An upcoming book titled "Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlist" reveals detailed insights into Spotify's controversial "ghost artists" phenomenon and their strategic placement on first-party playlists.

Author Liz Pelly's investigation uncovered an internal Spotify program called "Perfect Fit Content" (PFC), which involves partnerships with multiple production companies to create and distribute low-cost music across the platform's playlists.

Key findings from the investigation include:

• At least a dozen companies, not just Firefly Entertainment and Epidemic Sound, are involved in producing PFC tracks
• Internal Spotify teams actively work to place these tracks on playlists
• Former employees and internal records confirm the existence of this elaborate system
• The program aims to maximize the presence of lower-cost music on the platform

Recent developments supporting these findings:

• A $10 million royalty heist indictment in the US
• A Danish trial investigating fake stream operations
• The uncovering of Johan Röhr's alleged involvement in creating 650+ artist profiles generating 15 billion streams
• Swedish media investigations revealing connections between streaming fraud and money laundering

Despite Spotify's claim that they don't "promise placement on any playlists" in licensing agreements, the UK's CMA investigation found that certain licensing deals require playlist representation proportional to overall streaming shares.

The book, set to release on January 7th, includes interviews with musicians who created PFC tracks and explores how AI could potentially take over these roles in the future, further impacting independent and unsigned artists' ability to compete on the platform.

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