Canbury Press nabs book on music's data revolution by Spotify 'Data Alchemist' McDonald

Non-fiction book specialist Canbury Press has nabbed a book on how the digital revolution changed music by Spotify’s "Data Alchemist" Glenn McDonald.

Managing director Martin Hickman acquired world rights in all languages to You Have Not Yet Heard Your Favourite Song from Nicky Lovick at WGM Atlantic Group, and the book will be published in trade paperback in June 2024.

Translation rights have already been sold by Louisa Pritchard Associates to France (Hachette) and Taiwan (ECUS Publishing House), with more deals expected.

An American software engineer and algorithm designer, McDonald has access to the listening habits of 400 million people. The author works on Spotify’s playlists, DJ function and other features, and has been exploring how to use data to understand experiences of music since the 1990s.

According to the synopsis, his book reveals "What platforms like Spotify know about you as a listener and what they do with that data". 

Canbury’s Hickman said: “No-one knows more about how the digital revolution has shaped our listening habits than Glenn McDonald. He answers all the questions that anyone into music wants to know about streaming.

"This is not an official Spotify book: it’s much more interesting than that."