Popular Music and Political Economy : South Korea and Japan in the 2010s, or Girls’ Generation and AKB48

Abstract

Popular music may be ephemeral and superficial but its almost essential transience and insignificance serve as useful barometers of the here and the now, or knowledge of the present. The reviled reflection thesis – that popular-cultural products “reflect” larger society – has cast a long shadow on the social study of the arts and culture. However much social scientists seek to show the salience of production or the relative autonomy of art worlds, the causal primacy of the social or political economy remains robust. I suggest reversing the received perspective and procedure. ARTICLE HISTORY Received 10 February 2019 Revised 3 March 2019 Accepted 10 March 2019