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Our first theoretical lens comes from the Frankfurt School. In the 1940s, Theodor Adorno argued that popular music was engineered to feel personal while being industrially identical — what he famously called pseudo-individualisation (Kellner, 2014). At the time, he was describing radio. But listen to how that critique lands in 2026. Spotify's "Your Daily Mix" promises a playlist made just for you. Yet, as Liz Pelly's recent book Mood Machine documents, those recommendations are drawn from a narr