The 'money-burning' war in Vietnamese music.

Việt Nam•14/01/2025

From this point onwards, commercially-oriented Lunar New Year music products flooded the market, leading to an uncompromising battle in terms of promotion.

In the final months of the year and the beginning of the new year, the focus of the Vietnamese music market is the explosion of shows and a series of Tet (Lunar New Year) music releases. Conversely, music projects by singers/rappers/producers will be temporarily put on hold to avoid uncertainty during a period when many brands are using their economic power to compete fiercely.

A collaboration between SOOBIN and Cookie Fairy for the product My dear! I miss home. This is the first "bomb" in a series of Lunar New Year advertising music videos that have been, are being, and will be released. Eight years ago, this duo joined forces to fire the first "shot" for the "Go to Return" series. To date, the music video... Go away to come back. It remains a hit song, always holding a special place during the Lunar New Year season.

SOOBIN is making a triumphant return to the music scene this Lunar New Year season.

Was SOOBIN a "blockbuster" or a "flop"?

After the game show "Brother Overcoming a Thousand Obstacles," SOOBIN rose strongly to once again become one of the most popular singers in the Vietnamese music market. Because of this, SOOBIN returns to the series. Go away to come back. This is a product of a fashion brand, with a heavily invested music video. The reunion collaboration between SOOBIN and Tien Cookie has further heightened audience expectations for this product.

Before the MV My dear! I miss home. Upon its release, the product attracted a large audience and had a particularly favorable start in terms of promotion. However, when released, SOOBIN and Tien Cookie's music video did not achieve the expected explosive success. This was a period when Vietnamese music didn't have many competing products, yet SOOBIN's music video dropped to 10th place on the trending list after just two weeks.

With the song My dear! I miss home. Cookie's story begins with the blissful happiness of a young man and woman. Then, in a quiet moment, the man confesses, "Honey, I miss home."

This is an emotional R&B track that showcases SOOBIN's beautiful vocal tone and sharp vocal embellishments. However, My dear! I miss home. From the musical color, structure, melody, and lyrics, it still feels like an official musical product for SOOBIN, rather than being placed in the context of a commercial. The song lacks concise, emotionally evocative lyrics like "Go far away to come back / Go far away to come back, go, go to come back ( Go to Come Back )", "No journey compares to the journey, coming home to family, my heart is filled with joy, going to come back" ( Go to Come Back 2 ).

Ngo Kien Huy, Karik, and Noo Phuoc Thinh have a strategy for releasing music during the Tet holiday season.

At this time, Lunar New Year songs from various brands have flooded the market. Before SOOBIN, Ngo Kien Huy and Karik released their own. "Come home for Tet , my child" has had a pretty good effect. Bui Cong Nam, one of the musicians specializing in Tet (Lunar New Year) music, is making waves in the music industry with his appearances in a series of products for various brands.

Most recently, the song If things get too tough, go home and let your mother take care of you. Noo Phuoc Thinh's song is currently trending on social media.

Leading up to the Lunar New Year, advertising music continues to appear constantly. This is a battle for popularity among singers/rappers representing a brand's marketing campaign. On the other hand, everyone is pouring money into advertising and promotion on various platforms, thus causing chaos in the music market.

Right now, audiences can be "forced" to listen to Tet music everywhere, from YouTube and TikTok ads to digital music. Everyone wants to be the winner, with the highlight track of this year's Tet season being... Go home (Den Vau ft JustaTee) I will come home for Tet this year. (Bui Cong Nam) and further back are the first products of Go away only to return .

What is a classic Tet (Vietnamese New Year) song?

In the global music scene, classic hits such as Happy New Year (ABBA) or All I Want For Christmas Is You (Maria Carey) has an intense, unwavering vitality. In the moment of New Year's Eve, Happy New Year It's the number one choice. By Christmas time, All I Want For Christmas Is You Like a recurring pattern, it has resurfaced and is dominating all the major music charts.

In the Vietnamese music market, Tet-themed hits also share this characteristic, within the scope of acceptance of Vietnamese audiences. Over the past 10 years, thanks to collaborations between brands and artists, Vietnamese music has produced many hit songs on the theme of Tet. Go away to come back. SOOBIN's song has garnered nearly 100 million listens/views on YouTube. Go home The songs by Den Vau and JustaTee are nearing 100 million listens/views.

When talking about classic Tet songs from Vietnamese singers, one cannot overlook this one. Spring butterfly remix of Ho Quang Hieu. In 2013, Ho Quang Hieu released "Spring Butterfly ," a Chinese song with Vietnamese lyrics. The song became a sensation thanks to Ho Quang Hieu's new remix, which captures the joyful spirit of Tet (Vietnamese Lunar New Year).

As the year draws to a close, the song "Spring Butterfly" rises again, bringing many things to Ho Quang Hieu.

After 12 years, the impact of Spring butterfly Countless versions. The original version, first released by Ho Quang Hieu, has disappeared. At the end of 2015, he re-released the MV, which has now attracted over 75 million views. From Ho Quang Hieu's vocals, Spring butterfly Hundreds of remixes have been created. Not to mention, the song has been covered by other singers and adapted into children's songs...

When Tet (Vietnamese New Year) comes, Spring butterfly It's causing a sensation again, something that has been happening repeatedly for over 10 years. A publisher shared this with Tien Phong regarding Spring butterfly This generated enormous digital music revenue. With the sheer number of remixes and recordings produced, even Ho Quang Hieu himself found it difficult to control the revenue from his hit song.

Music of Spring butterfly It has faced considerable criticism and has even been described as "marketplace-like". In reality, on large programs and stages, Spring butterfly It's rarely chosen compared to many other Lunar New Year hit songs. However, Spring butterfly It holds a special appeal for audiences in the Mekong Delta region. After 12 years, the remix style of this song is still suitable for playing at parties, livening up the atmosphere at the beginning of the new year.

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