# Liz Pelly > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Liz_Pelly > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Liz_Pelly.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liz_Pelly > Source revision: 1353902693 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) American music journalist and author Liz Pelly Born 1990 (age 35–36)[1] Alma mater Boston University Occupations Music journalist author adjunct professor at New York University Notable work Mood Machine (2025) Relatives Jenn Pelly (twin sister) **Liz Pelly** is an American writer, journalist, and adjunct professor at [New York University](/source/New_York_University).[1] Her book *[Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlist](/source/Mood_Machine)*, which critically examines the music streaming platform [Spotify](/source/Spotify) including the [platform's promotion of fake artists](/source/Controversy_over_fake_artists_on_Spotify), was published in 2025 by [Hodder & Stoughton](/source/Hodder_%26_Stoughton). ## Early life and education Pelly grew up on [Long Island](/source/Long_Island). She has a twin sister named Jenn, who is also a music journalist and writer. They both wrote about music for their high school newspaper.[2] Pelly started writing about music as a teenager for a local alt-weekly newspaper,[3] before studying journalism at [Boston University](/source/Boston_University).[4] While at university she was involved in [college radio](/source/College_radio), which she says connected her "with the local music community and the underground scene".[3] ## Career After graduation, Pelly worked for [The Boston Phoenix](/source/The_Boston_Phoenix) for its final two years[4] where she covered "the [Occupy movement](/source/Occupy_movement) and [...] local organizing efforts".[3] In the mid-2010s, she lived at and was involved with running [Silent Barn](/source/Silent_Barn), a collectively run community art space in [Brooklyn](/source/Brooklyn).[5] Whilst living there she began researching Spotify, and started writing essays about streaming for the blog of a music nonprofit called [CASH Music](/source/CASH_Music) and then for *[The Baffler](/source/The_Baffler)*.[3] In 2025 her first book, *[Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlist](/source/Mood_Machine)*, was published by [Hodder & Stoughton](/source/Hodder_%26_Stoughton).[3][6] The book is a critical examination of [Spotify](/source/Spotify) including the platform's [promotion of fake artists](/source/Controversy_over_fake_artists_on_Spotify).[7] Pelly's writing has been published by *[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian)*, *[NPR](/source/NPR)*, *[Rolling Stone](/source/Rolling_Stone)*, *[Pitchfork](/source/Pitchfork_(magazine))*, amongst others. She has appeared on radio shows and podcasts such as *[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times) Popcast*, NPR's *[Morning Edition](/source/Morning_Edition)*. She teaches in the recorded music program at New York University.[8] ## References 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-ElPais_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-ElPais_1-1) Ramírez, Noelia (September 20, 2025). ["Liz Pelly, the journalist who uncovered Spotify's fake artist farms: 'In an hour they produce dozens of songs'"](https://english.elpais.com/culture/2025-09-20/liz-pelly-the-journalist-who-uncovered-spotifys-fake-artist-farms-in-an-hour-they-produce-dozens-of-songs.html). *[El País](/source/El_Pa%C3%ADs)*. Retrieved December 30, 2025. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Pelly, Jenn (July 16, 2025). ["Sister Inquiry - The Pelly twins on music, writing, and life beyond algorithms"](https://pioneerworks.org/broadcast/jenn-pelly-liz-pelly-mood-machine). *[Pioneer Works](/source/Pioneer_Works)*. Retrieved December 30, 2025. 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-JacobinInt_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-JacobinInt_3-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-JacobinInt_3-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-JacobinInt_3-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-JacobinInt_3-4) Prorokov, Grisha (August 21, 2025). ["Spotify Pushes Musicians to Become "Content Creators""](https://jacobin.com/2025/08/spotify-music-industry-content-creators). *[Jacobin](/source/Jacobin_(magazine))*. Retrieved December 30, 2025. 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-BostonGlobe_4-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-BostonGlobe_4-1) Sullivan, James (January 9, 2025). ["In 'Mood Machine,' BU grad Liz Pelly examines the hidden costs of Spotify's music empire"](https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/01/09/lifestyle/mood-machine-hidden-costs-spotify-music/). *[The Boston Globe](/source/The_Boston_Globe)*. Retrieved December 31, 2025. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Pelly, Liz (February 12, 2018). ["Cut the Music"](https://thebaffler.com/latest/cut-the-music-pelly). *[The Baffler](/source/The_Baffler)*. Retrieved December 30, 2025. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** Liu, Max (February 28, 2025). ["Mood Machine — how Spotify detached music from the makers"](https://www.ft.com/content/431a856f-41ad-466b-af54-c14498dd1dcf). *[Financial Times](/source/Financial_Times)*. Retrieved December 30, 2025. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Petridis, Alexis (March 5, 2025). ["Mood Machine by Liz Pelly review – a savage indictment of Spotify"](https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/mar/05/mood-machine-by-liz-pelly-review-a-savage-indictment-of-spotify). *[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian)*. Retrieved January 6, 2026. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** Gordon, Arielle (February 3, 2025). ["Bad Mood Rising"](https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/bad-mood-rising/). *[LA Review of Books](/source/LA_Review_of_Books)*. Retrieved December 30, 2025. ## External links - [Official website](https://lizpelly.info) Authority control databases International VIAF National United States France BnF data Czech Republic Netherlands Norway Other Open Library --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Liz Pelly](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liz_Pelly) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liz_Pelly?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.