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Abstract
This article is an ethnographic study of the production of recorded music and popular music culture in Tibet, examining who gets their voice heard and how, and the roles played by the state, the independent realm that has emerged since the late 1980s, and the illegal/pirate sphere that has also resulted from economic liberalisation. While the question of IPR violations in China has become a global issue, it is largely discussed in the context of big, multi‐national business. This article examines the little known implications of China’s IPR and piracy issues for the production of minority culture.
Since the 1950s, the debate on Tibetan culture has centred on issues of political repression. This article aims to open up socio‐economic factors and international legal and trade issues as crucial to the question of cultural expression and identity in Tibet, now China is connected to global capitalism.
Notes
1. There are Tibetan indigenous areas spread across five provinces of China, the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) (Ch: Xizang) and the provinces of Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan and Yunnan. In the interests of brevity, all the Tibetan areas of China will be referred to as “Tibet” in this article.
2. While private albums have been produced with the full knowledge of and often collaboration with government offices since in particular the mid 1990s, the private purchase of the International Standard Recording Code (ISRC) that makes production legally licensed in China is strictly speaking not allowed. The other de facto deregulation of the recording industry has been through piracy. These aspects of production are discussed in more detail below.
3. See Harris (Citation2002) regarding Xinjiang.
4. Recent writers that have critiqued the culture industries include Stokes (Citation2003), Negus (Citation1999, Citation1997), Golding and Murdock (Citation1996), Sreberny‐Mohammadi (Citation1996), Garnham (Citation1990), Peterson and Berger ([Citation1975] 1990) and Laing (1986). Concerns with unequal control over the power of the mass media led to UNESCO’s special study (UNESCO Citation1982).
5. Wallis and Malm ([Citation1984] 1990) discuss globalisation and the idea of cultural imperialism in the context of global musical products and local markets and production. See Negus (Citation1999, 35–45) for a brief description and history of the five major record companies.
6. Curran (Citation1996) and Manuel (Citation1993) both discuss issues of the media and democratisation. Manuel argues that it is the cheap and “two‐way” nature of cassette technology that is key to its ability to democratise production, essentially forcing deregulation or at least decentralisation through piracy (Citation1993, 1–20). It must be emphasised that in China and Tibet, the deregulation and opening up to private production, or moves towards “democratisation” of the non‐broadcast media, are restricted only to the cultural world and not in any way paralleled in the political arena. Broadcast media and the Internet remain entirely under government control, and as seen in the suppression of protests in Tibet in March 2008, there remains zero tolerance for a plurality of political voices.
7. An article in the New York Times reports that possibly thousands of people in China and other countries have been killed by products made from counterfeit glycerine made in China (Bogdanich and Hooker Citation2007).
8. A small part of the Tibetan areas of the PRC is incorporated in Yunnan province, and production of Tibetan music presumably takes place there. However, it was not included in my fieldwork.
9. I would like to thank the Leverhulme Trust for the Study Abroad Studentship 2004–5 during which I undertook the bulk of fieldwork for this article, including the recording and filming of songs for the VCD. I would also like to thank the British Academy for the Larger Research Grant 2006–7 during which I conducted further fieldwork on the Tibetan music business in the context of research on Bollywood in Tibet. Personal thanks in particular go to Tanzin, my co‐singer of Trin Gyi Metok, dunglen teacher and source of endless information of grass‐roots music‐making in Tibet, plus all those who helped us with the VCD, most notably Pema Khar, our first link to the music business and long‐suffering editor of our amateur filming and sound recording. Immense thanks go to my friend Rinchen Dolma, an outstandingly talented and versatile singer who also coached me hard in dunglen, put me in touch with many worlds of Tibetan singing and was on occasion a formal research assistant too. I would also like to thank warmly my supportive colleagues Thierry Dodin, Isabelle Henrion‐Dourcy and Holly Gayley for their invaluable feedback on drafts of this article.
