Front row seat for Asia's pop culture wars
Leveraging both the world’s biggest economic power and the English language, the United States dominated global popular culture from the second half of the 20th century.
Black American art forms – jazz, blues – morphed into modern popular music that is today diversified into pop, rock, rap and multiple other genres. Hollywood dominated the production of both film and TV, leading trends in both from thrillers to sitcoms.
But just as manufacturing largely fled the West for the East, so too is the globe’s cultural center of gravity shifting.
This is not to say America’s day in the sun is done. Regardless of current political fractures across the US, Hollywood is not going away and the US will remain an entertainment behemoth for the foreseeable future.
Still, expanding consumer bases and digital distribution and payment networks across the globe are creating bigger-than-ever borderless markets for pop culture products and services. Asia has long been a consumer and importer of this fare but is now increasingly a producer and exporter.
Indeed, regional players are already deeply established in both niche and mass markets: Japanese console games, anime and manga; Hong Kong kung fu and action movies; Bollywood musicals; and the current commander of the zeitgeist, South Korean film, TV dramas and pop music.
https://asiatimes.com/2020/11/front-row-seat-for-asias-pop-culture-wars/
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