“The Taylor Swifts and Beyonce’s of this world may be able to top the streaming playlists, fill stadiums, generate headlines, hold court to politicians and even awaken dormant economies when their circus comes to town. But outside of their admittedly considerable number of fans, how many of us could name or hum more than one or two of their songs? Or maybe, any of their songs?”

In October I took part in a panel discussion about modern music at the Battle of Ideas festival in London, along with Aaqil Ahmed, Rushabh Haria, Lysia Leal, Leo Villa and chair Andrew Calcutt. You can watch a video of the discussion below.

You can also watch other debates from the Battle of Ideas festival on the Academy of Ideas YouTube channel.

And, for anyone interested in the list I mentioned of great 21st century pop songs, I’ve posted it here.