In recent years, digital platforms in general and YouTube in particular have become a vibrant market for music. If in the past, singers tended to release albums, release CDs, DVDs for sale, now YouTube has become a major distribution channel for artists working in music. What is your view on the excitement of the digital music market?
- In my opinion, it is an inevitable trend of the times. We can listen to music conveniently on digital platforms such as YouTube, Spotify, iTunes. I also listen to music a lot on these platforms. Thanks to that, anyone can listen to the latest albums, the latest shows, and of course can listen anytime, listen back and forth. The audience rarely buys physical albums but gradually switches to online listening.
For singers who are trending races, musicians can also receive large sums of money from companies, or centers that collect royalties. A musician shared that now, they can live profusely with copyright and song rights. What about you?
- I heard that many singers ordered songs for up to 300 - 500 million VND. After that, the musician also received more money when the song was exploited on digital platforms.
I am not rich with copyrights. Songs like "Mid-Autumn dream" or "Hanoi 12 seasons of flowers" are famous but were born 20 years ago, at that time the digital platform was not as popular as it is today.
However, "Dream of noon" is still the song that helped me receive the most royalties. I don't get hundreds of millions a year, every quarter like other musicians, I get a few tens of millions in royalties every year.
Of which, the song "Dream of noon" was adapted the most, in many different art genres, from solo for musical instruments, dance, stage to movies... "Dream of noon" helped me have the most copyright, but the total was only about a few hundred million VND, not reaching a number of a few billion VND.
The trending race of singers also creates controversy, when the MVs that are in the hottest, most famous... are not necessarily the best, most quality products. In your opinion, how benefits and value does the top-trending race bring to Vietnamese music?
- I think in the music market, there should be music charts. But it must be admitted that rankings like on YouTube can still interfere, affecting views and rankings. Therefore, when I see a famous MV, I don't believe it 100%. Instead, if the song can go a long way, have 50-100 million views, proving that the MV is well received by the audience.
Meanwhile, there are many songs that I find not too high quality but simply catch a temporary "trend", exploiting a controversial issue to attract the attention of the audience. At that time, the audience listened once for fun out of curiosity, not many times.
I think, a good song is a song that attracts the public, making them listen to it every day.
Giang Son and the 5-genre band once had a beautiful youth and vibrant youth, but at that time, digital music had not developed as explosively as it is now. In your opinion, is it easier or more difficult for you and your singing friends to do business and music?
- I think there are always difficulties. In my time, we were completely pure in art, those who had the strength would have a solid position. We only need to be good at our profession and be enthusiastic about our profession to be loved. But now, many people do not have a unique voice but can use tricks to become famous, and many singers are good but not well-known.
I know many young singers have good voices but they don't know how to become famous, they don't have the funding to release and promote. To become famous, singers must have a better, more versatile, and more comprehensive crew to meet the needs of the audience.
After all these years, it can be seen that Ms. Giang Son still composes very richly, has many more unique products, with very unique musical colors. Recently, in early 2025, she had a solo concert called Giay Mo Sol, which was highly appreciated by many audiences and colleagues. Can I ask you, how is music so "day dreaming" for you?
- Music is still the land that I want to explore and explore because I feel like I can only waver in a small pond. And music in the world is a vast, profound ocean. I still have a lot to learn, many genres of music I want to try. I can say that, with music, I am very happy and do not hide anything.
2024 is considered a huge change in the music performance market when a series of concerts from the shows Anh trai say hi, Call Me by Fire were held. Do you think this will be a lever for the performing industry in Vietnam to reach further in the coming years?
- I see large-scale live concerts, attracting tens of thousands of audiences, as a good sign. I am happy that there are event organizers who have been able to perform shows on par with international shows. It is the Vietnamese audience that can fill those void.
Vietnamese music has been updated, developed, the young generation of artists is dynamic and in keeping with the movement of music in the world. In the near future, we will welcome many big stars to Vietnam. That shows that Vietnam's music and performance industry has developed and grown stronger.
However, it should be noted that music with trendy content is easy to get into.
