J-Pop Goes the World: A New Global Fandom in the Age of Digital Media

Th is chapter examines the way in which J-pop, particularly in recorded form, is received outside Japan today. 1 Who is listening to it? How did they discover J-pop and how do they listen to it? What are the characteristic features of this audience? Is J-pop the only type of Asian popular music? Th en, my analysis leads to further, more general questions: Is the globalization of J-pop diff erent from other types of globalized popular music? How can we understand patterns of globalization in the age of digital media? Is the nature of popular music changing because of globalization?