K-pop in China in the mobile internet period: Internet platforms, the “Korea Ban”, and the K-pop-formatted Chinese idol industry — IAPMS online workshop vol. 12

We are pleased to host the Inter-Asia Popular Music Studies (IAPMS) Online Workshop vol. 12. To participate in this online event, please register by filling out the form with your name and email address. The event information will be sent to your email upon registration. A reminder email will also be sent one day before as well as one hour before the event.

Registration form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScgWEO6g8FaEIYyhI5YHZGOFWNNspzA2pAmjVvffpDUtDLnpA/viewform?usp=sf_link

Date: Feb.10, 2022 (Thursday)

20:00-22:00 (Korea/Japan)
19:00-21:00 (China/Taiwan/Singapore/Mongolia)
18:00-20:00 (Vietnam/Thailand)

(Please use the time zone converter to calculate the event time in your location: https://www.thetimezoneconverter.com/)


IAPMS Online Workshop vol. 12

K-pop in China in the mobile internet period: Internet platforms, the “Korea Ban”, and the K-pop-formatted Chinese idol industry

Speaker: Sun Meicheng (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore)
Moderator: Yoshitaka Mori (Professor, Tokyo University of the Arts, Japan)
Organizers: Yoshitaka Mori & Hyunjoon Shin (Professor, SungKongHoe University, Korea)

Abstract

Hallyu, or the Korean Wave, has become a global cultural phenomenon. Its growing popularity around the world is indicative of the rise in Asian cultural power. Korean popular music, or K-pop, has been a key genre in Hallyu. K-pop has been transmitted in China for more than two decades. By employing archival research, this article analyses the transmission of K-pop in China from 2012 to the present. Specifically, it looks at the development of China’s mobile internet and the various platforms for K-pop in China, China’s “Korea Ban,” and the K-pop-formatted Chinese idol industry. The article potentially sheds new light on Hallyu studies, Korean studies, and the studies of transnational cultural flows.

Speaker: Sun Meicheng

Sun Meicheng obtained her bachelor’s degree in Philosophy from Nanjing University and her master’s degree in Advertising from The Chinese University of Hong Kong. She is about to graduate from the PhD program in Communication Studies in Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Her research interests include transnational popular cultural flows, fandom, and cultural industries. Meicheng’s dissertation covers K-pop in China focusing on its history, fan practices, and Chinese K-pop stars.

For more information: http://www.interasiapop.org/

50 YEARS OF OVERSEAS V-POP — IAPMS online workshop vol. 11

We are pleased to host the Inter-Asia Popular Music Studies (IAPMS) Online Workshop vol. 11. To participate in this online event, please register by filling out the form with your name and email address. The event information will be sent to your email upon registration. A reminder email will also be sent one day before as well as one hour before the event.

Registration form: https://forms.gle/9d1HWFAJTrWWGaHW6

The event will be held on 6th January 2022 (Thursday):
19:00-21:00 (Vietnam), 21:00-23:00m (Korea/Japan), 20:00-22:00 (China), 13:00-15:00 (Germany/Austria), 12:00 (UK)

(Please use the time zone converter to calculate the event time in your location: https://www.thetimezoneconverter.com/)

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IAPMS Online Workshop vol. 11
50 YEARS OF OVERSEAS V-POP

Speaker: LY-QUYET TIEN (Becamex Business School, Eastern International University, Bihn Duong, Vietnam)
Moderator: Yoshitaka Mori (Professor, Tokyo University of the Arts, Japan)
Organizers: Yoshitaka Mori & Hyunjoon Shin (Professor, SungKongHoe University, Korea)

Date: 6th January 2022 (Thursday)
Time: 19:00-21:00 (Vietnam)
21:00-23:00m (Korea/Japan)
20:00-22:00 (China)
13:00-15:00 (Germany/Austria)
12:00 (UK)

