[3] Fishel has described the song as both a "fun, tongue-in-cheek response to certain A&R guys in major labels"[4] and as "an anthem of pride in celebration of the LGBTQ community.

[7] In an interview with Northern Ireland's GayNI Magazine, Fishel said "Radio-Friendly Pop Song" is "based on my (and many others') experiences of being a gay artist in the entertainment industry, and the latent homophobia that still lies underneath the surface of certain corporate companies.

He went on to say "I've always felt uncomfortable with the idea of deliberately 'dumbing down' my lyrics for any kind of commercial gain...So I wanted to write a fun, tongue-in-cheek response to those people, which basically says 'I'm gay, I'm out and I'm proud, I'm not prepared to hide from that and I'm gonna be true to who I am.

We have lived to hear many hit singles pushing the buttons of controversy; yet, we have never heard a delectable tune challenging the seemingly homophobic practices of the music industry.

[13] Rebecca Eisenberg of viral content website Upworthy called the song "pitch perfect", saying "when [Fishel] fires back at 2:44, I was grinning like a fool.

"[14] Cate Matthews from The Huffington Post called "Radio-Friendly Pop Song" "ridiculously catchy", and said "we're supremely happy that Fishel is standing up and singing his heart out - with one caveat.

"[15] An official music video for "Radio-Friendly Pop Song" was released on Fishel's YouTube channel on 10 March 2013, produced by Tyjens Media and animated by Kenneth Wilcox.