Switched on Pop is a podcast about popular music. The show was created in 2014. It is hosted by musicologist Nate Sloan and songwriter Charlie Harding.
| Switched On Pop | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Presentation | |
| Hosted by | Nate Sloan, Charlie Harding |
| Genre | Music podcast |
| Language | English |
| Updates | Weekly |
| Production | |
| Production | New York Magazine, Vox Media |
| No. of episodes | 364 (As of 6 June 2024) |
| Publication | |
| Original release | Oct 2014 |
| Related | |
| Website | switchedonpop |
Reception
editThe show has received generally very positive reviews, with acclaim from many leading media outlets. In a review for The New Yorker, music critic Alex Ross (music critic) praised Switched On Pop saying “the show’s hosts deliver charmingly rigorous dissections of Taylor Swift and Weeknd songs, slipping in a fair amount of music history and theory."[1] Rolling Stone said “music theory class was never this fun or addictive.”[2] The show was named one of The Atlantic’s Top 50 podcasts of 2019,[3] one of the Guardian's best music podcasts in 2021 for its “forensic music analysis,”[4] one of Time Out's best podcasts of 2022,[5] one of Vogue’s top podcasts of 2023,[6] and one of Esquire’s best podcasts in 2024.[7]
Background
editNate Sloan is a musicology professor at the Thornton School of Music of the University of Southern California.[8] Charlie Harding is a songwriter and a adjunct professor of music at New York University.[9] Harding and Sloan started their podcast in October 2014.[10] In the podcast, which is produced in partnership with New York Magazine, the duo discuss and analyze the musical concepts behind popular music.[11][9]
Awards
edit| Award | Year | Category | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Signal Awards | 2023 | Best Music Podcast | Won | [12] |
| PROSE Awards | 2021 | Music & The Performing Arts | Won | [13] |
| Webby Awards | 2020 | People's Voice Award for Best Arts & Culture Podcast | Won | [14] |
| People's Choice Podcast Awards | 2019 | Best Music Podcast | Won | [15] |
 | |
| Author |
|
|---|---|
| Subject | Pop music |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press |
Publication date | 2019 |
| Pages | 224 |
| ISBN | 978-0-190-05665-0 |
| LC Class | ML3470 .S6 2020 |
Book adaptation
editSwitched on Pop: How Popular Music Works, and Why it Matters is a 2019 nonfiction book written by Charlie Harding and Nate Sloan with illustrations provided by Iris Gottlieb.[8][16] The book covers pop music from a musicological perspective. The book is a literary component to the podcast Switched on Pop which is co-hosted by Harding and Sloan and similarly analyzes pop music in a more academic style.[16] The title of both the book and podcast is a play on the debut album by the American composer Wendy Carlos Switched-On Bach. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Harding and Sloan revealed they decided to write the book because "the book allows us to think about the things we’ve learned and put them in historical context" and because listeners wanted a "comprehensive guide to how to listen more thoughtfully."[17]
Chapters
editThe book contains 16 chapters. Each chapter focuses on a pop song from the previous twenty years and uses it to explain a specific musical concept. For example, "Oops!... I Did It Again" by Britney Spears is used to explain counterpoint and "Paper Planes" by M.I.A. is used to highlight the historical and legal aspects of sampling.[8] "Call Me Maybe" by Carly Rae Jepsen and "Get Enough" by Paul McCartney are also analyzed in the introduction and conclusion, respectively, without an associated musical concept.
