Switched on Pop’s Nate Sloan and Charlie Harding love fresh vegetables and guitar pedals
The popular music analysis podcast Switched on Pop has transitioned from an audio-only format to a Netflix video series. Hosts Nate Sloan and Charlie Harding discuss their creative processes, musical influences, and the tools they use for their deep dives into pop music.
Why it matters
It highlights the growing trend of successful niche podcasts expanding into mainstream streaming platforms and visual media.
As if you needed more reason to love Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe” beyond its pop perfection, it is also, according to lore, the genesis for Switched on Pop, one of the best music podcasts out there. Cohosts Nate Sloan and Charlie Harding obsessively dissect pop songs, from the theory behind their musical choices to their production techniques. If you’re a student of pop music, then this is a must-listen podcast.
Sloan is a composer and professor of musicology at USC Thornton School of Music, where he researches pop, but also jazz and even Tin Pan Alley. Harding is a songwriter, music journalist, and a professor as well. Their combined knowledge is near encyclopedic. Whether they’re talking about text painting in Justin Timberlake’s “Can’t Stop the Feeling!” or Taryn Southern’s AI experiments, the two reveal the rich tapestry of even the most simple-seeming songs.
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