The Western Classical Music Industry in Twenty-First Century China

Weida Wang explores how Western classical music has become increasingly popular in China, framing the industry as a complex entity embedded within China's political landscape, cultural economy, and cultural industries. The study delves into the mechanisms and underlying logics driving the rapid expansion of this market in contemporary China.

Weida Wang is a scholar and lecturer specialising in music industry studies, sound art studies, and cultural studies in music. With a PhD in music from Royal Holloway, University of London, Wang serves as a lecturer and guest lecturer at institutions such as the University of Liverpool, Heidelberg University, and Point Blank Music School in London.

List of Figures List of Tables Introduction Chapter One The Western classical music industry in China: Contexts and conditions 1.1 'Crisis' in the West and proliferation in the East? 1.2 What is the relationship between music, governance, politics, and regulation in China? 1.2.1 Market censorship 1.2.2 Cultural policy censorship 1.2.3 Political censorship 1.3 Research Methodology: insider/outsider, emic/etic Chapter Two From Political tool to Soft Power: Reconstructing the Role 2.1 Post-socialist China 2.2 Cultural Industries in China 2.2.1 China's music industries 2.2.2 Western classical music as a diplomatic tool 2.3 Soft Power and the Western classical music industry today 2.4 Cosmopolitanism: Western classical music as authenticity Chapter Three The nostalgia industry 3.1 Shanghai in the Republican period 3.2 SMO and Lyceum Theatre 3.3 Industry, policy, and audiences 3.4 The nostalgia industry 3.4.1 Nostalgia and memory 3.4.2 The role as cultural intermediary 3.4.3 The impact and the conflict of the professionalism and decolonisation Chapter Four The Political economy of the Beijing Music Festival (BMF): Repertoire and Programming 4.1 Producing culture in China 4.2 The programming of the music festival and the artistic monopoly: alternative privatisation and the emergence of neoliberalism 4.2.1 Cultural Entrepreneurship 4.2.2 Concept of Programming in the First Stage (1998-1999) 4.2.3 Premieres and 'Glocalisation' in the Second Stage (2000-2010) 4.2.4 Competition and the Aesthetic Turn in the Third Stage (2010-2018) Chapter Five Zhu Xiaomei and Richard Wagner: Segmentalised Audiences of the Elite-within-the-Elite 5.1 Politicisation of Western classical music 5.2 Western musicians' reception before and during the Cultural Revolution: Beethoven and Debussy 5.2.1 The criticism of Beethoven 5.2.2 The negative image of Debussy 5.3 'Qi' as a marketing strategy and 'desire' as a political tool 5.3.1 The relationship between both subjectivities 5.3.2 The subjectivity of Qi 5.3.3 The subjectivity of desire 5.4 The market-mania over Zhu Xiaomei 5.5 The Instrumentalisation of Richard Wagner Chapter Six Media culture and China's Western classical music industry 6.1 The paradigm of music criticism in China: media shaping Western classical music fans 6.1.1 The rise of the online media industry and its influence 6.2 The decentralisation of music criticism 6.3 The asylum of aficionados 6.4 Reshaping the scene Chapter Seven Conclusion 7.1 Rethinking 'cultural industries' as a framework specific to China 7.2 Recontextualising each chapter within new insights 7.3 Assemblages and music industries in China Appendix: Chronology of China's Western classical music industry over 20 years (1997-2017) List of abbreviations Bibliography Index