Youth culture, music, and cell phone branding in China

Abstract

This article tracks the relationship between music and youth culture in China in the context of transnational cell phone branding. A research project conducted by the author as a participant observer/temporary marketing researcher at the Beijing office of transnational advertising agency, Ogilvy, is used to explore a primary academic concern: in what terms should we understand the relationship between music, youth culture, and cool culture in metropolitan China? The article examines the place of music in an emerging brand-conscious youth culture in China and examines what this means for the single-child generation. It questions the assumption that there is a simple equation between cool youth and cool music and concludes by placing the discussion in the context of musical subcultures and musical tribal cultures in China.