Abstract
• The 2005 season of Super Girl not only turned Li Yuchun into a household name in China but also witnessed the birth of Corn fandom, a massive and predominantly female fan group. In this article, I examine Corns’ dedicated support of Li Yuchun’s music career, and analyse their free labour from a fan perspective. I argue that with the emergence of ‘participatory culture’, Corns have been able to participate in the star-making process of Chinese music-entertainment industry on an unprecedented scale. They begin to assume the intriguing new role of ‘prosumers’ that integrates fan production, fan promotion, and fan consumption all in one. But Corns’ partnership with the industry is highly problematic. While it provides a channel for them to assert their collective agency and power, it also leads to target marketing and aggravated corporate exploitation. •
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