C-pop
Encyclopedia
Mainland China
Mainland China, the Chinese mainland or simply the mainland, is a geopolitical term that refers to the area under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China . According to the Taipei-based Mainland Affairs Council, the term excludes the PRC Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and...
, Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, and Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
. Others come from countries where the Chinese language
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
is used by a large number of the population, such as Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
and Malaysia. C-pop is sometimes used as an umbrella term covering not only Chinese pop but also R&B
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
, ballad
Ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of British and Irish popular poetry and song from the later medieval period until the 19th century and used extensively across Europe and later the Americas, Australia and North Africa. Many...
s, Chinese rock
Chinese rock
Chinese Rock , occasionally referred as Mandorock or Cantorock depending on the language of the song in question, is commonly used to describe a wide variety of forms of rock and roll music, in connection with the rock bands...
, Chinese hip hop
Chinese hip hop
Chinese hip hop is a relatively new phenomenon; in Chinese music; “hip-hop in Beijing emerged around the year 2000 from African American culture, but it has been part of Chinese culture since the 1980s.” Some of the earliest influences of hip-hop in Beijing came from movies such as Wild Style and...
and Chinese ambient music
Chinese ambient music
C-ambient is an abbreviation of Chinese ambient music, a loosely defined musical genre of the People's Republic of China. Similarly to the term C-pop, it was coined by the Chinese media in order to distinguish Chinese ambient musicians from foreign musicians...
, although Chinese rock
Chinese rock
Chinese Rock , occasionally referred as Mandorock or Cantorock depending on the language of the song in question, is commonly used to describe a wide variety of forms of rock and roll music, in connection with the rock bands...
branched off as a separate genre during the early 1990s. Chinese R&B was pioneered by Alex To
Alex To
Alex To is a Hong Kong and Taiwan based singer and actor. He is the winner of the 4th annual New Talent Singing Awards in 1985. He has released numerous albums throughout his career and mainly has R&B influenced songs.-Early life and career:...
in the 90s, but has since been used as the major composition style for artists such as Su Xing
Su Xing
Su Xing is a Chinese singer, songwriter and actor. He took the 2nd place in the 2007 Super Boy contest, which was a national singing contest for young male contestants held by Hunan Satellite Television...
, Jay Chou
Jay Chou
Jay Chou is a Taiwanese musician, singer-songwriter, music and film producer, actor and director who has won the World Music Award four times. In 1998 he was discovered in a talent contest where he displayed his piano and song-writing skills. Over the next two years, he was hired to compose for...
, Wei Chen
Wei Chen (singer)
Wei Chen is a Chinese pop singer and actor, who rose to fame through Super Boy a televised singing competitions. He is best known through his album "Disparate" and his role as Ye Shuo on Meteor Shower.-Biography:...
, David Tao
David Tao
David Tao , born Tao Xuzhong , was born on 11 July 1969. He is a Taiwanese Golden Melody Award-winning singer-songwriter. He is well-known for creating a crossover genre of R&B and hard rock tunes which has now become his signature style and for having popularized R&B in the Mandopop...
, Khalil Fong
Khalil Fong
Khalil Fong was born on 14 July 1983. He is an American born, Hong Kong-based soul Mandopop singer-songwriter signed to the Warner Music Hong Kong.-Biography:...
and Leehom Wang.
There are currently three main subgenres within C-pop: Cantopop
Cantopop
Cantopop is a colloquialism for "Cantonese popular music". It is sometimes referred to as HK-pop, short for "Hong Kong popular music". It is categorized as a subgenre of Chinese popular music within C-pop...
, Mandopop
Mandopop
Mandopop is a colloquial abbreviation for "Mandarin popular music." It is categorized as a subgenre of commercial Chinese-language music within C-pop. Mandopop was the first variety of popular music in Chinese to establish itself as a viable industry. As the name implies, Mandopop features songs...
and Hokkien pop
Taiwanese pop
Taiwanese pop is a popular music genre sung in the Taiwanese language . It is referred to as Tai-pop and known in South- setback during the years of Martial Law in Taiwan...