Abstract:
The end of the Vietnam War in 1975 opened a new chapter in the history of the country. The 30 of April, 1975 is a day of many meanings: to the majority Vietnamese, it is an unforgettable day for the people to return to peace and rebuild the country after 21 years of civil war with the intervention of the foreigners whereas to others, this day means the fall of Saigon and the beginning of a long exile with arduous challenges. Lots of Southerners among them, many Saigon artists fled the country to America, Europe and Australia. Paris and then Orange County became the cultural center that attracted most of the reputed Saigon singers to come and live and continue their activities. Many entertainment companies were born, many music products were created and many concerts were organized to serve the Vietnamese diaspora. A school of music appeared and developed in France and in the USA in parallel with Vietnamese music in the country. Overseas V-Pop has experienced ups and downs, golden time and dark time and renaissance in their development since 1975.
50 years of overseas V-Pop studies the background into which Vietnamese overseas music was born and develops: its styles, themes as well as its own particularity. The study also examines its identity and originality, its positive role in diversifying and modernizing of Vietnam’s pop culture and its active role in the promotion of the yellow music in Vietnam and across the world.

Speaker: Ly Quyet Tien
Lecturer and researcher at Becamex Business School, Eastern International University, doctor Ly Quyet Tien has been guest lecturer at many universities in Ho Chi Minh city, Binh Duong and Dong Nai (Vietnam). He holds bachelor’s degrees in History & in English from the University of Social Sciences and Humanities. He also holds M.A. degrees in FLE from University of Rouen, in Vietnam History from the Southern Institute of Social Sciences and Humanities in HCMC. In 2008, he received his Ph.D. in Eastern Asia and Humanities from University of Paris 7- Diderot. Specialist in Vietnamese studies, he has taken part as presenter in international conferences since 2014 and been invited as guest scholar/lecturer at Institut d’Asie Orientale (AOL), École Normale Supérieure in Lyon and University of Toulouse-Jean Jaures in Toulouse (France). He can be contacted at lyquyettien@yahoo.fr

Negotiating spaces: Mid-1990s queer, female fan culture and the popularization of Japanese popular music in German-speaking European countries — IAPMS online workshop vol.10

We are pleased to host the Inter-Asia Popular Music Studies Group (IAPMS) Online Workshop vol.10. This event is free and open to public, but we ask you to register for participation. Please register by filling out the form with your name and email address. The event information (with Zoom link) will be sent to your email two day before and a reminder will be sent to you one hour before the event.

Date: 11th November (Thu)
Time: 20:00-22:00 (Korea/Japan) / 19:00-21:00 pm (China) / 12:00-14:00 pm (Germany/Austria)
Venue: ZOOM

(Please use the time zone converter to calculate the event time in your location: https://www.thetimezoneconverter.com/)

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To register for the event, please visit the link and sign up:

https://forms.gle/yHbp56kBRjg6u7539

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Negotiating spaces: Mid-1990s queer, female fan culture and the popularization of Japanese popular music in German-speaking European countries

Anita Drexler (Nichibunken)

Since the last half of the 20th century, there have been numerous attempts to establish Japanese artists within the music market of German speaking European countries. However, none of them were even remotely as successful as the visual kei-led J-music boom that defined much of the German music industry in the years around the turn of the millennium.

If we want to understand the reasons for this success, we cannot ignore the fan culture that revolved around the wide popularization of anime and manga during the 1990s. In my presentation I’m going to analyse German anime magazines from the mid-1990s to the mid-2000s, which served as a main vehicle for the formation of a new – that is young, female and disproportionally queer – fanbase.

I argue that not only was this stratum of fans crucial for the success of Japanese popular music in German-speaking European countries for the years to come, but that from their negotiation of a cultural space within a pre-existing fanscape, we can deepen our understanding of what it is that makes an imported musical genre an important one.

In my opinion, knowing more about the mechanism of how cultural spaces are (re)-negotiated by fans can help to further understanding of how specific trends – like City Pop – are able to gain global traction.

