Taking the music industry “off the ground”:

Music is considered a core cultural industry, a potential for creative economic development. Besides the efforts of musicians, singers..., organizations operating in the music field, appropriate and open mechanisms, policies and administrative procedures are the "key" to resolving many difficulties and obstacles, allowing the music industry to "take off".

Not commensurate with potential

A scene from the music video “Bac Bling” by singer Hoa Minzy.

Continuing their winning streak, the two reality TV shows “Anh trai vu ngan chong gai” and “Anh trai say hi” both continue to have explosive concerts this year. After concerts 3 and 4 on April 22 and 23 in Ho Chi Minh City, welcoming about 150,000 spectators, “Anh trai vu ngan chong gai” will have concerts 5 and 6 in the North next June. Along with musical performances every night, the show also has side activities to attract audiences and tourists. The movie “Anh trai vu ngan chong gai” will also be released in the cinema system this May.

Similarly, “Anh trai say hi” is also aiming for concert 6 at My Dinh National Stadium (Hanoi) on May 10. With ticket prices ranging from 800,000 to 10 million VND, most of the tickets have been sold out. The documentary about this program in theaters also earned 15.4 billion VND, becoming the highest-grossing Vietnamese concert film. Although the Hozo International Music Festival in Ho Chi Minh City is a free event, it attracts tens of thousands of spectators, promoting tourism and service development...

In addition to the performances, the Vietnamese digital music market is also growing strongly with many MVs, attracting tens and hundreds of millions of views, earning billions of VND, typically the MV "Bac Bling" by singer Hoa Minzy. From the effect of this song, the female singer also participated in many shows and became an attractive face for brands...

Performances of artists in the concert “Brother overcomes thousands of obstacles” in Ho Chi Minh City, March 2025. Photo: Organizing Committee

Obviously, the music industry is developing, but it is still not worthy of its potential. General Director of Vietfest (organizer of Hozo International Music Festival) Pham Minh Toan commented that Vietnam still has many difficulties in terms of infrastructure to organize large-scale music events.

Taking the example of the Hozo International Music Festival taking place on the streets for 2-3 nights to compare with some large music festivals abroad with specially designed venues, taking place for a whole week, even a whole month, Mr. Pham Minh Toan said that it is very difficult to make a profit from cultural events, even having to suffer losses for many years to create a brand. Therefore, not every business has enough potential to pursue it, without the support of the State in terms of mechanisms and policies, especially in terms of taxes, fees, infrastructure, etc.

Another reason is that the issue of copyright protection of musical works to develop the cultural industry is a big challenge in our country, especially when the digital platform is developing strongly as it is today.

According to the Vietnam Center for Music Copyright Protection, digital platforms are one of the important distribution channels of modern music, but the identification of copyright holders, licensing of use and collection of royalties have not been implemented effectively. In addition, forms of violations such as singing, replaying without permission, inserting background music of unknown origin are increasing, but there are not many tools to detect and handle them...

Together, support

For the music industry to "take off" and contribute to the development of the creative economy, music activists expect to have joint support in terms of mechanisms and policies from the State and localities.

Through the successful organization of large-scale music events such as “Anh trai vu ngan cong gai” (The brother who overcomes thousands of obstacles) and “Chi dep concert”, Yeah1 Group’s Communications Director Nguyen Xuan An believes that large-scale art events can take place regularly, systematically and sustainably, requiring effective coordination between levels and sectors, in order to build a favorable organizing environment, with clear planning and procedures. In particular, the “problem” of location is a key factor, not only helping to ensure optimal organizing conditions, but also opening up opportunities to bring Vietnamese concerts to the regional level, attracting international artists, thereby creating a spillover effect and promoting inter-industry development.

Mr. Nguyen Xuan An recommended that large-scale events need to be supported by unified and specific instructions related to technical factors, such as traffic plans, fire prevention and fighting, security and order, and synchronous permit application procedures...

Having experience in performing, organizing art performances, and working in management, Director of the Department of Performing Arts (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) Nguyen Xuan Bac commented that although the music industry still faces many challenges, there have been positive signs as more and more localities have shown their willingness to accompany businesses and music organizations.

As a unit operating in the digital content industry in Vietnam, a representative of BH Media shared that the unit encountered many difficulties with administrative procedures, as well as many overlapping copyright costs, and at the same time hoped that the authorities would support it in having a transparent copyright price list, a public data system on works and protection units, etc.

Director of the Copyright Department (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) Tran Hoang affirmed that if music wants to become a strong industry, it cannot only focus on content creation but needs a synchronous ecosystem. The Copyright Department will consult with competent authorities to amend and supplement relevant legal documents, mechanisms and policies to promote the music industry. The Department will open many training courses to raise awareness of intellectual property for artists, musicians, music professionals and the public; there will be activities and mechanisms to encourage people to pay for art products both online and in person...

Source: https://hanoimoi.vn/dua-cong-nghiep-am-nhac-cat-canh-can-co-che-chinh-sach-dot-pha-701140.html