10. See also Baranovitch (Citation2003), who discusses post‐Mao popular music in mainland China. Tibet Information (TIN Citation2000a) offers a broad overview of the broadcast and print media in Tibet, though does not discuss the music industry. TIN (Citation2004, 62–4) provides a brief overview of the non‐broadcast music industry in Tibet.
11. See also Harris (Citation2005a), focussing on globalisation in markets of recorded music in Xinjiang, largely through (illegal/pirate) import, copy and distribution of foreign musical products.
12. See Garnham (Citation1990) and Golding and Murdock (Citation1996) for political economy approaches to the media.
13. This article was researched and written prior to the widespread protests in Tibet during March 2008 and is based on fieldwork between 2004 and 2007. The political suppression of protests by the military and police has been immediate. However, it is not yet known as to whether this will affect cultural production and the (de facto) space for independent production, whether there will be shifts in the degree of government control over the music business and popular culture.
14. Pema Khar (composer, lyricist and recording engineer, Gannan Radio Office, Gansu Province), interview with the author, 15 July 2005 and 25 May 2007; Tenzin Penor (composer, lyricist and recording engineer, Tibet Song and Dance Troupe, and private studio owner, Lhasa), personal communication, October 2006 and May 2007.
15. Palgon in Amdo and Jampa Tsering in Lhasa (Pema Khar, interview with the author, 15 July 2005 and 25 May 2007; Tenzin Penor, personal communication, October 2006 and May 2007).
16. By Tenzin Penor, from the Tibet Song and Dance Troupe. Hence, access to even this private sphere of production involved the same social contacts as for the government realm.
17. Henrion‐Dourcy notes that there are some unlicensed cassettes sold in Lhasa (2005, 241, footnote 108). This domination of licensed production is contrary to the situation described by Harris in the 1990s in Xinjiang, which was clamped down on in 1995–6 (2002, 279).
18. For example, the well known singers Karma and Gyalpo have both set up private production houses in Lhasa since 2000, and Yadong set up a state of the art recording studio and production company in Chengdu in 2005–6. Since May 2007, Yadong’s company has started distributing music too. Other smaller private businesses that undertake sound recording, filming, editing and full production have also been set up since 2000, particularly since 2005. As stated above, far and away the first private studio was Tenzin Penor’s studio in Lhasa, which was set up in 1994.
19. See TIN (Citation2004, 78–81) and Morcom (Citation2007b) for details of the emergence of nangma bars and implications for popular dance culture respectively. See Adams (Citation1996) on Karaoke and nangma bars in Lhasa in the late 1990s. Karaoke bars also provided local exposure and experience for singers, such as Dadon and Jampa Tsering, in Lhasa in the 1980s and early 1990s. However, in those days, as explained above, production was controlled by the government almost entirely, so singing in Karaoke bars never directly facilitated access to the recording industry.
20. See Wang (Citation2003, 49–52) for an account of VCD technology and its popularity in China.
21. See Henrion‐Dourcy (Citation2005, 234–46) for the most detailed biography of Dadon.
22. Henrion‐Dourcy reports that Dadon’s album in fact caught the censors “off‐guard,” and it was only with subsequent albums that the practice of checking lyrics began (Citation2005, 239). However, I was assured that the lyrics of this album were indeed checked like all the others.
23. Although the lyrics of these songs are extremely powerful, it must be emphasised that much of the controversy of Dadon’s songs emerged after she left Tibet for exile in 1992. More importantly, the relatively relaxed political climate of the early 1980s rapidly changed following riots in Tibet in 1987.
24. The government institutions still continued, and indeed continue, to produce political propaganda‐style performing arts while producing more entertainment‐oriented popular songs not explicitly related to politics.
25. However, as argued below, the cassette era in Tibet in many ways still offered more access than the VCD technology that has largely taken over.
