Full Description
In the wake of intense globalisation and commercialisation in the 1990s, China saw the emergence of a vibrant popular culture. Drawing on sixteen years of research, Jeroen de Kloet explores the popular music industry in Beijing, Hong Kong and Shanghai, providing a fascinating history of its emergence and extensive audience analysis, while also exploring the effect of censorship on the music scene in China.
China with a Cut pays particular attention to the dakou culture: so named after a cut nicked into the edge to render them unsellable, these illegally imported Western CDs still play most of the tracks. They also played a crucial role in the emergence of the new music and youth culture. De Kloet's impressive study demonstrates how the young Chinese cope with the rapid economic and social changes in a period of intense globalisation, and offers a unique insight into the socio-cultural and political transformations of a rising global power.
Contents
Contents - 6 List of Figures and Tables - 8 Acknowledgements - 10 Note on Romanisation and Publication History - 14 Introduction: Global Longings with a Cut - 16 1. Hard Scenes - 38 2. Hyphenated Scenes - 76 3. Subaltern Sounds - 104 4. Musical Taste and Technologies of the Self - 140 5. Producing, Localising and Silencing Sounds - 168 Conclusion: Paradoxical Performances - 194 Notes - 204 Chinese Glossary - 218 Appendix I Interviews - 224 Appendix II Factor Analysis of Singers - 230 Appendix III Popularity of Singers and Bands - 231 Bibliography - 232 Index - 245
