Many people were surprised to hear that physical albums are now out of stock in the digital age. Albums by singers My Tam, Dam Vinh Hung, Tran Thu Ha, My Linh, Hoang Thuy Linh, Vu Cat Tuong… were all sold out as soon as they went on sale.
The era of concept albums
There are also explanations that because the owners of these albums are famous people. But no, being loved is one thing, the most important thing is that their products arouse the audience's curiosity about a singer they already know or are about to know. If in the digital age, the audience is overwhelmed by short-lived hits that are easily defeated by another hit, then in concept albums (themed albums), the audience can live, explore and contemplate with the creative thinking of an artist.
Some notable concept albums today. (Photo provided by the artist)
According to experts, a concept album is a music project with songs arranged and performed according to a consistent theme or idea to highlight a common story as well as an image associated with the artist during a certain period.
Concept albums have become popular in the Vietnamese music market. Audiences have witnessed unique concept albums by Vietnamese stars such as "Doi Thoai 06" (Ha Tran), "Toc Ngan" (My Linh), "Tam 9" (My Tam), "Stardom" (Vu Cat Tuong) or "Hoang" by Hoang Thuy Linh. Although only at the basic concept album level, an album is carefully built on a certain theme, from which a long story with chapters is written, a movie built with music is well received and highly appreciated by the audience.
To launch the album "For the lost love", the last album in the "Nocturne for lovers" project series, singer Dam Vinh Hung came up with the idea himself, assembled the words in the mashup, and personally went through all the alleys in Ho Chi Minh City to recreate an old Saigon within 48 hours with 16 locations. To make the album launch more impressive, he asked the guests to choose vintage-style outfits (a fashion style that recreates exactly the same items from previous years) of old Saigon. The audience was also particularly impressed with the design of the invitation card for the launch of the product "For the lost love" with a very vintage style from the images, colors to the words in the invitation.
Musician Duong Khac Linh said: "A concept album is an honest communication channel for artists. Through it, artists express their personal opinions and statements expressed from their own perspective."
Clear turns
Looking at the achievements of young singers (not yet top stars) like AMEE's "dreAMEE" and Bich Phuong's EP "Tâm tình tan hơi slow" further shows the listeners' preference for current concept albums.
If AMEE's physical album reached 1,000 copies after 12 hours of sale and dominated the iTunes and Apple Music charts in Vietnam, Bich Phuong also showed her "love charm" with all singles making waves on streaming platforms. The market has clearly changed, the public is willing to "open their wallets" to enjoy artistic creations, especially when the art is both contemporary and creates a close sympathy between artists and fans.
The success of concept albums confirms the transformation of albums in the current Vietnamese music market. Of course, concept albums only work effectively when they meet factors such as new themes or old themes from a new perspective; ways to approach the market; the story or core message that you want to convey to the audience through music...
Insiders believe that the album cover is not only about expressing the colors well but also the idea and message of the album through the image. For example, the design of "Gieo" nominated at Grammy 2024 is the work of Duy Dao (Dao Duc Duy). With this project, Duy Dao and his team had many special creations - with psychedelic rock colors, the album has many messages of the band Ngọt.
The album was designed as a long tube, containing many components including posters, lyric cards, photobooks, notepads, CDs, stickers, seeds... Because the music has a strong psychedelic feel from decades ago, the images in the album were also designed in this direction with curved shapes, hard-to-read hand-drawn styles, and intense spectral color vibrations inspired by the Pop Art movement...
In the 4.0 era, audiences do not reject old values. The proof is the return of the “album empire” even though physical products have become outdated, the value of memories or emotions of a certain memory in the audience. But to survive, albums of the new era also need to have appropriate changes. Among them, concept albums are highly appreciated.
Source: https://nld.com.vn/van-nghe/lam-moi-bia-album-cuoc-choi-sang-tao-cua-gioi-nghe-si-20231127202003295.htm
Comment (0)