A continuation of Music 140, picking up where Simon Wood left off. This course traces the evolution of popular music from 1980 to the present day, beginning with MTV’s transformation of the music industry and Michael Jackson’s visual revolution. Topics include synth-pop, hair metal, the golden age of hip hop, grunge and alternative rock, electronic dance music, the digital revolution (Napster, iTunes, streaming), modern pop and R&B, trap and drill, K-pop’s global rise, and the emergence of Chinese popular music from Teresa Teng to the Douyin era. The course concludes with an examination of AI-generated music and the future of music creation.

These notes span 18 chapters covering over four decades of musical evolution — from MTV and Thriller to Suno and AI composition — exploring how technology, culture, and globalization have continuously reshaped what popular music sounds like and who gets to make it.