Music
Switched On Pop | Why lo-fi is the perfect background music
A podcast breaking down the music of pop hits.
Switched On Pop
Published 21 May 2020
If you listen to lo-fi music on YouTube, you'll know this image.

Pop music surrounds us, but how often do we really listen to what we’re hearing? Switched on Pop is the podcast that pulls back the curtain on pop music. Each episode, join musicologist Nate Sloan and songwriter Charlie Harding as they reveal the secret formulas that make pop songs so infectious. By figuring out how pop hits work their magic, you’ll fall in love with songs you didn’t even know you liked.

Lo-Fi hip-hop has emerged as a hugely popular genre and internet subculture.

Its millions of loyal fans rely on curated lo-fi playlists and live-streams to write to, study to and even fall asleep to. There’s just something about those ambient, spacey, plodding beats that place us in a state of determined zen.

But what of its musical roots? Who are its stars? And why, despite its mass following on YouTube, Spotify and elsewhere, is it nearly impossible to spot on the Billboard?

This week, Switched On Pop trace lo-fi from its godfathers to its moments in the sun, to the complex creative ecosystem playing out on streaming platforms today.

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