The musicality of C-pop : a study of Chinese popular music from 1985-2010.

This study examines C-pop (Chinese pop). It contains three parts, Part One describes
the changes in C-pop from the 1985 to the present, Part Two deals with how C-pop
changed in terms of its musical texts and Part Three elucidates why it changed
culturally. As a whole, it also provides a case study that allows us to approach the
'popular'I'pop' dichotomy from perspective of a change in musicality (way of being
musical) from a music-maker-centric (MMC) system to a music-receiver-centric
(MRC) system. I have drawn on the dual experience base of being a native Chinese
and an overseas-based researcher, generating a critical-ethnomusicological perspective
throughout.
Part One of the thesis considers a selection of soundscapes that delineate changing
trends in Chinese popular music from 1985 on. In the first chapter, the emergence of
C-pop in the 1980s and early 1990s is identified and assessed. Chapter 2 looks at the
reshaping of the industry from 1996 on, analysing also the rise of new media for
popular music during this period, most obviously television and the internet.
Part Two looks in more depth at the linguistic (Chapter 3) and vocal (Chapter 4) codes
embedded in the music. The writing here focuses on the relationship between
producers and receivers of C-pop and between the music itself and receivers. Chapter 5
underlines this latter emphasis by critically reflecting on the ways in which songs are
structured and produced.
Finally, Part Three employs a tripartite model of music, music-maker and
music-receiver to attend in tum to fan culture (Chapter 6), the roles of musicians
(Chapter 7) and the operation of producers and managers in the music industry
(Chapter 8). These analyses show why C-pop has developed in the ways in which it
has, the ongoing power struggle between the audience and musician-between those
holding a mass concept and those holding an elite concept- determining the
musicality of C-pop in present-day mainland China.