Why You Like It cover art

Why You Like It

The Science and Culture of Musical Taste

Preview
Try Standard free
Select 1 audiobook a month from our entire collection.
Listen to your selected audiobooks as long as you're a member.
Get unlimited access to bingeable podcasts.
Auto-renews at $8.99/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Why You Like It

By: Nolan Gasser
Narrated by: Nolan Gasser
Try Standard free

Auto-renews at $8.99/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $53.62

Buy Now for $53.62

About this listen

From the chief architect of the Pandora Radio’s Music Genome Project comes a definitive and groundbreaking examination of how your mind, body, and upbringing influence the music you love.

Everyone loves music. But what is it that makes music so universally beloved and gives it such a powerful effect on us?

In this sweeping and authoritative audiobook, Dr. Nolan Gasser - a composer, pianist, and musicologist, and the chief architect of the Music Genome Project, which powers Pandora Radio - breaks down what musical taste is, where it comes from, and what our favorite songs say about us.

Dr. Gasser delves into the science, psychology, and sociology that explains why humans love music so much; how our brains process music; and why you may love Queen but your best friend loves Kiss. He sheds light on why babies can clap along to rhythmic patterns and reveals the reason behind why different cultures across the globe identify the same kinds of music as happy, sad, or scary.

Using easy-to-follow notated musical scores, Dr. Gasser teaches music fans how to become engaged listeners and provides them with the tools to enhance their musical preferences. He takes listeners under the hood of their favorite genres - pop, rock, jazz, hip hop, electronica, world music, and classical - and covers songs from Taylor Swift to Led Zeppelin to Kendrick Lamar to Bill Evans to Beethoven - and through their work, introduces the musical concepts behind why you hum along, tap your foot, and feel deeply.

Why You Like It will teach you how to follow the musical discourse happening within a song and thereby empower your musical taste, so you will never hear music the same way again.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2019 Nolan Gasser (P)2019 Macmillan Audio
History & Criticism Instruction & Technique Music Science Celebrity Musician Hip-Hop Piano Thought-Provoking Opera Guitar

Critic Reviews

"Nolan Gasser is brilliant at explaining the beautiful machinery behind your favorite songs without taking away any of the magic." (Conan O'Brien)

"A sprawling, packed-to-the-brim study of the art and science of music, as monumental and as busy as a Bach fugue... Gasser's enterprise has a pleasingly mad-scientist feel to it, one that will attract music theory geeks as much as neuroscientists, anthropologists, psychologists, and Skynyrd fans." (Kirkus Reviews)

No reviews yet
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.