Diverse Tet music
The most prominent Tet season this year is "Van Su Nhu Y" by Truc Nhan, a song that almost maintained its leading position on online charts for many weeks. Gathering nearly 70 artists from many fields helps the MV have the appearance of a true "music feast". Modern Pop melody combined with familiar traditional materials such as lion dance, fireworks, banh chung, red parallel sentences makes "Van Su Nhu Y" easy to access, easy to listen to and suitable for the reunion atmosphere of the first day of the year.
Standing behind Truc Nhan are a series of large-scale invested projects, typically "Tet Ta Ve" with the participation of Dong Nhi, Bui Cong Nam, Jun Pham, Khoai Lang Thang, CongB. This is a typical product of the branded Tet music model: neat images, a large cast of stars, advertising campaigns covering social networks. However, the spread of the song on the TikTok platform and content creation trends did not explode as expected, showing the gap between the level of investment and the ability to "catch trends" of music.
In another direction, HIEUTHUHAI with "Mong nam moi phai hoa" was once considered a potential competitor on the popular charts. However, this product mainly stopped at the visualizer form, lacking an image story that could hold viewers for a long time. The song did not create a "key" piece to spread strongly on social networks, causing the attraction to gradually decrease after a short time.
Still controversial, little impact
In contrast to successful products, many singers faced a wave of mixed reactions.
Thanh Thao with the cover of "Kìa Tết đang sang" was criticized for her voice being heavy with nostalgia, lacking updates compared to current music listening trends. Many opinions believe that the voice processing still retains the vibrato style of the 2000s, making the cover become outdated and difficult to reach young audiences. Previously, the female singer had encountered similar debates when covering hit songs of the new generation.
Ung Hoang Phuc and Nhat Kim Anh also fell into a similar situation. Although they maintained their familiar voices and serious professional spirit, their Tet music products were assessed as lacking breakthroughs, empty lyrics, and harmony not suitable for modern tastes. Choosing a safe MV concept, repeating familiar motifs, further makes it difficult for products to compete in an increasingly fierce market context.
From that reality, it can be seen that Vietnamese Tet music is facing a paradox: The number of songs increases rapidly every year, but very few songs have a long lifespan after the holiday season. Many products are born in the style of "right season, right time", completing the communication task and then quickly being replaced by new trends. The explosion of digital platforms makes the life cycle of a song increasingly short, when audiences are drawn into the continuous flow of short videos, podcasts, livestreams and TikTok trends.
Previously, Tet music was associated with radio, ward loudspeakers, cassette tapes - repetitive media, unintentionally creating collective memories. Today, listeners access too many products in a short time, leading to the situation of "listen quickly - forget quickly". Many songs are written according to catchy, cheerful, easy-to-spread formulas, but lack emotional depth to be able to stay long in the public's mind.
Another issue is that the Tet experience of society has changed. Not everyone has a fulfilling and reunited Tet. Economic pressure, urban rhythm of life, and labor migration make the feeling of spring increasingly diverse. However, most Tet music still revolves around familiar traditional images such as trays of rice, banh chung, apricot blossoms, and peach blossoms. That repetition makes it difficult for many audiences to find themselves in new songs.
2026 Tet music clearly reflects the picture of Vietnamese music: Dynamic, many opportunities but also many challenges. Truc Nhan's success shows that audiences still appreciate meticulous, emotional products, not dependent on promotion. Conversely, controversies surrounding covers or outdated products show that artists find it difficult to stand firm if they adapt slowly.
In the end, the deciding factor is still the true emotion. When Tet music is written from life experiences and touches the psychology of listeners, it has the opportunity to overcome seasonality to become a long-lasting memory; but if it is just "made for show", the aftertaste will quickly fade after New Year's Eve.
