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SUPPORT MUSIC IS NOT A GENRE ON PATREON\n\nWATCH MUSIC is not a GENRE VIDEOS and MORE\n\nAnd now for something completely different from MUSIC is not a GENRE \u2026 an entire episode dedicated to a BOOK! This week I discuss Nolan Gasser\u2019s Why You Like It: The Science and Culture of Musical Taste. Find a comfy seat, because it\u2019s a big one.\n\nFirst of all, I LOVE that this book exists. I love that someone cares enough about music to write a 600+ page book just about LISTENING to it. The two biggest impressions you\u2019ll get from reading this are: A. Nolan knows his stuff inside & out; and B. He realllly loves music. It would be an understatement to say this book is comprehensive, thorough, broad & deep. Nolan is voracious for music of all kinds, and reading this book will make you hungry too.\n\nAs you know, I appreciate anyone \u2013 artist or fan \u2013 whose musical tastes veer far & wide, who don\u2019t pigeonhole themselves into one or a small handful of artists or styles. I\u2019ve read other very well done books on more specific topics (I\u2019ll discuss those in future episodes) that are a little myopic & insular \u2013 i.e. they\u2019re such insider books that the author doesn\u2019t spend a lot of time (if any) connecting that music to the rest of the world.\n\nThis author is the opposite of that, and why wouldn\u2019t he be! Nolan Gasser is a composer himself, and the chief architect of Pandora\u2019s Music Genome Project. Ever wonder how streaming services have become so good at predicting what a good next song to play is, or what your tastes are in general? It all started with this. I won\u2019t go into the history here (it\u2019s in this book), except to say that a massive amount of resources & human power went into research & development, resulting in the granddaddy of all predictive music algorithms. And while I find all of them to be lesser than an actual human DJ making choices, as the years pass they\u2019re much more hit than miss.\n\nNow for the book. Wow. It delivers on the title\u2019s promise in spades. About 2/5ths of it is on music theory \u2013 and while I learned most of it in college, it was an incredible refresher. Even though the author says you can skip all that and get to the actual \u201cwhy you like it\u201d part, I think you\u2019ll understand his reasoning much better if you absorb as much theory as possible. He also includes \u201cinterlude\u201d chapters that connect to science, math, culture & psychology. They\u2019re short but quite illuminating.\n\nThe rest of the book is broken into sections focusing on musical \u201cgenotypes\u201d. They\u2019re umbrella terms for a fan\u2019s primary taste: musical theater, pop, rock, jazz, hip hop, electronica, world & classical. Nolan says some stuff about the deficiencies of genre labeling that made me love this book from the get-go, so he\u2019s well aware of how reductive these categories are. Even with that caveat, he manages to flesh out each genotype & connect these imaginary fans\u2019 tastes to broader spectra of music. It\u2019s fun trying to figure out what genotype you are. For me \u2013 as you can predict \u2013 I didn\u2019t align perfectly with any of them. The book promised a test at its website, but sadly that page is still blank. As someone who loves tests/surveys/questionnaires, I hope he eventually gets to it.\n\nIn the end, this book is kinda like a story or work of non-fiction that claims to have the answer to \u201cthe meaning of life\u201d. It never quite reveals the magic you were hoping for, but it\u2019s so well done that where it compels your brain to go is worth the trip. If anything, it gives you the tools to find the answers yourself.\n\nListen on & stay tuned for the music video for this song:\n\nREC \u2013 \u201cPolymath\u201d (from the album Syzygy for the Weird)\n\n\n--- \n\nThis episode is sponsored by \n\xb7 Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app\n\nSupport this podcast: https://anchor.fm/musicisnotagenre/support\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices