CONTENTS

HOOK: The Bliss Point

  1   You Spin Me Round

  2   A Continuity of Hits

FIRST VERSE: Cheiron: Mr. Pop and the Metalhead

  3   Inside the Box

  4   “The Sign”

  5   Big Poppa

  6   Martin Sandberg’s Terrible Secret

  7   Britney Spears: Hit Me Baby

  8   “I Want It That Way”

CHORUS: The Money Note: The Ballad of Kelly and Clive

  9   My Ancestral Hit Parade

10   The Dragon’s Teeth

11   The Doldrums

12    American Idol

13   “Since U Been Gone”

SECOND VERSE: Factory Girls: Cultural Technology and the Making of K-Pop

14   “Gee”

CHORUS: Rihanna: Track-and-Hook

15   “Umbrella”

16   “Ester Dean: On the Hook”

17   Stargate: Those Lanky Norwegian Dudes

18   “Rude Boy”

BRIDGE: Dr. Luke: Teenage Dream

19   Speed Chess

20   Katy Perry: Altar Call

21   Melodic Math

22   Kesha: Teenage Nightmare

CHORUS: Spotify

23   The Moment Space

OUTRO: Songworm

24   “Roar”

A Note on Sources

Acknowledgments

Index