Popular music in the youth culture of Hong Kong: the social functions of indie music

Abstract

Purpose

The key concepts to be explored in this article include the blurring boundary between “indie” and “pop”; the significance of digital media in contemporary music industry and the distinctive socio-political nature of indie music in Hong Kong. To a large extent, it discusses the social functions of music – a subject discussed by Simon Frith (2007), a leading scholar in popular music studies.

Design/methodology/approach

In order to expound on some observations of the connections between music cultures and socio-political development in Hong Kong, a selection of musical works by indie musicians will be looked into closely.

Findings

A focus of discussion will be given to the difference between mainstream Cantopop and indie music in a way that the latter mentions socio-political matters overtly while the former downplays sensitive political issues, particularly in the post-colonial era after the handover of Hong Kong to mainland China in 1997.

Originality/value

Originality of research can be evidenced by the author's textual analysis of the musical styles and lyrics produced by various local indie artists' musical works through primary sources.

Citation

Lau, S.S.-C. (2021), "Popular music in the youth culture of Hong Kong: the social functions of indie music", Asian Education and Development Studies, Vol. 10 No. 4, pp. 493-503. https://doi.org/10.1108/AEDS-07-2020-0172