Who will beat Erik?

Amidst a sluggish music market, Erik made a breakthrough with his new product. Unfortunately, "Even If the World Ends" uses old material and fails to offer any surprises.

The "Brother Who Overcame Thousands of Obstacles" competition, the "Brother Says Hi" competition, has ended, but another "underground" battle is taking place among artists who emerged from these programs. This time, it's no longer a battle within the framework of a game show, but a more individual competition in a market with many more rivals.

Instead of being determined by votes, victory or defeat is now partly reflected in views, trending rankings, virality, etc. In this competition, Erik currently holds the upper hand.

The music market is sluggish.

"Brother Overcoming a Thousand Obstacles," "Brother Says Hi," "Beautiful Sister Riding the Wind," Rap Viet... all contributed to a vibrant and competitive atmosphere in the Vietnamese music market in 2024. However, entering 2025, the shows "Brother Overcoming a Thousand Obstacles" and "Beautiful Sister Riding the Wind" have temporarily ceased broadcasting. "Brother Says Hi" shows no signs of returning, and the female version of the program won't air until May. In this context, the early days of the year have been quite bleak for Vpop.

Not many new music releases have been made, and the current trending music charts are mostly spring and New Year songs, fitting the spirit of the recently concluded Lunar New Year. Interspersed among them are Kpop music videos or performances from year-end music shows. Even if the world ends by Erik, Eyes that smile (Quang Hung MasterD, Tang Duy Tan) 2GOILAYS bringing together some great rappers Home flavor Black's product is one of the rare new releases that has managed to stay at the top of the trending charts.

With a music video featuring many famous guest appearances such as Duc Phuc, Tieu Vy, Quoc Anh, etc., Erik easily attracted attention. Photo: FBNV.

In the competition between several newly released music products, Even if the world ends and Eyes that smile They are currently winning in terms of both achievements and viral reach. Even if the world ends It climbed to the top of the trending music charts in just 5 hours and reached 10 million views after 4 days of release. The viral success of Even if the world ends This became even more apparent on social media, most notably through the story surrounding Erik, Tiểu Vy, Quốc Anh, and Thùy Tiên's characters in the music video.

With "Smiling Eyes " garnered 4.1 million views in two weeks. The song's tempo is significantly slower. Even if the world ends but it's also understandable when Eyes that smile It was recently released by Quang Hung MasterD and Tang Duy Tan as a visualizer, not yet a music video.

In fact, Erik's victory was easy and understandable. His comeback this time was perfectly timed: the market had little competition, there weren't many explosive music releases, and he had the added advantage of a theatrical film. The Four Revengeful Ones should Even if the world ends With virtually no competition, it single-handedly climbed to the number one spot. Furthermore, the song is a ballad, a safe and easy-to-listen-to genre in the Vietnamese music market, and the music video features a star-studded cast of famous guest appearances.

Regret surrounding the products

Erik's return has been undeniably successful, but disappointment regarding product quality is unavoidable. Even if the world ends The song is too familiar, even outdated, in terms of musical genre, structure, and lyrics. Therefore, while it might help Erik rekindle his popularity and maintain his position in the music market, it's difficult to expand his audience when what he offers is still the same Erik we've seen for so many years.

Some other comebacks were equally disappointing or controversial, such as Song Luan and Wren Evans. Looking solely at the numbers, Wren Evans didn't fail with his most recent comeback MV. Save the music . 62 million views after nearly a month since its release. Save the music That's enough to make Wren Evans proud.

Public criticism surrounding his live singing has overshadowed the quality of Wren Evans' new release. Photo: FBNV.

With With "Saving Music ," Wren Evans continues to spark diverse opinions about his musical style. Some find the melody unpleasant and hard to listen to, but many listeners enjoy the music and the unique, even slightly eccentric, concepts of this Gen Z singer. The song conveys a message of protecting music in the fight against AI and from social prejudices – prejudices that Wren Evans himself faces regarding his appearance and style. Undeniably, Save the music Wren Evans' products are always innovative, with a different mindset, and his music is unique, modern, and captivating.

But the controversy surrounding Save the music The criticism surrounding Wren Evans' music videos is harsher than that of his previous ones for two reasons. First, the music video received excessive promotion, which backfired. Secondly, the constant criticism of Wren Evans' poor live singing before also alienated viewers and negatively impacted the music video. Many viewers believe that before saving his music, Wren Evans should focus on improving his own singing skills.

The case of Song Luan is perhaps the most regrettable; his modest achievements and the quality of his work have also drawn criticism. COEM Song Luan's song is bland and outdated in both music and concept. The male singer's vocals are also not outstanding, leading to the product sinking into a music market that, as Song Luan himself admitted, is a "flop." After 10 days of release, COEM It only garnered nearly 600,000 views. This number is modest compared to the general music market.

On the evening of February 11th, Duc Phuc also joined the race. Duc Phuc invited many famous faces such as Le Tuan Khang, Erik, Vu Thinh, Miss Thanh Thuy... and therefore, even before its release, his MV had already attracted attention and discussion. However, in the competition with Erik, Duc Phuc is unlikely to win. Taking care of a child for a lifetime. His songs have a cheerful, youthful, and lovely feel, but the melodies and lyrics are rather bland, and the visuals are simple, making it difficult for them to achieve breakthrough success.

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