BIO

Anita Drexler received her BA and MA in Japanese studies (with minors in Media studies and Musicology) from the University of Vienna. Her research interests include Japanese popular music from the 1970s – 1990s, music journalism and transcultural musical transfers. She is currently a research student at the Nichibunken in Kyōto, Japan.

Respondent: Oliver Seibt (University of Amsterdam)

https://interasiapop.org/

[CFP] Final Reminder — IASPM XXI 2022 in Daegu

Greetings!

This is a gentle reminder that it is 5 days before the deadline for call for proposals on 31 October 2021. Please visit our online submission site and follow the instructions below to submit a proposal or to confirm / revise your previously accepted one.

Instructions:

  • For first-time submission
  1. Visit our online submission page at the conference website
  2. Create your account and log in
  3. Click “Template Download” on the online submission page
  4. Follow the instructions in the template and fill in the downloaded form
  5. Choose the type of submission appropriate to you (Individual, Panel, Film/Video) and click the button
  6. Fill out all required information on the submission page and complete the submission
  • For accepted Individual or film/video submission
  1. Visit conference website and log in
  2. Click on My Page in the upper right corner of the website
  3. Click on the Individual or Film/Video tab of the category you previously submitted
  4. Check the notice marked in red, and click the ‘Review Your Proposal’ button on the righthand side
  5. Review the information about your previous submission on the page, and go to the bottom where you will see the “Keep My Proposal” and “Modify This Proposal” button. Click on the button that is appropriate, and follow the process.

Please note that your submission will undergo a new round of review process if changes were made.

  • For accepted panel submission
  • Follow the instructions in “For accepted individual or film/video submission” above only choose to enter “Panel” on My Page.
  • Permission to access the online submission page is reserved for panel organizers. Please contact your panel organizer to request revision or replacement of your proposal if you wish so.
  • All panel organizers MUST confirm the existing proposal electronically on our online submission system unless there is a request for revision or replacement from your panel members. In the latter case, you can make changes to the proposals of your panel members. Again, however, this would invalidate your accepted status and your panel proposal will be sent to Academic Committee for review.

If you wish to make changes to your personal details such as affiliation, email, et cetera on the online submission system, please do not do that yourself but contact IASPM XXI secretariat at iaspm2021@gmail.com.

If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to direct those to IASPM XXI secretariat.

Many thanks,

IASPM XXI 2022 Organizing Committee

Ondo Goes On: the Folk, the Folky and the Festive in Modern Japan — Inter-Asia Popular Music Studies (IAPMS) Online Workshop vol.9

We are pleased to host the Inter-Asia Popular Music Studies Group (IAPMS) Online Workshop vol.9. To participate in this online event, please register by filling out the form with your name and email address. The event information will be sent to your email after the registration. A reminder email will also be sent two day before as well as one hour before the event.

Registration form: https://forms.gle/CbjuhFTmnkiBNt576

The event will be held on 13th August (Fri):

15:00-17:00m (Korea/Japan) / 14:00-16:00 pm (China)  

(Please use the time zone converter to calculate the event time in your location: https://www.thetimezoneconverter.com/)

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IAPMS online workshop vol.9

Title: Ondo Goes On: the Folk, the Folky and the Festive in Modern Japan

Speaker: Shuhei Hosokawa

Moderator: Yusuke Wajima

Date: 13th August (Fri.)

Time: 15:00-17:00m (Korea/Japan) / 14:00-16:00 pm (China)

Venue: ZOOM

Abstract: Ondo Goes On: the Folk, the Folky and the Festive in Modern Japan

Ondo音頭 is a genre of dance music invented and disseminated since the 1930s in Japan. Although its magnetism is rarely mentioned in the history of popular music, the ondo pieces are so dominant in the summer obon festivals and other community-based events that even the majority of J-pop fans can “tune in” on this vernacular beat.  This paper will outline the musical, industrial and social background of ondo music launching by “Tokyo Ondo” (1933). Over a million copies of record, rumor says, were sold.

