Ride-along listening: Inclusive modes of musical analysis in Switched on Pop

Abstract

Popular music and pop song-dissection podcasts often compete for top 40 listeners’ attention, but podcasts interject hosts’ opinions of songs that listeners may not share. This article introduces a phenomenon I call ‘ride-along listening’, where podcast hosts play isolated musical features to closely examine a song’s production and reception. Hosts’ instantaneous explanations of musical terms have the potential to make pop podcasts more inclusive for non-musically trained listeners. As I show, Switched on Pop’s Episode 80 dissects Janelle Monáe’s ‘Make Me Feel’ by playing the single’s harmonies and rhythms back-to-back with those of the blues, Michael Jackson and Prince. But guest host Lizzo – a classically trained flutist, songwriter, singer and rapper – especially makes Monáe’s social message of fluid sexuality palpable for specialist and non-specialist listeners alike. By foregrounding performing musicians’ embodied listening and knowledge, ride-along listening can provide inclusive ways of dissecting the medium and the message of pop music.