Expecting Vietnamese music to go global

The music video (MV) "Making my way" by Son Tung M-TP continues to achieve miracles. After 11 days of release, this MV reached nearly 17.7 million views, nearly 75,000 comments, ranking No. 1 on Trending for music.

Dream come true?

It is not new that Son Tung M-TP's music products have achieved many successes, especially when he has a large number of fans. The MV "Making my way" not only achieved many impressive achievements in the domestic digital music sector, but the song also occupied the highest position on the iTunes charts of Singapore, Japan and Taiwan (China), appeared in the iTunes top of Germany (rank 4), the US (rank 6), Canada (rank 6), showing the influence of this male singer in the foreign market.

Son Tung M-TP's music products are always in high positions at home and abroad. (Photo provided by the artist)

On Spotify, Son Tung M-TP received 1 million listens after 1 day of release. The visualizer version of "Making my way" also took less than 7 hours to rise to the top of the trending music chart and top 1 overall trending in Vietnam, top 1 trending in Japan, top 6 trending in Canada, top 7 trending in the US, top 14 trending in the UK.

In addition to the impressive numbers above, "Making my way" also attracted the attention of international media. Many newspapers and news sites from Southeast Asian countries (Singapore, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia) as well as Korea and Australia reported.

Rapper Den Vau gave Son Tung M-TP praise: "A quality product from M-TP. Wishing Son Tung success in reaching out to the big sea. Every effort will always be rewarded."

What are the pros and cons?

This is not the first time Son Tung M-TP has shown his ambition to go to the big sea. The collaboration between Son Tung M-TP and world rap legend Snoop Dogg through "Give it to me" before is a proof. Going to the big sea is not Son Tung M-TP's dream alone. My Anh once made an impression when representing Vietnam to perform at the Head In The Clouds Music Festival 2021 organized by 88rising - a famous American recording and production company. This program featured many famous international artists such as "lo-fi prince" Keshi, CL (2NE1), Saweetie, Joji... My Anh's performance of 5 consecutive songs at Rose Bowl Stadium (Los Angeles - USA) received a lot of praise from both domestic and international audiences. My Anh was also chosen as the artist representing Vietnam to perform at the ASEAN - Korea Music Festival - officially called Round Music Festival with famous Korean and Southeast Asian singers.

Previously, many Vietnamese singers such as Xuan Nghi, Dang Duc Duy (Pixel Neko), Tran Ha My (M Naive)... also participated in the Asia Song Festival - Joy Ruckus Club music festival with the participation of many Asian artists.

Singer Hoang Duyen (born in 1999) once became the representative of Vietnam to be named at the Mnet Asian Music Awards with the award for Best New Asian Artist. Female rapper Phao also "caused a storm" with the song "Hai phut hon" when it reached the No. 1 position on the global Shazam chart (an application that identifies and searches for songs through melody) - the first record of Vietnam on a major world chart. Phao's voice in this song also became a "hot trend" on many social networks such as TikTok, Douyin and was played in many sporting events in the US and Southeast Asia.

The US-UK market is where all artists aim to develop their careers as well as to bring their names to the world, to be known by more people. However, to do this is not easy. Although music in the world today no longer has many borders, the huge difference in class and taste is clearly a barrier.

When wanting to go big, singers must sing entirely in English, using the most popular musical materials in the US-UK at that time, even inviting famous names in the US to contribute their voices. But when success in the world is still an unsolved problem, even in the domestic market, singers will lose market share because they lose their color.

However, Vietnamese singers with ambitions to go global still need to be encouraged. Simply stepping out of the Vietnamese market to leave their mark on a wider scale is a journey that promises both joy and challenges. Because it is impossible to find one’s own limits if one stays in the safe zone of V-pop.

Source