26. See TIN (Citation2004, chapter 5) for a discussion of the expression of protest in Tibetan song lyrics and the role of interpretation; see Henrion‐Dourcy (Citation2005, 234–46) for a discussion of the lyrics of a selection of Dadon songs. The subtlety of Tibetan lyrics, the key role of interpretation and the (relatively) liberal political climate of the time are revealed in the following comment by Dadon: “By then I had no idea that what I was doing was political. I was just doing things spontaneously, without asking myself many questions. If you want to move other people, you have to sing from your heart. Express the feelings and speak the truth. I always say that I don’t know anything about politics. I say things as I feel, like any regular Tibetan” (quoted in Henrion‐Dourcy, 241–2).
27. Tsewang (one of the owners of Thangula), interview with the author, Chengdu, 8 June 2005.
28. These costs were given to me as a guideline by a singer in Lhasa who owns his own studio and produces albums for singers, and were also corroborated by conversations with other singers and studio owners.
29. This was only possible through filming and recording done ourselves and/or by friends, and a significant capital expenditure on a portable solid‐state recorder, a microphone and a three‐chip video camera, around £2,000 worth of equipment (¥30,260), which I had purchased (with part‐support from the Leverhulme Trust) for my fieldwork. We also sang old or traditional songs apart from one composed by Tanzin and a friend, which we got away with due to the novelty value of my being a foreigner. The sound and video editing was also done for a minimal cost by a friend in a government office, who also very generously composed MIDI accompaniment and re‐recorded some songs for free.
30. This was partly because, out of lack of experience and available advice, we printed too many VCDs (7,000 or 5,000 would have been plenty, given the level of piracy) and did not print cassettes, which would have sold well in the nomadic areas. However, VCDs, especially of dunglen, are generally not financially viable.
31. Many government personnel are involved in private album production (song and lyrics composing, private funding of albums, etc.). To get an album produced by the government office itself is very difficult, as they are careful to only support projects likely to make money.
32. Tsewang (one of the owners of Thangula), interview with the author, 8 June 2005. Before this, there were very important releases from Chengdu, such as Yadong’s first album in 1990. However, this did not constitute a large‐scale industry that set trends for all the Tibetan areas.
33. Manager, Golden Eagle music company, interview with the author, Chengdu, 10 August 2006; Tsewang of Thangula quoted 100,000 as a top sale (interview with the author, 8 June 2005).
34. Manager, Golden Eagle music company, interview with the author, Chengdu, 10 August 2006.
35. This was for Lhamo Lhatso (Manager, Golden Eagle music company, interview with the author, Chengdu, 10 August 2006).
36. The demand in Kardze is largely due to the nomad population there. I would also expect a favourable situation in (Amdo) Ngaba TAP also in Sichuan but have not visited there. There is immense demand for dunglen in Nagchu, the nomadic area north of Lhasa, but due to extreme poverty, sales of original copies are minimal.
37. Aten Kyab, Xining Radio Office, personal communication, May 2007.
38. Tanzin Gyatso, personal communication, 2006.
39. I am not sure which is more the case.
40. The small, condensed nature of the Tibetan exile market in Delhi and Dharamsala certainly helps the sale of legitimate copies through community support and contrasts with the smaller, more remote Tibetan settlements. Pirate copies of two albums released by singers from Lithang were also not sold in Lithang itself by local agreement. However, given that the greatest value of the mass media is to transcend the local, having to rely on sales in such condensed areas is frustrating.
41. The boss of the Audio Publishing House in Lhasa stated to me that (with a well‐produced, good album) you should be able to make a profit of at least ¥100,000 (interview with the author, July 2006).
42. These VCDs appear to be genuine, especially in the Tibetan context where most of the fakes make no attempt to pass off as real, since they have high‐quality print, the image on the disc is printed rather than just a sticker, and the box is good quality with leaflets front and back. See Wang (Citation2003, 199–200) for a VCD/DVD “examination sheet” used in Hong Kong by the Motion Picture Association indicating a range of more subtle ways of identifying fakes. In the case of Bollywood music, there is no legal distribution in China, so all copies are fakes.
