Cantopop - Early development

Cantopop is a colloquial abbreviation for "Cantonese pop music", a form of popular music that is a subgenre of C-pop. It is also known as HK-pop, short for "Hong Kong pop". Cantopop draws influence not only from other forms of Chinese music, but from a variety of international styles, including jazz, rock and roll, rhythm and blues, electronic music, Western pop music and others. By definition, Cantopop songs are almost invariably performed in Cantonese. Although Cantopop boasts a multinational fanbase, Hong Kong is the most si ...

Including:

• Cantopop - Early development
• Cantopop - Cantopop lyrics
• Cantopop - Characteristics of Cantopop
• Cantopop - The Golden age of Cantopop
• Cantopop - Cantopop market
• Cantopop - Cantopop stars
• Cantopop - Male artistes
• Cantopop - Female artistes
• Cantopop - Groups
• Cantopop - Recent developments in Cantopop
• Cantopop - Notes

Read more here: » Cantopop: Encyclopedia - Cantopop

Before the 1960s, the Cantonese music available in Hong Kong was limited largely to traditional Cantonese opera and comic renditions of Western music. Tang Kee-chan (鄧寄塵), Cheng Kuan-min (鄭君綿), and Tam Ping-man (譚炳文) were among the early artists releasing Cantonese records in Hong Kong during this period. The younger generation of the time preferred British and American exports, as well as Mandarin Taiwanese music. Some considered fondness for Western music to be a mark of education or sophistication; conversely, those who preferred Cant ...

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Cantopop, Cantopop - Early development, Cantopop - Cantopop lyrics, Cantopop - Characteristics of Cantopop, Cantopop - The Golden age of Cantopop, Cantopop - Cantopop market, Cantopop - Cantopop stars, Cantopop - Male artistes, Cantopop - Female artistes, Cantopop - Groups, Cantopop - Recent developments in Cantopop, Cantopop - Notes

Read more here: » Cantopop: Encyclopedia II - Cantopop - Early development

Although Cantopop record dropped for a time (sometimes attributed to online music file sharing and a lack of talented new artists), the popular labelling 'New Four Heavenly Kings'(?) revived Cantopop by introducing a sense of the nonsensical and contentious. Formed by veteran singer Alan Tam with the primary aim of resuscitating the ailing industry, consists of Hacken Lee, Andy Hui, Leo Ku and Edmond Leung. By her mid-twenties, Joey Yung established herself as the premier female singer of Hong Kong, and is much admired. Her success ea ...

See also:

Cantopop, Cantopop - Early development, Cantopop - Cantopop lyrics, Cantopop - Characteristics of Cantopop, Cantopop - The Golden age of Cantopop, Cantopop - Cantopop market, Cantopop - Cantopop stars, Cantopop - Male artistes, Cantopop - Female artistes, Cantopop - Groups, Cantopop - Recent developments in Cantopop, Cantopop - Notes

Read more here: » Cantopop: Encyclopedia II - Cantopop - Recent developments in Cantopop

Early Cantopop was developed from Cantonese Opera music hybridized with Western pop music. The musicians gave up using traditional Chinese musical instruments, like the Zheng and the Erhu fiddle, and switched to Western musical setups. Cantopop songs were usually sung by one singer, sometimes with a band, accompanied by piano, synthesizer, drum set, guitar, and bass guitar. They are composed under the 'chorus and verse' form and are generally monophonic. Pract ...

See also:

Cantopop, Cantopop - Early development, Cantopop - Cantopop lyrics, Cantopop - Characteristics of Cantopop, Cantopop - The Golden age of Cantopop, Cantopop - Cantopop market, Cantopop - Cantopop stars, Cantopop - Male artistes, Cantopop - Female artistes, Cantopop - Groups, Cantopop - Recent developments in Cantopop, Cantopop - Notes

Read more here: » Cantopop: Encyclopedia II - Cantopop - Characteristics of Cantopop

In recent decades, Cantopop has established a tradition of writing lyrics in modern written Chinese (which is largely based on syntax and vocabularies of nothern Chinese spoken variants), but pronounced in Cantonese, hence like "Mandarinised" Cantonese. Relatively few have truly colloquial (and usually comical) Cantonese lyrics, and fewer songs contain Classical Chinese (Wenyan) lyrics. In the past, Cantopop maintained the Cantonese Opera tradition of matching the musical notes with tones in the Cantonese language. Since the 1980s, increasin ...

See also:

Cantopop, Cantopop - Early development, Cantopop - Cantopop lyrics, Cantopop - Characteristics of Cantopop, Cantopop - The Golden age of Cantopop, Cantopop - Cantopop market, Cantopop - Cantopop stars, Cantopop - Male artistes, Cantopop - Female artistes, Cantopop - Groups, Cantopop - Recent developments in Cantopop, Cantopop - Notes

Read more here: » Cantopop: Encyclopedia II - Cantopop - Cantopop lyrics

Usually talent is secondary to the success of a Cantopop singer in Hong Kong. Most of the time, it is the image that sells the music, especially with the emergence of many new groups. Publicity is central to an idol's career, as one piece of news could make or break one's future. Almost all modern Cantopop stars go into the movie business regardless of their ability to act. They immediately expand to the Mandarin market once their fame is established; hence pure Cantopop stars are almost nonexistent. Their successes can be gauged by their in ...

See also:

Cantopop, Cantopop - Early development, Cantopop - Cantopop lyrics, Cantopop - Characteristics of Cantopop, Cantopop - The Golden age of Cantopop, Cantopop - Cantopop market, Cantopop - Cantopop stars, Cantopop - Male artistes, Cantopop - Female artistes, Cantopop - Groups, Cantopop - Recent developments in Cantopop, Cantopop - Notes

Read more here: » Cantopop: Encyclopedia II - Cantopop - Cantopop stars