Music Love Man
2012
HKU GE
wongchichung@mac.com
http://www.facebook.com/chichung.wong1
黃志淙 博士
aka chi chung’s choice
AcadeMediArTradExperience
#1 Sharing Music
: anyone can be a DJ
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Performing music
Sharing music
Recording music
Disseminating music
Selling music
Promoting music
Building music…
#2 Music Travelogue
: Go with the Beats
 “Music is the soundtrack to our lives…”
(Tracy Thorn, ebtg)
#3 Curating Music
: Trend-setting and Taste-making
#4 Living Music
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Producers
Stage Managers
Technicians
Promoters: Poster designers…
Performers
Hosts
Audience
Credit Course Description
 As the study of popular music is
multidisciplinary in nature, this course draws
upon a range of academic disciplines including
sociology, media studies, cultural studies, and
literary studies.
 Different approaches to popular music studies
will be adopted throughout the programme. This
will provide students with the knowledge and
skills necessary to critically evaluate the role of
popular music in contemporary society.
Outline
 I. Introduction: Defining Popular Music
 II. Approaches to Popular Music Studies
 III. The Popular Music Industry
 IV. Popular Music and Social Change
 V. Popular Music, Meanings and Pleasures
 VI. Popular Music, Place and Identity
 VII. Popular Music and Media Policy
 VIII. Globalization and Its Impacts on Popular
Music Industry
References
 Bennett, Andy et al eds. The Popular Music
Studies Reader. London & New York: Routledge,
2006
 Frith, Simon eds. The Cambridge Companion to
Pop and Rock. New York: Cambridge University
Press, 2001.
 Frith, Simon. Taking Popular Music Seriously:
Selected Essays.
Aldershot & Burlington:
Ashgate, 2007.
 Hamm, Charles. Putting Popular Music in Its
Place. New York: Cambridge University Press,
1995.
 Hesmondhalgh, David. The Cultural Industries. (2nd
edn). London: Sage, 2007.
 Hesmondhalgh, David. ‘Music, Digitalisation and
Copyright’, in Peter Golding and Graham Murdock
(eds.) Understanding Digital Dynamics, New York:
Hampton Press, 2008.
 Hesmondhalgh, David & Negus, Keith eds. Popular
Music Studies. London: Arnold, 2002.
 Horner, Bruce & Swiss, Thomas eds. Key Terms for
Studying Popular Music. Malden & Blackwell, 1999.
 Negus, Keith. Producing Pop: Culture and Conflict in
the Popular Music Industry. London: Edward Arnold,
1992.
 Negus, Keith. Popular Music in Theory. Hanover:
University of New England, 1996.
 Negus, Keith Music Genres and Corporate Cultures.
London: Routledge, 1999.
 Shuker, Roy. Understanding Popular Music. London
& New York: Routledge, 2001.
 Wong, Chi Chung. Making and Using Pop Music
in Hong Kong. HKU. 1997.
 Wong, Chi Chung. The Working of Pop Music
Culture in the Age of Digital Reproduction. HKU.
2010.
 朱耀偉：《香港流行歌詞研究：七十年代中期
至九十年代中期》香港：三聯書店，1998。
 朱耀偉：《光輝歲月：香港流行樂隊組合研
究》香港：匯智出版，2000。
 朱耀偉 , 黃志華 ：《香港歌詞導賞》香港：匯
智出版，2009。
 曾慧佳：《從流行歌曲看台灣社會》台北：桂
冠圖書，2000。
 黃志淙：《流聲》香港：民政事務局，2007。
 黃志華：《粵語流行曲四十年》香港：三聯書
店，1990。
 黃志華 ：《早期香港粵語流行曲》香港：三聯
書店，2000。
 黃霑：《粵語流行曲的發展與興衰：香港流行
音樂研究1949-1997》香港：香港大學亞洲研
究中心博士論文，2003。
Methodology
 Cultural Studies
 1. Textual analysis
 2. Production – Music Industry
 3. Audience survey
Comparative Study
 West x East
 Rock & Pop
 Canto-Pop
What is Pop Music?
Definitions
 Production
 : by popular idols/artists Vs niche musicians
 : by the music industry Vs DIY/Indie
 Media
 : popularized by the mass media
Vs viralized by the new media/fan-based/crowdsourcing
 Text
 : melodies loved/shared by the “mass”
 : message/lyrics echoed by the “people”
T.W. Adorno
 Frankfurt School
 Critical Theory
 Commodification
 Pseudo-individualisation
 Superficial and false pleasure
British School
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Simon Frith
The Sociology of Rock (1978)…
Music and Copyright (1993)
The Cambridge Companion to Pop and
Rock (2001)
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Brian Longhurst
Popular Music and Society (1995)
Production – Text – Audience
Richard Middleton
Studying Popular Music (1990)
Textual Analysis / Musicology
 David Hesmondhalgh
 Keith Negus
 Popular Music Studies (2002)
 Popular Music in Theory (Negus,1996)
 Music Genres and Corporate Cultures
(Negus, 1999)
 Producing Pop (Negus, 1992)
Hesmondhalgh and Negus :
four key themes of pop music studies
 1. Musical meaning ;
 2. Popular music audiences;
 3. Music industries and production;
 4. Place (time-space processes or
globalization)
Pop Music
 History
 : from gramophone to MP3
 Music Industry
 : from Majors to Indies
 : talents, recording, marketing, promotion,
distribution, retailing…
 Production
 Creative Artists
 Globalisaiton/Localisation/Glocalisation
 Digitalisation
Text - West
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Rock ‘n’ Roll 1955
The Beatles, Folk 1960s
Progressive Rock, Disco, Punk 1970s
MTV, Syn-pop, New Romantics, Hip Hop
1980s
 Grunge, Brit-Pop, Teen Idols… 1990s
Text - HK
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Pop bands 1960s
Canto-Pop, TV Theme-songs 1970s
Mega-Stars, Band Wave 1980s
4 Heavenly Kings, Indies 1990s
Singer-songwriters, Creative Clans 2000s
Audience
 Fandom
 Passive…Participatory, Active…
 Digitalisation & Empowerment