"Mandopop | AboutHK.Com - more information about HK"

Mandopop

is a colloquial abbreviation for "Mandarin popular music".

It is also referred to as Mandapop. It is categorized as a subgenre of Chinese popular music within C-pop. Mandopop was the first variation of popular music in Chinese. True resemblance to western pop only came later in its progression. By and large, mandopop songs are almost invariably performed in Mandarin. The term "Tai-pop" is a slang for mandopop music in Taiwan, not an actual abbreviation.

History

Origin

The origin of Chinese popular music in general began with a western technology called gramophone, which was brought over to Tibet Road Shanghai by a Frenchman named Labansat. Baak Doi (百代) was the first record company to serve as the backbone for the young industry.


Shanghai Night Essentials II (夜上海精选二) featuring 5 out of the 7 stars. Left to right: Bai Guang, Ge Lan, Li Xianglan, Chang Loo, Bai Hong, Wu Yingyin, Zhou Xuan. Missing in the picture is Gong Qiuxia and Yao Lee

1920s Birth of shidaiqu

Mandarin pop songs in the 1920s were called shidaiqu (時代曲 - meaning music of the time, thus popular music). They are considered the prototype of any Chinese pop songs. Location wise, Shanghai was the center and quintessential hub for mandopop. Li Jinhui is generally regarded as the "Father of Chinese Popular Music" having established the genre in the 1920s[3]. Buck Clayton, the American jazz musician also worked alongside Li. Some music enthusiasts, however, may suggest that Shidaiqu is the basic form of all mandarin pop songs up until the transition to cantopop. The Bright Moonlight Song and Dance Troupe established by Li, is also the first modern musical division to be integrated into the Lianhua Film Company in 1931, making it the first pop music division to enter any Chinese film industry.

1930s - 1940s: The Seven Great Singing Stars era

The original "Seven Great Singing Stars" of the Republic of China essentially paved the way for the industry. Their individual style was unique to any Chinese music before it. The young film industry benefited greatly with their acting and soundtrack roles. Zhou Xuan (周璇）is generally considered the first Chinese popstar due to her successful dual singing and film career. By the end of this generation, female singers went from "song girls" to "stars". Other prominent singers included Chang Loo (张露) and Ge Lan (葛兰). The era, however, would be short lived as Shanghai became occupied with the Second Sino-Japanese War and eventually World War II.


Teresa Teng

1950s: The Split

In 1949 the People"s Republic of China was established by the communist party. One of the first actions taken by the government was to denounce popular music as pornography. In the mainland, the communist regime would begin suppressing pop music to promote revolutionary songs.

Taiwan would continue mandopop expansion. It was considered a new genre for the youth, and mandopop music had the edge, since the KMT government discouraged existing Taiwanese language. As a result, enka origin Taiwanese pop was phased out by mandopop.

1970s - 1980s: Rise of the industry

In 1979 Singapore was under the "Speak Mandarin Campaign". Many TV and radio stations including Singapore Broadcasting Corporation would stop broadcasting cantopop songs to promote mandopop.

Teresa Teng （邓丽君, Deng Li Jun) made mandopop a true alternative by crossing over both subgenre. Even in the height of censorship, the mainland lifted the ban on Teng in 1986 and proclaimed that "By day, Deng Xiaoping rules China. But by night, Teresa Teng rules". New artist like Lo Ta-yu （罗大佑）expanded the scene to new heights, and many would credit him for shifting older mandopop style to new.

Current

2000s

The 2000s began with an explosion of pop idols. A growing mainland film industry was also hungry for mandopop. Jay Chou led the popularity of rhythm and blues and rap music in the scene. Other successful singers include Elva Hsiao. Recent years also saw the rise of bubblegum pop boybands and girlbands in the Chinese scene, with commercially successful acts such as S.H.E and Energy.

Characteristics

Instruments and setups

The guqin and pipa are one of the first instrument used during shidaiqu early mandopop era. Today"s mandopop arrangements are quite westernized covering many musical styles, including rhythm and blues, ballads, Pop. A few Chinese pop musicans, most notably Jay Chou, Lin Jun Jie, and Wang Lee-Hom, have experimented with fusing traditional Chinese instruments with western influence.

Influencing artists like Lee-Hom Wang, who used both traditional Chinese instruments and mainstream western hip hop melodies had influenced many Asian singers world-wide.

Lyric

Taiwan and Hong Kong writes with traditional Chinese characters. Mainland China writes with simplified characters. Mandarin mainly sound the same when performed. Scholar Dr. Larry Schulz has explored the melding of American popular music with works by such Chinese poets as Li Bai and Du Fu to offer new insight into the tonal structure of classical poetry and approaches to translation.

Industry


Jay Chou a popular mandopop star

Mandopop stars

While China has the largest mandarin-speaking population, Taiwan is the most significant hub of the genre. The trend is that most artists are branded by where they come from regardless of where they were actually marketed.

Labels

There are many labels such as Rock Records, HIM International Music. Subsidiaries of major companies like Virgin Records Taiwan are also in the market.

Overseas

Mandopop titles are available to overseas Chinese communities such as San Francisco Bay Area, Greater Los Angeles/Orange County, New York City Metropolitan Areas in the United States, and Vancouver, BC and Toronto Metropolitan Areas in Canada. Recently, a wider selection of music has been made available in the Greater San Diego and Greater Seattle Areas than before, courtesy of the Tawa Ranch 99 Supermarket Plazas that have been developed there. Other potential Metropolitan Areas that may have a market for such pop music are southwest Houston/Sugar Land and Richardson (near Dallas), in Texas as there are Asian plazas and supermarkets that have been developed there. Music from the Seven great singing stars would also be available in US Rhapsody music service in 2007 nearly 70 years after they debut.

Artists
Audio samples of Mandopop

* "The Evening Primrose" (file info) — play in browser (beta)
o A 1930s shidaiqu style mandopop song by Li Xianglan
* "Irreplaceable" (無可取代) (file info) — play in browser (beta)
o Song produced in a more R&B-esque style by S.H.E
* Problems playing the files? See media help.

Male

* Jay Chou
* Lin Jun Jie



* Lee-Hom Wang
* Nicky Wu

Female

* A-mei
* Bai Guang
* Bai Hong
* Elva Hsiao
* Evonne Hsu
* Jolin Tsai



* Vivian Hsu
* Yao Lee
* Gigi Leung
* Gong Qiuxia
* Teresa Teng



* Wu Yingyin
* Li Xianglan
* Zhang Liangying
* Zhou Xuan

Groups

* F4

* S.H.E

* Carrchy

Mandopop radio stations
Station Location Frequencies and Platform
HKVP Radio Hong Kong Live365
Kiss Radio Taiwan Taiwan 99.9 FM, 99.7 FM, 97.1 FM, 98.3 FM and Internet live streaming
Hit Fm 90.1 FM, 91.5 FM, 91.7 FM and Internet live streaming
Beijing Radio Stations Beijing 97.4 FM and Internet live streaming
Shenzhen Radio Station Shenzhen 97.1 FM and Internet live streaming
Shanghai Media Group Shanghai 101.7 FM and Internet live streaming
KAZN Los Angeles Sometimes
Singapore 93.3 FM
Yekaroo
BigB Radio
afRadio
MandarinRadio.com Internet live streaming (also available on iTunes Radio)