Making and Using Pop Music in Hong Kong

This dissertation, "Making and Using Pop Music in Hong Kong" by Chi-chung, Elvin, Wong, 黃志淙, was obtained from The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong) and is being sold pursuant to Creative Commons: Attribution 3.0 Hong Kong License. The content of this dissertation has not been altered in any way. We have altered the formatting in order to facilitate the ease of printing and reading of the dissertation. All rights not granted by the above license are retained by the author. Abstract: Abstract This thesis is an inquiry on the making and using of pop music in Hong Kong. It attempts to explore the different interpretations of the music industry generated from contemporary pop music studies in the west. Then, we shall examine the local situation of how and why people make and use pop music in different ways. We shall try to trace the systematic patterns of the past and thus project the future of the pop music scene beyond 1997. On the side of making music, starting from the Culture Theory of Adorno, we shall approach the issue with the insights of scholars in cultural studies emanating from or relating to the Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies in Britain. We see that in the contemporary trend of music-making, there is a symbiosis of the majors (THE BIG SIX) and the independents (indies). We ask whether the majors dominate and centralise and thus control the production, financing, marketing and distribution of the music industry, on the one hand. On the other hand, we shall discuss how and why the indies acquire their important positions. We then apply the above theories and observations to the local case. We look into the pop music history of Hong Kong from the 1960s until the beginning of 1997. We have found that although the present mainstream Canto-pop music industry still dominates the local music scene in terms of market share and media exposure, there have been several instances of fragmentation, for example, the indie band movement and the boom of international music. Concentration and diversification are not mutually exclusive. inOn the use of pop music, the fandom theories of John Fiske, Paul Willis and Lawrence Grossberg provide the guidelines. As this thesis demonstrates, fans will make use of music activities and generate their own meanings and actively construct their identities, in contrast with the traditional Adornian verdict of the numb and passive fans. Consequently, we can spot the multifarious patterns of using pop music for making meanings and identities. IV DOI: 10.5353/th_b2987258 Subjects: Popular music - Social aspects - History - China - Hong Kong Popular music - Social aspects - China - Hong Kong - 1991-2000