The rhythmic pattern of “Tokyo Ondo” omes from geisha party music which is accompanied by shamisen and small taiko drums (kotsuzumi). Unlike their performance indoors for selected audience, ondo is typically played outdoors for the open public. In the center of circle of dancing mass, one sets up a platform for large taiko (and dancers) which is performed with the commercial recordings played loudly through the speakers. It is what the ethnomusicologist Charles Keil called “live-and-mediated performance” (like karaoke).

Astonished by the massive craze, some critics observed it as a “safety valve” against the nationwide tension caused by the warfare in Manchuria. Their sober view, however, did not affect the collective enthusiasm overwhelming beyond the geographical (not national-ethnic) boundaries (in Manchuria, Korea, Taiwan, and the Nikkei immigration communities). Similar ondo pieces were released every summer but they could not sweep out “Tokyo Ondo.” While the state control being fortified under the warfare, the gatherings from below were shrinked or prohibited till 1945. 

During the Occupation period, the obon festivals were generally suspended due to their “old Japan” image. However, it slowly revived in the 1950s on the local level, while “Tokyo Olympic Games Ondo” (1964) stimulated the first nationwide boom after the war. It was followed in 1965 by “Oba Q Ondo,” originating from the TV anime, Obake no Q-taro, sung by the voice actress of Oba Q. The liaison with anime was recaptured in 1981 by “Arare-chan Ondo,” recorded by the voice actress of Arare-chan, a character from Dr. Slump. All of these sing happy-go-lucky words and the choreography is easy even for kids. Children’s participation is essential for the organizers of events.

In 2014, Otomo Yoshihide, known for his underground acts, composed “Eejanaika Ondo” for supporting the people in the nuclear-contaminated zones in Fukushima (“eejanaika” refers to the mass upheaval against the Tokugawa reign around the 1850s-60s just before the Meiji Restauration). Ondo turns to be a meeting point between the mass entertainment and political message.

In today’s obon gatherings, the above-noted pieces are played repeatedly with some local variants. Ondo music is neither oriented to Top 40 or to niche market nor classified as J-pop but lingers beneath the surface of consumption society as a unique expression of vernacularism.

Speaker: Shuhei Hosokawa

Professor Emeritus at the International Research Center for Japanese Studies (Kyoto). He is author of Sentiment, Language and the Arts. Japanese-Brazilian Herit­age (Brill, 2019) and coeditor (with Toru Mitsui) of Karaoke around the World: Global Technology Local Singing (Routledge, 1998). His interest ranges from sound technology and music industry to history of popular music. Visiting professor at the University of Michigan (1995), the University of Changchun (2002, 2003), the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru (2004, 2006) and the University of Melbourne (2010). 

Music Streaming Platforms and Self-Releasing Musicians in China — IAPMS online workshop vol.8

We are pleased to host the Inter-Asia Popular Music Studies Group (IAPMS) Online Workshop vol.8. To participate in this online event, please register by filling out the form with your name and email address. The event information will be sent to your email after the registration. A reminder email will also be sent two day before as well as one hour before the event.

Registration form: https://forms.gle/6xi6ZR9uTGHgFFCw8

The event will be held on 10 June (Thu): 8:00-10:00pm (Korea/Japan) / 7:00-9:00 pm (China)  

(Please use the time zone converter to calculate the event time in your location: https://www.thetimezoneconverter.com/)

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Music Streaming Platforms and Self-Releasing Musicians in China
IAPMS online workshop vol.8

Name:  Shuwen QU
Affiliation: Jinan University
Moderator: Jian XIAO

10 June (Thu): 8:00-10:00 (Korea/Japan) / 7:00-9:00 (China)  

Biography: Qu Shuwen is the Associate Professor in the School of Journalism and Communication at the Jinan University. She has a Ph.D. in Cultural Studies from The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Her research interests include cultural studies, popular music, music technology and communication. Now she is working on the research projects of the platformization of the music industry and its impacts on musical experiences. Her contacts: Qu_sw@sz.jnu.edu.cnhttps://www.researchgate.net/profile/Qu_Shuwen2.

