How much did Sơn Tùng M-TP's music video cost?

According to experts, in addition to the large sum of money spent to invite Tyga to collaborate, Son Tung's "Come My Way" music video may have cost over billions of VND to invest in, produce, and release.

After a period of stagnation, the Vietnamese music market has been revitalized thanks to the latest product from Son Tung M-TP. With his comeback song "Come My Way ," the male singer continues to dominate the charts, achieving numbers and generating discussion that any Vietnamese singer would envy: 600,000 viewers for the live premiere on YouTube; 1 million views in just 8 minutes; reaching the top 1 trending spot in 8 countries, including the US and South Korea; and over 12 million views after 20 hours of release…

In this heavily invested project, besides the singer spending a large sum of money to invite the famous Vietnamese-American rapper Tyga to collaborate, Son Tung also went big by assembling a powerful, top-tier team including producer Marvey Muzique, director Phuong Vu, and the AntiantiArt team.

Experts predict that by the end of May, Son Tung could have spent billions of VND investing in, producing, and releasing what is expected to be the most spectacular music video in the Vietnamese music market.

Did the music video cost tens of billions of VND?

"Come My Way" is described as a visual feast, treating viewers to stunning visuals, brimming with cultural elements and aesthetically pleasing, symbolic imagery. Images of the mythical Lac bird, Ly Dynasty dragon motifs, the scenic Trang An area, Khue Van Cac pavilion, and the masks of the Xuan Pha folk performance... are interwoven and appear throughout the more than 4-minute music video, evoking emotions and conveying cultural and spiritual values ​​to the viewer. In addition to numerous domestic locations, Son Tung's latest product was also filmed in the United States. The music video also showcases meticulous investment in costumes, special effects, VFX, dancers, luxury cars, and more.

Besides the billions of dong spent to invite Tyga to collaborate, Son Tung also spent a large sum to produce the product and assemble a large team.

According to director Nguyen Toan Trung, to invest in, produce, and release a product like " Come My Way ," the male singer had to spend a very large sum of money, amounting to billions of VND.

"Based on the music video, I estimate the cost to be in the billions of VND for Son Tung's latest MV. From the setting, costumes, special effects, production team, and the appearance of Tyga, everything shows the serious and meticulous investment the singer has put into this project. Furthermore, I don't see any brand endorsements in this MV. Perhaps, with the inclusion of many modernized ethnic images showcasing the fusion with modern culture, the absence of brand endorsements helps create a more seamless viewing experience and also reduces the challenge of harmonizing the MV's content with the brand's direction," the director stated.

Images from Son Tung's " Come My Way " music video.

Another producer also predicted that Son Tung spent over 10 billion VND to produce "Come My Way ." This person stated that the most important expenses were songwriting, music production, and the music video production team. The songwriting process involved Marvey Muziquem and Tyga. Marvey Muziquem also served as music producer, handling beatmaking and sound engineering. Similar to Tyga, Son Tung paid a considerable sum to secure Marvey Muziquem's services.

In addition, the music video was produced by director Phuong Vu and the AntiantiArt team. This is one of the most successful and highly skilled music video production teams in the Vietnamese music market in recent years. Phuong Vu is the person behind music videos such as "Muc Ha Vo Nhan" - Soobin, "Hop On Da Show " - tlinh, "LowG", "The Stars" by "Anh Trai Say Hi", "Nang Chen Tieu Sau " - Bich Phuong, "Vi Nha" - Den, "Ikigai" - Tang Duy Tan…

Son Tung's ambitions and risks

Besides showcasing his talent through the music video, Son Tung also openly expresses his ambition to reach the international market, as the aforementioned product is sung entirely in English. Furthermore, the singer's foray into Afrobeats is not a spur-of-the-moment choice. Afrobeats possess a very distinctive rhythmic structure, are easy to listen to and dance to, and are currently trending globally. By combining Afrobeats with his personal musical style and incorporating Vietnamese imagery, Son Tung is striving to create a musical product that is both highly accessible and fosters cultural exchange.

According to Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Van Thang Long, Senior Lecturer in Professional Communication at RMIT University, besides investing in music videos, singers spending large budgets to invite artists like Tyga or Marvey Muziquem is a well-planned strategy with multifaceted benefits. Collaborations between artists from multiple countries are a globally popular formula to help both sides expand their audience and fan base into each other's markets.

This is the fastest way for Vietnamese artists to reach international audiences and vice versa. Furthermore, this collaboration acts as a form of "hidden marketing" for Son Tung. Instead of simply pouring money into purely advertising platforms, inviting a famous international artist is a smart marketing strategy. Tyga's appearance creates a natural media narrative, proactively attracting the attention of the media and the public without resorting to overly dry advertising gimmicks.

"This is also a way for Son Tung to elevate his personal brand. Continuously collaborating with big stars from the US/UK, such as Snoop Dogg in the past or Tyga currently, is seen as a strategic move to elevate Son Tung's image to that of a globally influential star. He is striving to break free from the definition of a purely Vpop artist and position himself as an artist of international stature. Furthermore, these large-scale projects reinforce the image of a pioneering artist with a forward-thinking approach that transcends the boundaries of the music market. This is a personal branding strategy to create a solid foundation for future projects such as international tours, cross-border brand endorsement deals, and artistic collaborations with more ambitious new artists," Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Van Thang Long commented.

Rapper Tyga collaborates with Son Tung on his new product.

According to experts, this latest product is an ambitious undertaking for the male singer, but it also carries significant strategic risks. Firstly, it's a calculated move with inherent risk. The "US-UK expansion" with an English-language product is a carefully calculated strategy to elevate the brand. However, the biggest risk lies in the market disparity: Sơn Tùng's core fanbase is still primarily concentrated in Vietnam, while international audiences remain relatively unfamiliar with his music.

The international market is extremely competitive. The history of world music has seen many talented artists outside the US and UK try their hand at English songs, but fail to achieve significant success. Competition in this market is fierce and highly fragmented, where a new artist's entry into the Western audience's taste is a long and challenging journey. Furthermore, Western audiences have diverse tastes and demand a strong emotional connection, something that a second language sometimes struggles to fully convey in commercially produced pop music.

Ultimately, this product also presents a challenge in maintaining its appeal to its existing audience . Launching the song entirely in English inadvertently creates a small barrier for Vietnamese fans. When the language is no longer their mother tongue, singing along becomes more difficult, reducing the potential for creating derivative versions (such as covers, dance challenges, etc.), which are crucial for a song to go viral.

"This product can be considered a bold experiment in Son Tung M-TP's career. Despite facing difficult challenges regarding market penetration and audience connection, experts still expect the singer to succeed – not just in terms of temporary view counts, but through persistently asserting his identity in his journey to conquer the global music market. Although Son Tung's English pronunciation isn't perfect, the song could still be included directly in international playlists. This is how the singer confidently asserts himself not just as a domestic entertainment star, but as an artist with the capacity to think, create, and execute according to Western music industry standards. It follows the path taken by major K-Pop artists," shared Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Van Thang Long.

Source: https://znews.vn/mv-cua-son-tung-m-tp-ngon-bao-tien-post1655353.html