43. Harris (Citation2002) argues such a case for Xinjiang in the 1990s. The sale of cheap Chinese pop music and albums of the few big nationwide Tibetan singers may well undercut sales of Tibetan music, particularly on the more grass‐root level.
44. This is a summary of the major and relevant points from Mertha (Citation2005), in particular chapter 4. See also Rees (Citation2003) and Harris (Citation2005b), who discuss the issue of ownership and commodification of traditional music in China.
45. Economic Intelligence Unit (Citation1999), quoted in Mertha (Citation2005, 139–40).
46. See for example TIN (Citation2007), which addresses some of these issues.
47. Harris (Citation2002, 279) describes the impact of the “strike‐hard” anti‐dissidence campaign in Xinjiang on the independent production of music.
48. Compilation albums also represent a safe bet for producers using mostly well‐known singers. Such albums were dominating production in 2006 and 2007, illustrating the high‐risk nature of the music business.
49. See TIN (Citation2000b) on the early Western Development Drive. See Fischer (Citation2005) for analysis on the winners and losers of the state‐subsidised economic boom that has ensued from the Western Development Drive.
50. One factor that complicates this analysis somewhat is the fact of the widespread tendency for Tibetans to put resources into educating just one or two children in a family, leaving others to look after the herds and fields. It is not uncommon to have uneducated nomads and masters graduates in prestigious government jobs as brothers and sisters. This makes the question of social class based on family circumstances a particularly subtle one.
51. Some of the most powerful Tibetan voices are those of nomads, and in many cases, the ones who have spent their lives herding and singing outdoors rather than going to school have the best voices.
52. Dore (singer, Machu County Song and Dance Troupe), interview with the author, 14 July 2005, and Rinko (singer and official, Gannan Prefecture Song and Dance Troupe), interview with the author, 15 July 2005.
53. This seems to be another layer in the processes of “distinction” in the ethnic and socio‐economic hierarchies of Tibet’s post (state‐sponsored) economic boom society (Morcom Citation2007b). In Amdo, Xining, there are still some bars frequented by rich businessmen, and wages, which were never as high as Lhasa, do not seem to have suffered a comparable crash.
54. The socio‐economic and political elite converge heavily due to the need for contacts with government officials to carry out business. This is the case in the recording industry, and furthermore, many singers also have associations with government institutions.
55. Private film and documentary production is beginning to open up in Tibet, apparently on the back of VCD production.
56. I am grateful to Thierry Dodin for this observation. The strictly government productions, however, are on the whole more profit driven than private ones, as the government offices now will only produce very selected products that they are sure will be profitable.
57. There are occasional CD and DVD burning sessions and sometimes raids on pirates, but little has changed. Some people reported to me pirate discs being confiscated only to be returned a few days later to the pirates.
58. This would include aspects religious culture, the main subject of charges of cultural genocide from Tibetan exiles and the West and unrest in Tibet itself, since there is a sizeable circulation of mass‐mediated religious products, including VCDs of songs in praise of Lamas and of religious teachings. See Gayley (forthcoming) for a discussion of the multimedia dissemination of the messages of Jigme Phuntsog Rinpoche of Amdo. It is also worth noting that many dunglen albums are funded by monks and lamas.
59. Two Tibetan singers expressed anxieties of how difficult it would be for them to operate in such environments due to the very high level of Chinese spoken there. One of these singers’ Chinese is in fact good, including a certain degree of reading skills, but she still felt it would be very difficult for her to manage in Chengdu. Similarly, all the printing of VCDs takes place in China proper, normally Chengdu, Beijing or Guangdong, also making it a difficult or impossible for most Tibetans to organise this aspect of production for themselves, hence the need for intermediaries in the form of studios.