Abstract: A major development in the music industries in recent years has been the rise of ‘unsigned’ or ‘self-releasing’ musicians (sometimes problematically called ‘DIY musicians’ or ‘independent musicians’) who upload music directly to music streaming platforms (MSPs). What’s unique about self-releasing in China is that Chinese MSPs have sought to incorporate such self-releasing musicians into their platform eco-systems, which is not the case in the west. This talk, first traces the evolution of ‘indie discourse’ in China so as to clarify its meaning in streaming time, that is, the celebration of an entrepreneurial and copyright-oriented ethos, which becomes the ideological foundation of self-releasing services. Then, the discussion analyzes why and how the self-releasing has been incorporated into MSPs as core assets, and to what extent cultural autonomy of self-releasing services is affected by platform mechanisms. 

Stay Underground? Punk in China, Indonesia and the Big Band: Inter-Asia Pop Online Workshop #7

We are pleased to host the seventh Inter-Asia Popular Music Studies Group (IAPMS or Inter-Asia Pop) Online Workshop. On Thursday, April 15, Dr. Jian Xiao will give a talk on punk in China and Indonesia.

The event is free. but you need to register in advance: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeaOq-TcU6obMJAezrFK4JeQBuPKb8zLXYTsNAIw_xP_JlKjQ/viewform?usp=pp_url

We will send you a reminder with the instruction to the video conference twice: one day before and one hour before the event. Please find more detail below.

Stay underground? Punk in China, Indonesia and The Big Band

Guest speaker: Jian XIAO (Zhejiang University)

Biography: Jian Xiao (Ph.D. Loughborough University, UK) is the Associate Professor in the school of Media and International Culture, Zhejiang University. She has published in International Journal of CommunicationJournal of Popular Music StudiesCultural Critique, European Journal of Cultural Studies, Chinese Journal of Communication, Space and Culture, Journalism Practice and so on. She has also published a monograph, “Punk Culture in Contemporary China” with Palgrave Macmillan. Her research interest is focused on urban politics, new media, and cultural studies.

Abstract: In this paper, I consider local, translocal, virtual punk scenes as “a form of networking”. The talk compares two sets of relationships—first, the Chinese punk scene and the Indonesian punk scene, and second, the pre-internet punk scene spatialised through different venues such as gigs, festivals, zines, and the platformised scene as organised via the online music show The Big Band—to discuss the transformation from an underground network to a platformised communicative network. The development of a punk scene in China can be described as “a form of cosmopolitanism urbanism” due to its involvement with global connections. While the underground network is shaped by the global punk community, I regard its relevant spatial practices as a form of authenticity that infuse local tradition into modernity, and its underground nature as an asset since it brings authenticity and the cultural capital that goes with it. It is argued that that the process of reconfiguring an underground network into a platformised network is based on a process of commercialisation that transforms the bands’ cultural capital based in authenticity into economic capital.

KL Sing Song: alternative voices in the Kuala Lumpur singer songwriter circuit (2005 – 2009) by Azmyl Yusof (Sunway University Malaysia): Inter-Asia Popular Music Studies (IAPMS) Online Workshop vol.06

Register here: https://forms.gle/SkuXVkvBATcXFR8i7

  • If you are a non-member of IAPMS and would like to register for this Zoom event, please fill out the form with your name, affiliation, and email address. The Zoom link information will be sent to you one day before the event.
  • If you are already a member of IAPMS and subscribing the mailing list, you don’t have to register for this event. Simply, have access to the event via the link provided in the email from the mailing list.

