In 2013, University of Massachusetts Press published Writing the Record: The Village Voice and the Birth of Rock Criticism.

In the monograph, a reworking of her doctoral thesis, Powers provides a deeply researched analysis of the challenging relationship between critics and the rise of pop culture in the 1950s through the 1970s.

[7][8] To tell this story, she focuses on the careers of Richard Goldstein and Robert Christgau, both writers at New York's famed Village Voice.

[2][10] Powers employed ethnographic research methods, visiting forecasting companies such as Sparks & Honey and conducting dozens of interviews to collect material for the book.

[2][10] Scott McLemee notes that the book shines a light on the largely opaque but influential trend-spotting industry.