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Ways of Listening: Building a Deeper Relationship with Music in the Streaming Era
How has the internet changed the way we listen to, and love, the music that shapes our lives? Award-winning musician Rollie Pemberton (Cadence Weapon) interrogates our current musical landscape.
Ways of Listening is a love letter to music, a sharp analysis of our current cultural reality, and a joyful celebration of the artists who keep creating against all odds.
Music occupies a curious place in modern life, somehow omnipresent and disposable at the same time. Computers have democratized song creation. There is more music being produced now than at any point in human history and streaming platforms are the ultimate distribution model for this vast bounty.
But streaming relies on an algorithmic discovery system that guides the user’s choices and encourages them to listen passively to the company’s curation, while also dissuading the listener from searching for music and developing their own taste. Streamers offer meagre royalties to artists on their platforms, largely devaluing music in the public sphere. As Chappell Roan said at the 2025 Grammys, artists can barely afford to live, let alone create. And social media companies have made a whole generation of young listeners perceive music as merely background noise for content.
It all adds up to a bleak landscape for the true fan, but there’s another way. Pemberton delves deep into his own discovery process to present a gentle reminder of another path for the contemporary music lover. He interrogates the obsession with the “mysterious artist” archetype, the magic of demo recordings, the racial disparity in the remastering of music, AI’s struggle to understand Italo disco’s strange balance of classic and cringe, what someone really means when they say they don’t like the Beatles, and more.
Ways of Listening is a love letter to music, a sharp analysis of our current cultural reality, and a joyful celebration of the artists who keep creating against all odds.
Music occupies a curious place in modern life, somehow omnipresent and disposable at the same time. Computers have democratized song creation. There is more music being produced now than at any point in human history and streaming platforms are the ultimate distribution model for this vast bounty.
But streaming relies on an algorithmic discovery system that guides the user’s choices and encourages them to listen passively to the company’s curation, while also dissuading the listener from searching for music and developing their own taste. Streamers offer meagre royalties to artists on their platforms, largely devaluing music in the public sphere. As Chappell Roan said at the 2025 Grammys, artists can barely afford to live, let alone create. And social media companies have made a whole generation of young listeners perceive music as merely background noise for content.
It all adds up to a bleak landscape for the true fan, but there’s another way. Pemberton delves deep into his own discovery process to present a gentle reminder of another path for the contemporary music lover. He interrogates the obsession with the “mysterious artist” archetype, the magic of demo recordings, the racial disparity in the remastering of music, AI’s struggle to understand Italo disco’s strange balance of classic and cringe, what someone really means when they say they don’t like the Beatles, and more.
- GenresNonfictionMusic
208 pages, Hardcover
Published May 26, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 15, 2026
A timely collection of essays on the landscape of popular music during the streaming era. While I initially thought this would be a book more akin to "Why You Like It," by Nolan Gasser in providing ways to build your own musical tastes, I was pleasantly surprised that this book also addressed the wider social and cultural implications of music marketing and production.
Review of advance copy received from Author
Mr Pemberton continues to demonstrate his writing ability and deep knowledge on a variety of subjects
May 27, 2026
“Ways of Listening” really struck a nerve with me; I never leave Rollie’s writing without wanting to dive head first into something new. This time it’s Italo-disco. This books has left me ruminating a lot on how I relate albums and music to my dad. He’s the starting point for where my love of music comes from and it’s been emotionally gratifying to reconnect to my memories of listening to cassettes in the car with him. I will always appreciate Rollie’s ability and desire to share his music knowledge and his passion for the art.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews