North Bling 'how many million views?'

I really like this moment, which took place on the sidelines of the Dialogue Program with Outstanding Youth on the afternoon of March 24. Previously, in his speech, the Prime Minister used the example of the song Bac Bling as a product that contributes to promoting Vietnamese culture to the world. With nearly 95 million views as of March 27, Hoa Minzy's MV is only a short way away from reaching 100 million views as the Prime Minister wished. This is a rare achievement for Vietnamese artists - especially in products that exploit traditional cultural values.

The MV Bắc Bling is inspired by the Bac Ninh folk songs, using many traditional instruments such as the moon lute, flute, two-stringed fiddle, and drum, but arranged in a new style with a fast tempo. Bắc Bling also incorporates typical Northern music genres such as Xam and Cheo.

After the success of music programs such as Anh trai vu ngan cong gai, Anh trai "say hi" ... Hoa's Bling has just sparkled with hope for the future of Vietnam's cultural industry - a field oriented to become one of the new growth spearheads, contributing 7% of GDP in 2030 and 8% in 2035.

Vietnam's cultural industry currently contributes 4% of GDP, creating about one million jobs. In addition to music, a number of fields such as performing arts, cinema, advertising, handicrafts, design, software and entertainment games... are also gradually making their way to the world.

But the lessons from the rise of the cultural industry in neighboring countries such as China and South Korea still make me wonder: how can these successes not be isolated phenomena; how can we create a multi-industry ecosystem to take advantage of the effects of cultural products; what proactive national strategies are needed instead of relying on individual efforts?

A hit by the Korean boy band BTS can create more than 7,000 direct and indirect jobs. The success of the film Na Tra: Ma Dong Noi Hai brought in a revenue of about 13.7 billion yuan (equivalent to 1.88 billion USD) for the Chinese domestic market and approximately 2.1 billion USD globally. The film also helped increase the number of visitors experiencing cultural tourism at places related to the character Na Tra such as Sichuan (up 34%), Tianjin (30%) and Henan (13.2%)...

After the release of the MV Bắc Bling , the Bắc Ninh provincial government quickly took advantage of this effect to promote tourism, implementing a program of free intra-provincial bus tickets and tours to visit heritage and culture. However, if this activity had been planned earlier, more proactively, even in parallel with the MV production process, I believe the effect would have been greater, spreading widely to many fields. At that time, not only tourism but also cuisine, fashion and folk handicraft products would have been promoted and consumed more strongly.

In 2024, in China, the game Black Mythology: Wukong became one of the best-selling video games of all time, selling 10 million copies in three days. The success of Black Mythology indirectly helped turn Shanxi province - home to 27 of the 36 locations in the game - into a tourist hotspot.

According to data from travel platform Tuniu, the number of visitors to Son Tay in August increased by 50% compared to July, and the number of bookings also doubled.

This was no coincidence. The Shanxi provincial government had planned this three years in advance with the production unit, calling it a “two-way” cooperation. On the day the game was launched, the provincial Department of Culture and Tourism posted an invitation to visitors to “follow in Wukong’s footsteps and tour Shanxi.” Every time the game launched a promotional activity, the department would release a video introducing local cultural and historical sites. Two days after the game was launched, the provincial Department of Culture and Tourism launched three themed sightseeing routes, along with an eight-day tour, connecting real-life locations in the province with those featured in the game. This strategy helped Shanxi make a breakthrough in developing tourism and promoting local cultural characteristics.

Vietnam does not lack talent, nor does it lack unique cultural materials that have strong appeal to domestic and foreign audiences. What we need is a long-term, systematic strategy, so that products like Bac Bling are not just random successes but become "planned achievements".

To do so, we cannot just put our hopes on individual artists. There needs to be multi-party coordination to form a solid ecosystem, aiming for a win-win for many parties: creative subjects - local tourism - domestic businesses. When music, cinema, fashion, cuisine, and handicrafts are connected, they will resonate, creating value far beyond views.

And it's never too late. Bac Bling is an easy-to-see "glimmer" (as Hoa Minzy explains) to see the opportunities for cultural industry development in Vietnam.

According to vnexpress.net

Source: https://baoapbac.vn/van-hoa-nghe-thuat/202503/bac-bling-bao-nhieu-trieu-views-roi-1038173/