Switched on Pop

It may be hard to believe it in this technology-driven day and age, but one of the most pervasive sounds in popular music came about when a computer STOPPED working. In 2005, artist and innovator Imogen Heap released "Hide and Seek," a mysterious and emotional song featuring just her voice and a digital harmonizer. In this episode, Nate and Reanna dissect a song that launched a thousand memes and...

In 2007, a 19-year-old Barbadian pop singer released the lead single off her third album. By doing so, she didn't just give us a timeless, undeniable banger -- she changed the way pop music is made, and became the global superstar that we know Rihanna to be today. In this episode we go back in time to unearth the origins of "Umbrella," and how the song blossomed as a result of many shifting curren...

Tate McRae's billions of streams and perfectly crafted hits can feel almost algorithmic, like an AI trained on 20 years of pop music. In anticipation of McRae’s third album So Close to What, out this Friday, we dissect McRae’s "SimplePop" formula, from her strategic, indescript vocal delivery to expert "vibe snatching" of Y2K sounds.  Through singles like "exes” and “sports car,” Charlie and Reann...

In last month's episode predicting the coming year in pop, one of the team's predictions was that trance music – the ethereal, dreamy subgenre of electronic music popular around the turn of the century – would make a comeback on the charts in 2025. And even though we're less than two months into the year, we're already seeing the tides of nostalgia bring this club-oriented music come back into fas...

Behind Spotify's promise of infinite music lies a carefully engineered system that shapes not just what we hear, but how music itself gets made. Journalist Liz Pelly's explosive new book "Mood Machine" rips away the curtain on streaming's biggest player, revealing how its algorithms and backroom deals dictate the soundtrack to our lives. With major labels controlling 70% of streams and Spotify com...

2024 was an unpredictable year, and 2025 seems to be cut from the same cloth. So for this episode of Switched On Pop, Nate, Charlie, and Reanna look into the crystal ball of pop music to create a (playable) bingo card of predictions for the coming year – including AI songs on the Hot 100, a return of boy bands, and... kazoos? The Album of the Year race for this upcoming Grammys is similarly unpred...

The first great release of 2025 is already here: Bad Bunny's newest album, DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS. Over the course of its 17 tracks, the Puerto Rican reggaetonero crafts an intertextual, anti-colonial tome of a record, incorporating sounds from across his island and the boricua diaspora. From his use of salsa classics on "NUEVAYoL," to his pointed interpolations on "VOY A LLeVARTE PA PR," and his de...

What happens when your podcast’s theme song—cobbled together from GarageBand loops—gets called “game show music” and likened to a cereal commercial? You rewrite it. In this episode, we take you behind the scenes of Switched on Pop’s sonic makeover, from scathing critiques by music industry heavyweights to the creation of a lush, layered soundscape inspired by Wendy Carlos and PBS science shows. Wi...

Critics are not feeling the love tonight when it comes to Disney's latest sequels, Mufasa and Moana 2. They've called the animated films "lifeless and bland." But save some sympathy for the composers behind these blatant IP grabs. Lin Manuel Miranda and the duo Barlow and Bear had to match the original, iconic numbers from the Lion King and Moana, songs written by Elton John and Miranda himself. A...

On this very special episode, we join forces with the hilarious podcast OFF BOOK. When our powers combine, Zach and Jess of Off Book, plus their killer backing band of Scott, Dana and Brett create an improvised musical, while Nate and Charlie break down the sound and structure of a Broadway show. Stay tuned for deep thoughts about what separates pop music from musicals, wild speculation about the...

Popular music changes all the time, but there’s been one consistent element in practically everything released in the last two decades: Auto-Tune is everywhere. What started as a simple audio processing tool in the 1990s has become the dominant force in music. Artists are training to sing with Auto-Tune; songs sound like Auto-Tune. Like it or hate it, Auto-Tune is everywhere. And to be clear, most...

The first time you hear "Santa Claus is Coming to Town," it probably registers as just another cheery holiday standard. But hiding within this seemingly simple song is a remarkable story of American transformation - musical, technological, and social. Each time artists reimagine the song over its 90-year history, they leave an imprint not just of their own style, but of their entire cultural momen...

