The Western Classical Music Industry in Twenty-First Century China

Weida Wang explores how Western classical music (WCM) has become increasingly popular in China, framing the industry as a complex entity intricately embedded within Chinas political landscape, cultural economy, and cultural industries. Wang highlights how authorities and organisers strive to build powerful brands to support the industrys growth, aiming to tap into the vast domestic market and showcase Chinas achievements in WCM on the global stage as part of broader cultural diplomacy efforts. The study delves into the mechanisms and underlying logics driving the rapid expansion of the WCM market in contemporary China. With the rise of Chinas economy since its governments late-1970s economic and political reform, WCM has become a useful tool for showcasing changes to the image of modern and contemporary China. At the same time, a new Chinese middle class, following the rapid economic (and cultural) development in Chinas coastal cities, has also emerged, becoming a substantial demographic involved in the learning, appreciation, and consumption of WCM. Especially in the past 20 years, a new WCM scene has developed quickly and established as an industry in China; one critically enmeshed in both the business and political worlds. Many ground-breaking cultural events have taken place in the last decades. These have shown themselves to be huge forces behind the development of Chinas domestic (and fledgling international) classical music aspirations. The book will be valuable for those interested in arts/music management, music industry studies, China studies, cultural and creative industry studies, and ethnomusicology.