. The gap between cantopop and mandopop has been narrowing in the new millennium. Hokkien pop
Taiwanese pop
Taiwanese pop is a popular music genre sung in the Taiwanese language . It is referred to as Tai-pop and known in South- setback during the years of Martial Law in Taiwan...
, though having its roots in Japanese enka
Enka
is a popular Japanese music genre considered to resemble traditional Japanese music stylistically. Modern enka, however, is a relatively recent musical form which arose in the context of such postwar expressions of modern Japanese nonmaterial nationalism as nihonjinron, while adopting a more...
, has been re-integrating into C-pop and narrowing its trend of development towards Mandopop
Mandopop
Mandopop is a colloquial abbreviation for "Mandarin popular music." It is categorized as a subgenre of commercial Chinese-language music within C-pop. Mandopop was the first variety of popular music in Chinese to establish itself as a viable industry. As the name implies, Mandopop features songs...
, esp. after new millennium with some Mandopop artists such as Jay Chou
Jay Chou
Jay Chou is a Taiwanese musician, singer-songwriter, music and film producer, actor and director who has won the World Music Award four times. In 1998 he was discovered in a talent contest where he displayed his piano and song-writing skills. Over the next two years, he was hired to compose for...
, S.H.E
S.H.E
S.H.E is a Taiwanese girl group whose members are Selina Jen, Hebe Tien, and Ella Chen. The name of the group is an alphabetism derived from the first letter of each member's name. Since releasing their first album Girls Dorm , S.H.E has recorded 12 albums with sales totalling over 15 million, and...
, Jolin Tsai
Jolin Tsai
Jolin Tsai was born on 15 September 1980. She is a Taiwanese Golden Melody Award-winning Mandopop singer, dancer and actor. She is managed by Mars Entertainment Ltd .-Career:...
singing in Hokkien pop
Taiwanese pop
Taiwanese pop is a popular music genre sung in the Taiwanese language . It is referred to as Tai-pop and known in South- setback during the years of Martial Law in Taiwan...
music.
History
From 1920 to 1949 "Chinese popular music" was used to describe all contemporary music sung in Chinese dialects in Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
. An important name was Li Jinhui
Li Jinhui
Li Jinhui was a composer and songwriter born in Xiangtan, Hunan, China. He is the "Father of Chinese popular music". He created a new musical form with shidaiqu after the fall of the Qing Dynasty-- moving away from established musical forms. Li was a very controversial figure in China...
. Buck Clayton
Buck Clayton
Buck Clayton was an American jazz trumpet player who was a leading member of Count Basie’s "Old Testament" orchestra and a leader of mainstream-oriented jam session recordings in the 1950s. His principal influence was Louis Armstrong...
is credited with bringing American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
influence to China and the music gained popularity in hangout quarters of nightclubs and dancehalls of major cities in the 1920s. A number of privately-run radio stations from the late 1920s to the 1950s played C-pop.
Around the time of the Japanese invasion of Manchuria and the Chinese Civil War
Chinese Civil War
The Chinese Civil War was a civil war fought between the Kuomintang , the governing party of the Republic of China, and the Communist Party of China , for the control of China which eventually led to China's division into two Chinas, Republic of China and People's Republic of...
, pop music was seen as a leftist distraction. After the Second Sino-Japanese War
Second Sino-Japanese War
The Second Sino-Japanese War was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. From 1937 to 1941, China fought Japan with some economic help from Germany , the Soviet Union and the United States...
and World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
C-pop has been marketed, produced and branded regionally. The Communist Party of China
Communist Party of China
The Communist Party of China , also known as the Chinese Communist Party , is the founding and ruling political party of the People's Republic of China...
established the People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
in 1949. One of its first actions was to label the genre "Yellow Music
Yellow Music
Yellow Music or was a label used to describe early generations of Chinese popular music in Shanghai, China during the 1920s to 1940s as a reference to pornography....
" (the color is associated with pornography
Pornography
Pornography or porn is the explicit portrayal of sexual subject matter for the purposes of sexual arousal and erotic satisfaction.Pornography may use any of a variety of media, ranging from books, magazines, postcards, photos, sculpture, drawing, painting, animation, sound recording, film, video,...
