This dissertation uncovers the institutional and aesthetic politics behind the success of post-2012 pop musicians in Singapore. Up until recently, English-language popular music from Singapore, or S-Pop for short, has been plagued by... more
This dissertation uncovers the institutional and aesthetic politics behind the success of post-2012 pop musicians in Singapore. Up until recently, English-language popular music from Singapore, or S-Pop for short, has been plagued by negative stereotypes (Mattar 2003, 2009; Phua and Kong 1996; Liew and Tan 2013). Against the high quality and heavily-produced Anglo-American cultural exports, locally-produced English-language popular music occupies a marginal position within the local field (Chua 2012). By examining struggles of local musicians as a field of cultural production (Bourdieu 1983, 1993; Regev 2013; Taylor 2014), I show how Anglo-American discourses of indie music and authenticity penetrate the local music scene in the 1980s through the pages of an influential magazine (BigO Magazine), resulting in the existing stereotypes around S-Pop. From the 2000s onwards, local government support and technological disruption within the popular music field led to the pursuit of production value and changing notions of authenticity. Here, I conduct in-depth interviews with prominent S-Pop musicians like The Sam Willows, Jasmine Sokko, Inch Chua, Sezairi Sezali (2009 Singapore Idol), and other industry participants. Where bands were anxious about “selling-out” in the past, today’s S-Pop musicians strategically position themselves within the field to take advantage of state funding and corporate capital. Compared to their predecessors, I demonstrate how today's S-Pop musicians increasingly operate in a transnational space despite being firmly rooted within the local.