Courtney for the twenty-first century, new B-sides and remixes from Tame Impala, and a young indie trio based in the Poconos.
Likes
What We’re Listening To This Week
The Breeders, Brooklyn’s Habibi, and music from the young French rapper MHD.
Likes
What We’re Listening To This Week
Post Malone, Thelonious Monk, Thomas Adès, and “Stars,” by the Civilians, a song about how the things we lose never really belonged to us.