Monday.COME
“Pop Music and Politics”

Pop Music and Politics

Known as “Long Hair in music industry” and with a law degree from the University of Hong Kong, Adrian Chow established his music brand “Ban Ban Music” in 2004. He subverted the Hong Kong pop music industry order which has been dominated by love songs since 1990s with melodies with a socio-political message. Kay Tse, a singer and collaborator, described him as an excellent musician with a strong sense of social responsibility.

However, can music change the society? The Hong Kong society becomes more inequitable and unjust in recent years, the wealth disparity is intensified, the councils are losing their functions, and street protests have become frequent. Compared with direct actions, “to intervene society with music” was ridiculed as a powerless fight that resembles “democracy in the karaoke room”. After the Umbrella Movement, Chow experienced his bottleneck of creativity. Last year, Chow cooperated with Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions and released an album “Wild Fire” to focus on worker’s rights . This album offers Chow a chance to rethink how pop music should fulfill its social function when Hong Kong is getting highly politicized.

Date: February 22, 2016 (Monday)
Time: 12:30 pm – 2:00 pm
Venue: NAH 313
Speaker: Adrain Chow (Music Producer)
Host: Eric Poon (Associate Professor of Practice, School of Journalism and Communication, the Chinese University of Hong Kong)
Language: Cantonese (English can be used in discussion)
Lunch: HK$10 (The organizers subsidize the remainder. Lunch is provided for REGISTERED participants only)
Registration: http://ebooking.com.cuhk.edu.hk/events/ (A quota of 100 on a first-come-first-served basis. Please register before 12:00 noon, February 19, 2016)

Monday.COME is open to staff members and students of universities and institutions. It is closed to the press.