Why we need bad music

About this episode

For the 500th(!) episode of Switched on Pop, Charlie and Nate try to answer the question that has stumped critics and philosophers since the dawn of sound: does bad music exist? Their quest to answer something so nebulous leads them through the annals of taste, and in the process, they recruit several other critics and journalists to give their two cents on the topic. Can things actually be bad, and if so, how do we define them? CREDITS Reanna Cruz: Producer Iris Gottlieb: Illustrator Charlie Harding: Host, Executive Producer Dion Lee: Art Director Brandon McFarland: Audio Engineer Nick Ripps: Video Editor Nate Sloan: Host Lissa Soep: Editor Zach Tenorio & Jocie Adams: Theme Composers Switched On Pop is a co-production of Vox Media Podcast Network, Vulture, and Rock Ridge Productions. Links: ⁠⁠Newsletter⁠⁠ Songs discussed: Kristin Chenoweth, “Taylor the Latte Boy” Komar and Melamid & Dave Soldier, “The Most Unwanted Song" Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, "Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35: III. Finale. Allegro vivacissimo" Johann Strauss II, The Blue Danube" Johann Sebastian Bach, "The Well-Tempered Clavier No. 2: Prelude and Fu