Liz Pelly is an American writer, journalist, and adjunct professor at New York University. Her work focuses on the music industry and digital platforms. Pelly published Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlist in 2025 through Hodder & Stoughton. The book provides a critical examination of Spotify, exploring how the streaming platform operates and its broader effects on music and culture. Among the topics covered is the platform's promotion of fake artists.