Switched On Pop: How Popular Music Works, and Why It Matters

In 2014, Sloan (musicology, Univ. of Southern California) and songwriter Harding launched the Switched on Pop podcast to introduce audiophiles to the complex beauty of popular music. Since then, they have recorded more than 128 episodes and deconstructed everyone from Britney Spears to Elton John. Here, the duo turn their podcast into a 16-chapter manifesto on the last 20 years of popular music. From contextualizing Outkast’s “Hey Ya” within the rhythmic long tail of ragtime to drawing connections between Justin Timberlake and the 12th-century troubadour Bernart de Ventadorn, the authors underscore both the musical traditions and the musical complexity from which 21st-century popular music has arisen. Along the way, terms such as tonality, syncopation, and chromaticism are defined and deconstructed with humor and a deep knowledge of musical theory.