BlackPink, Charlie Puth and the future of international concerts in Vietnam

In just two years after the COVID-19 pandemic (2022-2023), the number of international artists coming to Vietnam to perform has been quite large: Kitaro, Babyface, Charlie Puth, Super Junior, BlackPink, aespa, BoA, Taeyang, CL, The Moffatts, 911, A1, Blue...

Super Junior performed Super Show 9 in Vietnam in March 2023, 12 years after the Super Show 3 milestone - Photo: SM Town

Regarding the "wave" of international artists coming to Vietnam, musician Quoc Trung (founder and director of the Monsoon Music Festival, which brings together many Vietnamese and international artists) and director Cao Trung Hieu (producer and director of many concerts of Vietnamese and international artists in Vietnam) both said that this is a good sign for the entertainment and performance market in Vietnam, along with benefits for tourism and culture.

However, along with that joy comes a lot of reflection.

If we want to promote our image or bring in tourism benefits, we must have a proactive plan and as much time as possible. We cannot act erratically like we are doing now.”

Musician Quoc Trung

Happy and worried

Musician Quoc Trung commented: "This is a good sign, but we must understand that these are just occasional, small-scale activities and are not the way a globally connected market operates. It also does not show that our market has real needs and capabilities.

Most of these concerts depend on brands, sponsors or, like BlackPink , foreign organizers. More importantly, there is a lack of diversity and planned connections."

• Monsoon: big audience profit

• Why did musician Quoc Trung hide Monsoon's performance time?

Monsoon Music Festival has also invited international artists such as Scorpions, Joss Stone, Kodaline, Bond, ADOY, Los Frequencies, Hyukoh... to Vietnam, but it is not a separate concert, part of the official tour of international artists.

Musician Quoc Trung said that his Thanh Viet Production Company has prestige and connections with representatives, managers and many international organizations, but bringing concerts in artists' private tours to Vietnam requires step-by-step preparation. Most importantly, we need to create habits and market demand, balancing production costs and main revenue from ticket sales.

"Only real audience demand can build a strong music market and industry," he said.

Director Cao Trung Hieu said: "Although it has not been possible to create a large music market by consuming CDs or streaming music, Vietnam is gradually becoming an ideal performance destination for international artists because domestic organizers have learned a lot of experience, especially in meeting the requirements for equipment and performance techniques.

This is commensurate with the development and international integration of the Vietnamese economy, especially tourism."

All four members of BlackPink were impressed by the warm reception of Vietnamese audiences - Photo: Instagram character

With the admiration and ticket sales at the recent concerts of Charlie Puth and BlackPink, I think there will be more joy in the near future."

Director Cao Trung Hieu

16 years and Bi Rain, Super Junior, BlackPink

The BlackPink fever at the end of July made many people consider this to be the international artist who has caused the biggest stir when coming to Vietnam so far. The two concerts attracted 67,000 audiences. According to the Hanoi Department of Tourism, the total revenue from tourists during the two days of BlackPink's performance was about 630 billion VND.

This is also a solo concert in Born Pink - the highest-grossing global tour by a girl group in history. BlackPink is also at its peak, all members are famous.

Looking back, top Korean singer Bi Rain came to Vietnam to perform in 2006 and 2007. Notably, 16 years ago (2007), he brought the world tour Rain's coming to Vietnam, performing at Military Zone 7 Stadium, Ho Chi Minh City - a night that could be considered the most magnificent performance by a foreign artist in Vietnam at that time.

In 2011, the band Super Junior also came to Vietnam to perform the Super Show 3 tour in Binh Duong, creating a big fever because the group was at its peak with a series of hits covering all of Asia.

In 2015, the program Music Bank in Hanoi was considered a "K-pop super show" when it gathered the most famous music groups at that time: SHINee, EXO, SISTAR, TEEN TOP, Block B, A Pink, GOT7.

Director Cao Trung Hieu is the creative director of Viet Vision, the organizer of Super Junior's Super Show 3 in May 2011 at Go Dau Stadium (Binh Duong).

He recalled: "The BlackPink fever reminded me of Super Show 3 that our organizer Viet Vision brought to Vietnam 12 years ago. The stop in Vietnam was also the last show of the Asian tour of Super Junior, the hottest group in Korea and Asia at that time."

Recently, in March 2023, when Super Junior returned to Vietnam to tour, the tour was numbered "Super Show 9".

According to director Cao Trung Hieu, after all these years, the coverage of Korean music groups has changed a lot, but the organization of concerts is still quite similar because they have had great developments in performance technology for many years. And after 12 years, another contemporary music event stopped in Vietnam and it was still a Korean music group (BlackPink).

"That proves that Vietnam is not yet a potential market for international artists outside of Korea. Through the presence of BlackPink, I think all of us are happy for the Vietnamese audience . But as producers, there are still many concerns. We are still on the path of learning and finding opportunities" - he said.