Three artists quietly reshaped pop music in 2024, though you might not know it from your Spotify Wrapped. As listeners question the accuracy of their year-end streaming stats, we explore the innovative sounds bubbling up just below the algorithmic radar. Tampa's "Swamp Princess" Doechii brings narrative depth back to hip-hop through her chameleonic vocal approach. Bedroom producer Mk.gee discovers...

It's an annual tradition: Every December, artists release their bids to join the hallowed halls of holiday music history. The gold standard remains Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You," which reportedly earns the pop star $2.5 million annually in royalties. This year's crop of seasonal offerings spans from ambitious originals to reimagined classics, with artists trying everything from...

In 2024, Kendrick Lamar pulled off what seemed impossible: winning hip-hop's biggest rap battle in recent history, securing the Super Bowl halftime show, and dropping GNX, a surprise album that might be the year's defining pop record. But this triumphant return wasn't guaranteed. Two decades into his career — well past the average life expectancy of a rap career — Kendrick faced a critical challen...

The year's hottest movie is, against all odds, a musical. Wicked, starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, just hit theaters, and tells the tale of how a green-skinned girl named Elphaba became the Wicked Witch of the West. And with any musical, the songs are just as important as the narrative. On this episode of Switched On Pop, Charlie, Nate, and Reanna hop on their broomsticks to break down th...

TIME Magazine once said, “there are few figures more closely associated with religion in pop culture than Madonna.” And looking at her catalog, it’s hard to disagree. From cheeky double entendres on “Like A Prayer,” to explorations of alternative philosophies on Ray of Light, spiritual practice has always been a core aspect of Madonna’s work. And as she dips her toes in different ideologies, she e...

Throughout her forty-year career, Madonna has managed to travel the globe, both literally and musically. Despite being a white woman from the midwest (Michigan, to be exact), her discography has been influenced by countless different cultures and sounds. Even from her very first single, Madonna has frequently paid homage to those she has encountered, reflecting (and sometimes appropriating) the cu...

Madonna is the world's biggest female pop star. She's influenced everyone from Beyoncé to Britney Spears; is the most successful solo artist in Hot 100 chart history; and is the best-selling female recording artist of all time. Her career – which has spanned over forty years – has seen her continually reinventing herself and her sound over fourteen studio albums, from her early years in the New Yo...

In 1973, before their ascent to rock superstardom with Fleetwood Mac, Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks were just two young lovers making music in Los Angeles. Their debut album, Buckingham Nicks, though commercially unsuccessful at the time, would prove to be the catalyst that changed their lives. When Mick Fleetwood happened to walk into Sound City Studios and overheard Buckingham's masterful...

A musical "freak," to us here at Switched On Pop, is an artist who is unique, non-conforming, and always manages to surprise. We're living in some freaky times right now, so there's no better way to honor that than to listen to pop's freakiest artists. The past few weeks have seen new releases from Lady Gaga, Tyler, the Creator, and The Cure – the latter releasing their first new album in sixteen...

Over the summer, the culture was shaken by the biggest rap beef this decade, between Drake and Kendrick Lamar. From “First Person Shooter” to “Not Like Us,” hip-hop listeners hung on each rapper’s every word and rebuttal, and for the first time in years, the genre felt exciting. Months after the beef had “ended,” Lamar released a track on Instagram dubbed “Watch the Party Die,” in which he lamente...

It’s the spookiest time of the year; Halloween is right around the corner. But unlike the winter holidays like Christmas and Hanukkah, Halloween seems to lack a defining canon of scary music. There’s, of course, “Monster Mash,” and “Ghostbusters,” but those songs aren’t actually bone-chilling. Is there a way to make music scary? In a live show from The Dalton School in New York City, Nate and Char...

Stevie Wonder may be our modern day Mozart. A child prodigy, he joined Motown as a preadolescent where he was marketed as “Little” Stevie Wonder. He wowed audiences with his virtuosic command of the piano, harmonica, drums and of course, vocals. At just 13, he had his first number one hit “Fingertips Part II.” It was an unusual chart topper, featuring a live recording of mostly improvised music wi...

We celebrate Switched On Pop's 10th anniversary by taking a deep dive into the last decade of pop music. From bubblegum pop to EDM, trap, and K-pop, we explore how the sound of pop has continually evolved—even when it feels like it’s all the same. Plus, we pull back the curtain on the show with a special interview: Sean Rameswaram, host of Vox's Today Explained, puts Nate and Charlie in the hot se...