Walking into Hung Kwong Building, Sai Yang Choi Street, Mong Kok, after a long staircase to the end, you can see an inconspicuous small crimson sign with the words "Friends World Records" printed in gilding, and a poster pasted at the door. During the lecture on the new book titled "Remembering Chen Baiqiang like this", the classic songs of the 1980s were faintly heard in the room.
Pushing the door and entering, the floor of less than 300 feet is filled with various audio components and sundries, and the densely packed vinyl discs on the cabinet are oddly neatly stacked; when you walk in, more than 90% of them are spanning decades. Cantonese song album.
The boss, Huang Guoen, is very familiar with each piece: "At the peak, I collected nearly 40,000 (records)." However, during the whole afternoon of the reporter's interview, few people came in to patronize, only occasionally people passed by and looked at the door...
When it comes to the development of pop music in Hong Kong, it is inevitable to mention the ups and downs of the record industry: in 1995, when Huang Guoen opened his first CD shop, people would still wait for hours to buy a favorite record.
Such a situation, after the appearance of the "copy" album, never came back. "It was difficult to support it almost in 1996." Huang Guoen said, "At that time, Jacky Cheung released a new album in the morning, and some people sold the copy in the afternoon." After that, The arrival of digital music has directly overturned the cornucopia of the traditional record industry.
In order to survive the frenzy of acquisitions and bankruptcy, a large number of record companies have invested in the karaoke business model, emphasizing the market and packaging, ignoring music creation, and treating idol singers as a business.
But this approach only seeks speed and not quality. When the Korean wave and European and American music hit, these slobber songs are simply unable to resist.
At the same time, the mainland entertainment and record market is slowly rising, and gradually replacing Hong Kong as the core of the Chinese music scene...
For details, please read the 326th issue of "Hong Kong 01" Electronic Weekly (July 18, 2022)
"Cantonese songs fell from the altar to the edge of the Chinese music scene in the era of the digital music industry"
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Cantonese song.
1 | "The Sound of Life" reproduces the memory of the times and signals the revival of the Hong Kong music scene?
Cantonese song.
2｜In the era of the digital music industry, Cantonese songs fell from the altar to the edge of the Chinese music scene.
The Anita Mui spirit is the spirit of Hong Kong: The show must go on!
Huang Guoen mentioned that the emergence of a large number of "copy" factories has had a great impact on the record market.
(Photo by Zheng Zifeng)
The emergence of "reposted" records has brought the thriving local record market to a tragic slump.
(Hong Kong 01 cartography)
The ethos of the star-making movement began when Anita Mui won the first rookie singing contest in 1982.
(online picture)
Hong Kong-produced films lack innovation, either the family is fighting for property or the police and bandits are fighting for their wits.
(video image)
Hunan Satellite TV seized the opportunity to learn from the new "draft show" format in Europe and the United States, and successfully brought competitive variety shows such as "Super Girl", "Happy Boys", "I Am a Singer" into the public eye, and created Li Yuchun, Zhang Jingying, Zhang Jie, etc. A group of popular draft stars.
("I Am a Singer" Weibo)