Some of the major milestones of international concerts in Vietnam are associated with Korean artists , but we cannot fail to mention the music programs gathering artists from many countries such as Monsoon, Ho Do, programs organized by businesses, annual cultural and diplomatic exchange programs...

These programs contribute significantly to helping Vietnamese audiences enjoy international level performances.

Bi Rain (now 42 years old) is one of the first Korean artists to tour Vietnam - Photo: Star News

Cannot take shortcuts

Musician Quoc Trung brought Joss Stone to Vietnam to perform Monsoon in 2015 when she was one of the leading contemporary singers in the UK; or staged the program of the beautiful string quartet Bond in Vietnam in 2016 at the National Convention Center (Hanoi). He emphasized that developing the music industry cannot be done by shortcuts.

He analyzed: "We do not have a direction and understand the needs and investment in human resources in the field of management or art business where there are specific characteristics. The management process here is not only for the management agency but also the management process of the producer itself. Not only in the art management agency but also in the industry itself, there is a lack or no feeling of necessity.

Usually, artists who work as managers are emotional and lack process and science, while businessmen only care about profit and do not understand or respect art.

Every project is struggling to discuss, find budget sources, take care of procedures... when it comes to implementation, the creative team or artists no longer have enough time, or when building the project, because there is not enough budget or cannot visualize what the preparation process needs, so even though the cost is high, the quality is very limited.

When the quality is limited, it will lose its competitiveness and will not create attraction and demand with the public, so people keep blaming many reasons and cannot find a way out. In the end, the shortest way is still to snatch and use communication methods, sometimes even negative ones, to promote, but very few projects are sustainable and aim for high-end art."

This year, Quoc Trung's Monsoon Music Festival 2023 will open an additional music week to create more opportunities for young artists, introducing Vietnamese artists to the outside world to participate in international showcases or festivals.

The organizers hope to create motivation and inspiration for artists as well as necessary skills. Musician Quoc Trung emphasized that "the desire to reach far" is the most important, because "Only aspiration can help us narrow the gap. Only by competing equally can we properly recognize our abilities and limitations to improve our creativity and build a civilized and strong music market."

Charlie Puth "special deal" with Vietnam

The 8Wonder music festival in July in Nha Trang City (Khanh Hoa) featured Charlie Puth, a very popular international star. The concert attracted 8,000 spectators.

According to director Cao Trung Hieu, to have 75 minutes of performance of nearly 20 songs, almost the entire set of Charlie Puth in a tour performance, the organizers had to make special agreements.

He said the local organizer and producer were "willing to spend" and were enthusiastic when they convinced Charlie Puth and his crew to perform in Vietnam before the upcoming Asian tour.

Charlie Puth (July 2023) delighted Vietnamese audiences with his classy live singing - Photo: Huu Hanh

The director said: "With experience working with many international stars invited to perform in Vietnam in the past such as IL DIVO, Ronan Keating, Kelly Clarkson, Boney M, John Legend, Christina Aguilera or most recently Kitaro for the concert "Radiance Horizon" by singer Ha Anh Tuan , we are quite confident in meeting the technical requirements (technical rider) of each different crew.

But most importantly, their confidence in the potential of the performance market depends entirely on the Vietnamese audience."

BlackPink and the story of losing the home market

Regarding the recent BlackPink fever, musician Quoc Trung commented that this is a high-class concert with global quality, opening up opportunities for the industry as well as envisioning professional methods and processes with global standards. However, he looks at it objectively and soberly to evaluate the effectiveness of promotion or economic benefits. The musician analyzed: "First, in addition to bringing the opportunity to enjoy world art to the public and young people of Vietnam, it is necessary to understand that this is an "imported" product. The program is brought in by an outside producer and all revenue from the public and costs for artists are brought outside, meaning that almost the entire budget (nearly 300 billion VND) along with profits (if any) will be brought outside and not stay with Vietnamese businesses. That is, we are losing the market right at home. This is what we will have to face. We cannot go against the development trend but still have to open the market and accept fair competition, accept risks with the outside. But to talk about benefits, we need specific figures on cultural tourism, a concept that is still very new and completely unprepared proactively. Not to mention the competition with countries in the region when they have done it before and have more capacity than us. To build this source of income It requires synchronous coordination between industries, organizers and stakeholders to share and have synchronous business plans. A working process and creating economic efficiency or promoting major events always need to be prepared years in advance."

Ho Ngoc Ha: artists need support from departments

International touring artists always bring huge economic benefits to the cities where they perform.

But they also receive support from the government and departments everywhere, not just by themselves. Through this, I hope that Vietnamese artists, especially those who have to work hard to gain a name, will receive such support.

For example, when I brought Love Songs to Da Nang, I received a lot of support from the departments, so I had a beautiful, interesting show that was loved by the audience. The audience and tourists there also felt that in addition to traveling, they were enjoying a meaningful music show. Tourism also benefits.

Tuoitre.vn