Hong Kong’s Music Industry
October 17, 2008
Hong Kong’s Music Industry
Another example of important unoriginal music is the period of the rise in cover songs, “which would become one of the mainstays of the Hong Kong pop music scene” (Ogawa, 2002, p.122). This rise can be attributed to the “lack of composers and producers of Shanghai-style music in Hong Kong” (Ogawa, 2002, p.122) as a result of the handover to Britain. Ogawa states that “There are several different types of cover versions (Ogawa, 2002, p.122): an original piece covered by a singer using a slightly different musical arrangement, another where the original’s lyrics are translated into a different language, and the original covered by a singer who uses different lyrics with a different language with the same melody (Ogawa, 2002, p.122). JVKV’s cover song falls in the latter category, as well as Faye Wong’s ‘Dream Person’, a cover of The Cranberries’ ‘Dreams’, which is also the most popular type of cover in Hong Kong (Ogawa, 2002, p.122).
The Cranberries’ ‘Dreams’
Faye Wong’s ‘Dream Person’
These covers achieve historical significance as they helped to establish Hong Kong’s music industry as “Although they copied Western songs and sang in English, they prepared the foundations for the acceptance of original Cantonese songs in the next period” (Ogawa, 2002, p.122). Therefore, the importance of cover songs is invaluable to the Hong Kong music industry, as it not only helped establish the industry economically and socially, but also culturally.
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