Time:
Date: Thursday, February 4th, 2021 
Time: 8PM (UTC+9) 
8PM (Korea/Japan) 7PM (Malaysia/China/Hong Kong/ Taiwan /Singapore/Perth)  

Title:  
KL Sing Song: alternative voices in the Kuala Lumpur singer songwriter circuit (2005 – 2009)

Speaker:
Azmyl Yusof (Sunway University Malaysia)

Abstract:
This talk explores the emergence of the Kuala Lumpur singer songwriter circuit by charting the development of the annual singer songwriter showcase KL Sing Song. The showcase, which ended its run at it sixth installment (from 2005 to 2009) serves as a case study on the fostering of communal spirit and networking amongst like-minded arts practitioners. Taking a self-reflexive approach, it also considers the parallel developments of other related ‘scenes’, primarily the underground and indie rock, from which some of the KL-based singer songwriters featured in the showcase also participated. Taking cue from the DIY (do-it-yourself) punk approach ethos, the event emphasizes the use of only original compositions and has featured a variety of singer songwriters (from award winning globetrotting performers to upcoming youngsters to seasoned street buskers) with minimal instrumental accompaniment (itself an agent of mobility). In contrast to the more visible and ‘hip’ indie rock scene (which tended to be detached from contemporary politics), the singer songwriter scene has also provided an alternate cultural space for its participants (including for some who have moved on to commercial success) by being friendly to political communication and satire, with its notable support by the alternative online media, non-governmental organizations, and non-commercial venues and art spaces in the Klang Valley, Malaysia. Through a combination of journalistic method of data collection based on the presenter’s professional background and insider network access, this talk hopes to offer greater insight into scene politics and the agency of artists outside of the overemphasized paradigm of the ‘music industry’ and locate practices that were prevalent before the arrival of social media platforms. The talk will also share the development of the singer songwriter circuit in the past decade right up to the COVID-19 pandemic which essentially halted all music-making activities, affecting the entire performing arts community’s livelihood while also revealing the structural shortcomings and severe lack of political will by Malaysian music industry players and policy makers.

Profile:
Azmyl Yusof is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Arts, Sunway University Malaysia and a recording and touring underground singer songwriter. More popularly known as his stage name Azmyl Yunor, his research interest parallels his artistic practice which includes music subcultures and the cultural politics of identity in Malaysia. A gig organizer and the co-founder of several seminal punk and experimental rock bands, he has been recording and producing albums independently since 1997 as a solo artist and band member and continues to collaborate with filmmakers on projects. A weekly columnist for an online publication and a regular guest and host on radio shows, he is known as one of the few critical voices of his generation in the local performing arts community. His most notable publication was a chapter on Malaysian music subcultures, Malay youths, and mediated moral panics in Media, Culture and Society in Malaysia (2010). With his observational eye on the cultural politics of contemporary Malaysia that sets him apart from peers, his recent album ‘John Bangi Blues’ is a rootsy rock n’ roll romp dedicated to his district of Bangi south of the capital (launched in September 2020) which has been hailed by music magazine NME as a “blistering commentary on the ‘Middle Malaysia’ experience”.

7th Inter-Asia Popular Music Studies Conference3-6 December – Online

Dear Participants

Hope this message finds you well


On behalf of Sunway University and the 7th IAPMS Local Arrangements Committee (LAC) we would like to express our concern as the coronavirus continues to control all matters of our lives.


Given that Malaysia is now experiencing a third wave, the 7th IAPMS conference will take place 3-6 December 2020 and will be fully online. All presentations will be delivered through asynchronous broadcasting of pre-recorded presentations followed by a live Q &A session. The conference will be done using Zoom meetings and will allow participants to ask questions during the live Q & A session.



In order to participate in the conference please register and make the payment online using the following link:

https://epayment.sunway.edu.my/suni

The fees are:

Students – RM100 (roughly 25USD)

Regular – RM200 (roughly 50USD)

(Please make sure to select the right event.)

All registered participants will receive a complimentary copy of the 7th IAPMS proceedings in either hard copy or e-book format. 

After we receive the payments, the Local Arrangements Committee will send the programme together with the Zoom links to all registered participants by November 15.  

Best regards and stay safe 


7th IAPMS Local Arrangements Committee

_________________________________

Inter-Asia Popular Music Studies 

http://interasiapop.org

https://www.facebook.com/interasiapopularmusicstudies