Back to Search Start Over

Karaoke's coming home: Japan's empty orchestras in the United Kingdom.

Authors :
Kelly, William Howard
Source :
Leisure Studies; Jul2011, Vol. 30 Issue 3, p309-331, 23p
Publication Year :
2011

Abstract

This paper examines the introduction, adaptation and popularisation of karaoke singing in the UK. Based on ethnographic field research and interviews conducted in both Japan and the UK, the paper traces the various pathways through which karaoke hardware and software were first introduced and marketed in the UK and the social contexts and entertainment venues within which karaoke has been popularised. The 'domestication' of karaoke in the UK is treated as a complex and multifaceted process involving both 'cultural' factors related to existing traditions of singing and amateur performance, notions of individual public 'display' and musical preferences, for example, and the 'local' economic and regulatory environment into which karaoke had been adapted. As a contribution to the discourse on the relationship between 'global' and 'local' forces in cultural flows, it is argued that although Japanese karaoke producers may have been successful in globalising the karaoke concept, its popularisation as a leisure activity in the UK has involved the localisation of the production, distribution and uses of karaoke hardware and software. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
02614367
Volume :
30
Issue :
3
Database :
Complementary Index
Journal :
Leisure Studies
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
61275104
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1080/02614367.2010.533281