). The Shanghai pop music industry then took pop music to Hong Kong and in the 1970s developed cantopop
Cantopop
Cantopop is a colloquialism for "Cantonese popular music". It is sometimes referred to as HK-pop, short for "Hong Kong popular music". It is categorized as a subgenre of Chinese popular music within C-pop...
. The Kuomintang
Kuomintang
The Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...
, relocated to Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
, discouraged the native Taiwanese Hokkien from the 1950s to the late 1980s. As a result, mandopop
Mandopop
Mandopop is a colloquial abbreviation for "Mandarin popular music." It is categorized as a subgenre of commercial Chinese-language music within C-pop. Mandopop was the first variety of popular music in Chinese to establish itself as a viable industry. As the name implies, Mandopop features songs...
became the dominant musical genre in Taiwan.
In 2000 EolAsia.com was founded as the first online C-pop music portal in Hong Kong. The company survived the dot-com bubble
Dot-com bubble
The dot-com bubble was a speculative bubble covering roughly 1995–2000 during which stock markets in industrialized nations saw their equity value rise rapidly from growth in the more...
and offered online legal music downloads in February 2005, backed by EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
, Warner Music and Sony BMG. It primarily targets consumers in Hong Kong and Macau
Macau
Macau , also spelled Macao , is, along with Hong Kong, one of the two special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China...
: some songs require Hong Kong Identity Cards to purchase.
In August 2008 Norman Cheng, father of HK singer Ronald Cheng
Ronald Cheng
-Biography:Originally intending to work behind the scenes as a composer and record producer, Cheng did odd jobs at his father ’s company EMI— which included doing back-up vocals for the likes of Alan Tam and Priscilla Chan — during summers as a youth...
, acquired the remaining portion of EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
Music Asia when EMI, which had entered China in the early 20th century, withdrew from the Chinese market. Typhoon music made the purchase for an estimated HK$100 million.
In February 2008 mainland China
Mainland China
Mainland China, the Chinese mainland or simply the mainland, is a geopolitical term that refers to the area under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China . According to the Taipei-based Mainland Affairs Council, the term excludes the PRC Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and...
's top search engine Baidu.com was sued by local industry groups for providing music listening, broadcasting and downloading without approval. Piracy
Piracy
Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence at sea. The term can include acts committed on land, in the air, or in other major bodies of water or on a shore. It does not normally include crimes committed against persons traveling on the same vessel as the perpetrator...
continues to exist in China but Google
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
have since announced a cooperation deal offering free listening and genuine music copies. Top100.cn was founded by basketball star Yao Ming
Yao Ming
Yao Ming is a retired Chinese professional basketball player who last played for the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association...
, agent Zhang Mingji and music insider Chen Ge via a 20 million yuan
Chinese yuan
The yuan is the base unit of a number of modern Chinese currencies. The yuan is the primary unit of account of the Renminbi.A yuán is also known colloquially as a kuài . One yuán is divided into 10 jiǎo or colloquially máo...
investment. Google mp3 became available in March 2009.
At the end of 2007 RTHK began promoting a tribute called (不死傳奇) literally "Immortal Legends" in honor of the singers who died a legend in the industry. The honor was given to Roman Tam
Roman Tam
Roman Tam, known by the stage name Lo Man , nickname Law Kee , was a renowned Hong Kong Cantopop singer. He is regarded as the "Godfather of Cantopop".-Career:...
, Anita Mui
Anita Mui
Anita Mui Yim-fong was a popular Hong Kong singer and actress. During her prime years she made major contributions to the cantopop music scene, while receiving numerous awards and honours. She remained an idol throughout most of her career, and was generally regarded as a cantopop diva...
, Teresa Teng
Teresa Teng
Teresa Teng , was an immensely popular and influential Chinese pop singer from Taiwan. Teresa Teng's voice and songs are instantly recognized throughout East Asia and in areas with large Asian populations...