| Musical concept | Song title | Artist |
|---|---|---|
| Meter | "Hey Ya!" | Outkast |
| Melody | "You Belong with Me" | Taylor Swift |
| Harmony | "We Are Young" | Fun. |
| Form | "We Found Love" | Rihanna |
| Timbre | "Chandelier" | Sia |
| Lyric | "What Goes Around... Comes Around" | Justin Timberlake |
| Hook | "Break Free" | Ariana Grande |
| Rhyme | "God's Plan" | Drake |
| Syncopation | "Swimming Pools (Drank)" | Kendrick Lamar |
| Modulation | "Love On Top" | Beyoncé |
| Counterpoint | "Oops!... I Did It Again" | Britney Spears |
| Sampling | "Paper Planes" | M.I.A. |
| Sound design | "Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites" | Skrillex |
| Tonal ambiguity | "Despacito" | Luis Fonsi |
| Genre | "Since U Been Gone" | Kelly Clarkson |
| Musical identity | "Made in America" | Jay-Z and Kanye West |
Book reception
editSwitched on Pop received positive reviews from critics. Hannah Giorgis of The Atlantic praised the book, writing "Switched on Pop is a far less foreboding sensory experience than 'Swimming Pools,' but it’s no less immersive."[19] Emily Bootle of the New Statesman noted that the "required understanding of music theory leads to necessarily laborious explanations, but also allows for the authors' most illuminating insights".[20] Neil Shah of The Wall Street Journal lauded the book for its "sophisticated but accessible discussion" of the selected musical tracks.[17] The book won the 2021 PROSE Award Subject Category Winner for Music & the Performing Arts.[21]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Ross, Alec (March 1, 2021). "The Musicological Zest of Switched On Pop". The New Yorker. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
- ^ "Culture Index: Twin Peaks, Alien: Covenant and the James Bond Time Forgot". Rolling Stone. May 19, 2017. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
- ^ Standley, Laura Jane (December 27, 2019). "The 50 Best Podcasts of 2019". The Atlantic. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
- ^ Hunt, Elle (December 21, 2021). "Harmony in your head: the five best podcasts for music obsessives". The Guardian. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
- ^ Kryza, Andy (August 30, 2022). "The 50 best podcasts to listen to in 2022". Time Out. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
- ^ Vogue (December 7, 2023). "The Best Podcasts of 2023". Vogue. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
- ^ Nicholson, Tom (April 16, 2024). "The 56 Best Podcasts You Can Listen to in 2024". Esquire. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
- ^ a b c McKenna, Max (January 16, 2020). "'Switched on Pop' Schools the Academy". PopMatters. Retrieved August 14, 2020.
- ^ a b Johnson, Ellen (December 9, 2019). "Switched On Pop Hosts Charlie Harding & Nate Sloan Tell You Why You Should Care About Pop Music in New Book". Paste. Retrieved August 14, 2020.
- ^ Wafai, Yasmeen (January 16, 2020). "Why do the catchy lyrics always get stuck in your head? This book about pop music explains". The Seattle Times. Retrieved August 14, 2020.
- ^ Hancock, Amanda (September 29, 2019). "Why Lewis Capaldi's sad banger 'Someone You Loved' has become an unlikely pop hit". Colorado Springs Gazette. Retrieved August 14, 2020.
- ^ "Signal Awards 2023 Awards". The Webby Awards. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
- ^ "Switched On Pop". Association of American Publishers. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
- ^ "Switched On Pop". The Webby Awards. Archived from the original on February 5, 2023. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
- ^ "Past Winners". The People's Choice Podcast Awards. Retrieved June 9, 2024.
- ^ a b Amar, John (May 15, 2020). "Beethoven to Beyoncé: Switched on Pop Authors and Podcast Hosts Reveal the Powers of Popular Music". Houston Press. Retrieved August 14, 2020.
- ^ a b Shah, Neil (December 10, 2019). "The Secret Sauce Behind Pop-Music Hits". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved August 23, 2020.
- ^ Sloan, Nate; Harding, Charlie (December 13, 2019). Switched on Pop : How Popular Music Works, and Why it Matters. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. pp. vii–viii. ISBN 978-0-190-05665-0.
- ^ Giorgis, Hannah (December 19, 2019). "Diving Into Pop Music's Hidden Depths". The Atlantic. Retrieved August 21, 2020.
- ^ Bootle, Emily (January 8, 2020). "Switched On Pop: a nerdy appreciation of pop music". New Statesman. Retrieved August 21, 2020.
- ^ "2021 Winners". PROSE Awards. January 21, 2021. Retrieved June 6, 2024.