Ways of Listening - by Rollie Pemberton Hardcover

Book Synopsis

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.

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.

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. And social media companies have taught a whole generation of young listeners to perceive music as merely background noise for content.

This all adds up to a bleak landscape for the true fan, but there's another way. Pemberton delves deep into his own music discovery process to present a gentle reminder of another path for the contemporary music lover. He explores the obsession with the "mysterious artist" archetype, studies Charli xcx's groundbreaking Brat album rollout, assesses the magic of demo recordings, breaks down the Kendrick Lamar - Drake beef, and examines AI's struggle to understand Italo disco's strange balance of classic and cringe.

About the Author

ROLLIE PEMBERTON is a writer, rapper, producer, DJ and cultural commentator who performs under the name Cadence Weapon. He won the 2021 Polaris Music Prize for his album Parallel World. His writing has been published in Pitchfork, The Guardian, Wired, The Walrus and Hazlitt. Currently based in Toronto, Pemberton was a former Poet Laureate in his hometown of Edmonton. You can follow him @cadenceweapon on Instagram and TikTok.
https: //cadenceweapon.substack.com