, Leslie Cheung
Leslie Cheung
Leslie Cheung Kwok-Wing , nicknamed elder brother , was a film actor and musician from Hong Kong. Cheung was considered as "one of the founding fathers of Cantopop", and "combining a hugely successful film and music career".In 2000, Cheung was named Asian Biggest Superstar by China Central...
, Wong Ka Kui
Wong Ka Kui
Wong Ka-Kui was a Hong Kong composer, songwriter, musician and singer. He was the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and the founder of the Hong Kong rock band Beyond....
and Danny Chan
Danny Chan
Danny Chan Bak-keung was a 1980s cantopop singer, composer and actor in Hong Kong with origins in Taishan, Guangdong. Chan was of the first generation of pop idols in Hong Kong. He was already an electronic organ player, a songwriter, an actor and a promising singer at the beginning of his career...
. All six pop stars played a major role in developing the Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
or Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
music industry. The future of C-pop in mainland China is slowly emerging. However, the Chinese government
Government of the People's Republic of China
All power within the government of the People's Republic of China is divided among three bodies: the People's Republic of China, State Council, and the People's Liberation Army . This article is concerned with the formal structure of the state, its departments and their responsibilities...
's banning of the highly popular show Super girl for one year in 2008 and 2012 still a very controversial for the mainland China market.
Major production centres
| Genre | Common Names | Location | Region uses |
|---|---|---|---|
| C-pop | Cantopop Cantopop Cantopop is a colloquialism for "Cantonese popular music". It is sometimes referred to as HK-pop, short for "Hong Kong popular music". It is categorized as a subgenre of Chinese popular music within C-pop... |
Hong Kong Hong Kong Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour... |
Traditional Chinese |
| Mandopop Mandopop Mandopop is a colloquial abbreviation for "Mandarin popular music." It is categorized as a subgenre of commercial Chinese-language music within C-pop. Mandopop was the first variety of popular music in Chinese to establish itself as a viable industry. As the name implies, Mandopop features songs... |
Taiwan Republic of China The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor... |
Traditional Chinese | |
| Beijing Beijing Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's... |
Simplified Chinese | ||
| Hong Kong Hong Kong Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour... |
Traditional Chinese | ||
Smaller, emerging hubs
| Genre | Common Names | Location | Region uses |
|---|---|---|---|
| C-pop | Cantopop Cantopop Cantopop is a colloquialism for "Cantonese popular music". It is sometimes referred to as HK-pop, short for "Hong Kong popular music". It is categorized as a subgenre of Chinese popular music within C-pop... |
Guangdong Guangdong Guangdong is a province on the South China Sea coast of the People's Republic of China. The province was previously often written with the alternative English name Kwangtung Province... |
Simplified Chinese |
| Malaysia | Simplified Chinese | ||
| Vancouver Vancouver Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,... |
Traditional Chinese | ||
| Mandopop Mandopop Mandopop is a colloquial abbreviation for "Mandarin popular music." It is categorized as a subgenre of commercial Chinese-language music within C-pop. Mandopop was the first variety of popular music in Chinese to establish itself as a viable industry. As the name implies, Mandopop features songs... |
Singapore Singapore Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the... |
Simplified & Traditional* | |
| Malaysia | Simplified Chinese & Traditional* | ||
Stefanie Sun
Stefanie Sun was born Sng Ee Tze on 23 July 1978, and known to fans as 13姐 , is a Singaporean singer-songwriter. She has sold over 30 million copies of her albums during the span of her career thus far. She does the majority of her recording, and conducts most of her publicity events, in Taiwan,...
, JJ Lin
JJ Lin
JJ Lin is a Singaporean Mandopop Singer-songwriter, Composer and Actor based in Taiwan. JJ Lin is managed by Ocean Butterflies. Lin won Best New Artist for his work on his debut album Music Voyager at the 15th Golden Melody Awards in 2004....
, Wilber Pan
Wilber Pan
Wilber Pan also known as Will Pan was born on 6 August 1980. He is an American-born Taiwanese Mandopop singer, rapper and actor, who started his career as a host of Channel V programs.-Biography:...
, Leehom Wang.