Musician Quoc Trung: Don't be quick to believe false compliments, it's easy to be misunderstood.

Brother drunk in Las Vegas (USA). Photo: VieON

Musician Quoc Trung has a frank and comprehensive assessment of the current Vietnamese music market. Accordingly, Vietnamese music has had positive changes, but still needs more to break through.

Musician Quoc Trung has experience as he was the main organizer and director of the Monsoon Music Festival for many years.

Musician Quoc Trung. Photo: Character provided

Vietnamese artists do not have global influence yet

Regarding the show Anh trai say hi holding a concert in the US on July 26-27, what do you think about the performance industry and the model of organizing music shows of Vietnamese stars when stepping out into the world ?

- As I understand it, this is a concert for the audience of overseas Vietnamese in the US, with the influence of the program from Vietnam and the support of entertainment complexes in Las Vegas (US) for Vietnamese customers.

Just like other concerts at famous theaters organized by artists from Vietnam, the music nights are all aimed at overseas Vietnamese audiences or bringing fans of artists from Vietnam. That is not enough to evaluate our performance industry has stepped out into the world.

- What do you think about building a performance industry in the current Vietnamese music market?

- The performing arts industry must start with talent. When our artists do not have global influence, even though there are millions of listens on digital music platforms, the market share of Vietnamese artists is still only with Vietnamese audiences.

Furthermore, we still do not have any specific plans or strategies towards the international market, so we cannot say that we are ready for this.

No success comes without effort.

- In your opinion, what more factors do Vietnamese artists and Vietnamese music show organizers need and how long does it take for Vietnamese music to be able to step out into the world more?

- I am just a creative practitioner, an artist, although I have experience, but I am not an expert in cultural industry strategy planning to be able to assess how long or how far it will take, but I know clearly what is needed.

We need a visionary strategy, a sustainable plan and a deep, broad determination to build a Vietnamese music industry capable of competing in the international market.

First of all, we must arouse great aspirations in our country's music makers. We also need at least 5 to 10 years to realize our aspirations.

The only formula is: Talent

Musician Quoc Trung (in red shirt) attending the Sonica Festival in Glasgow, UK. Photo: Provided by the character

- In your opinion, what trends and strategies should Vietnam learn to get closer to international standards?

- There are no trends or shortcuts. To train top artistic talent in general or music in particular requires hard work, time and perseverance.

We need to learn common processes and strategies of the world and apply them appropriately to the context and characteristics of Vietnam.

We still lack many managers and manufacturers with knowledge and experience working in the international market.

We have recently made some initial changes, but please don't be hasty in your judgment. We need to be humble and learn more.

- In your opinion, what factors (in production, human resources, technology, communication, management...) are we lacking to be able to compete internationally?

- I think we now have almost all the necessary elements, even some excess in the communication stage.

The only thing missing – and the core – is top-notch musical talent, capable of truly competing in the international market.

Those who have experience in international cooperation know clearly that they are very generous with compliments out there, especially when it comes to the Vietnamese market.

They are very good at winning over fans to bring them economic benefits.

But until they pay for our products, don't be quick to believe the "fake" compliments and misunderstand yourself.

- In your opinion, when going out into the world, how do Vietnamese artists need to affirm their identity?

- I feel like we are too obsessed with preserving Vietnamese identity and forget that identity is a process created from musical personality and is forged by the talent and creativity of the artist.

There is no artist in the world who is successful without an identity. So when we are successful, identity will appear.

Instead of worrying about identity like a child who can't walk yet but has to shoulder too many things, we need to clearly see: Finding identity without creativity and talent will result in neither success nor identity.

And to have Vietnamese identity in the international arena, we need a single formula, which is Talent.

- Thanks for sharing, musician.

Source: https://baoquangninh.vn/nhac-si-quoc-trung-dung-voi-tin-nhung-loi-khen-thao-mai-se-de-bi-ngo-nhan-3370097.html