How independent is independent music, and how commercial is commercial music in Hong Kong?

Abstract

This paper deals with the Cantonese Pop Song market in the Hong Kong arena. Hong Kong’s market, same as many in different parts of the world, are faced with serious recession in recent years due to the drastic decrease of record sales in recent years. Such changes in its ecology give rise to a lot of changes in the music scene.

It is observable that the mode of music reception is different now in comparison with the vibrant years when record selling was the major income source for musicians and music companies. Online streaming, illegal or legal downloading, movie clips watching in the Internet almost totally replaced the traditional mode of listening to music.

However, changes in response to the downturn of this industry do not only lie in the media and technical side. There are also changes in music styles observable, which is particularly obvious in Hong Kong. During the vibrant years of the Cantonese pop music industry in the 80’s and 90’s, the market sees domination of a certain music style, which is further developed and known as “K-songs” in Cantonese. They are not only consumed for listening, but also as a form of content to sing in Karaoke lounges, which is a very popular past- time during those years.

The number of music labels at that time was very few, though very dominant. And in the late 90’s, a lot of dynamics happened between record companies, some merged together, and some acquired by other companies.

These “K-song” styles continue to grow as a dominant music style for Hong Kong people throughout the 2000’s, as a form of entertainment for both listening and Karaoke singing.

However, in the recent few years, it is observable that more and more independent music labels evolved, bringing about more and more independent music for the audiences. They were not bounded by the big players in the industry, but rather gained much freedom in terms of its music styles and mode of operation. The desire in search for freedom and to break free from existing boundaries and restrictions are not only limited to music in recent years however. It has, to a certain extent, became a way of living, a new form of culture in Hong Kong, and music has become either a very dominant cultural form on its own, as well as a complementary form in other cultures, such as music cafes.

For this reason, in this paper, I aim to discuss whether or not doing independent music label in Hong Kong is a way out in the Hong Kong music industry in terms of money making as well as non- monetary motives.