When 15 seconds can decide a song
In mid-September, songs like "Gián đáng iu hông?", "Ăm chã húi", "Zombie V4" became the topic of debate about the quality of Vietnamese music lyrics.
Birds are cute, aren't they?" was used in more than 9.4 million TikTok videos, reaching about 5.4 million views on YouTube and nearly 700,000 listens on Spotify. "Ham cha hui" also appeared in more than 2.6 million short videos.
The common point of these products is that they have strange phrases, repeated refrains, and especially easy to separate a short segment to use as background music for videos.
The appearance of these songs creates much debate. One side argues that this is an entertainment product, not necessarily carrying a big message; the other side is concerned that chasing after naive, repetitive words may make composing become easy.
If in the past a song was evaluated through overall melody, lyrics and vocals, in the age of TikTok, Reels or Shorts, the first 15-30 seconds can determine the ability to reach the audience.
A short piece of music can spread in thousands, even millions of videos before the audience knows the name of the song or the artist. Many people know a line of song, remember the chorus, but have never heard the whole song.
This trend is happening globally. According to Music Impact Report of TikTok and Luminate, 84% of songs in the Billboard Global 200 in 2024 were viral on TikTok; the 10 most popular songs on the platform were used in more than 200 million videos and generated more than 8 billion streams on Spotify.
The numbers show that short videos are no longer simply promotional tools after the song is completed. It has become part of how music is discovered and consumed.
When viral music can drag listeners to YouTube, Spotify or other platforms, music makers find it difficult to stay out of the game.
Viral should not be the ultimate destination
Musician Nguyen Van Chung, when discussing songs with naive lyrics recently, said that this is a temporary phenomenon, related to the distribution mechanism on social networks and does not represent the entire professional music market. He also said that "tricks" to catch trends are difficult to create a sustainable career.
The algorithm does not force composers to write easy lyrics. Platforms only prioritize content that can attract attention, and the way to create attention depends on the artist's choice.
Hook (catchy melody) is not a product of the TikTok era, because popular music has long needed verses and chops to create an impression. The difference is that nowadays, the risk lies in the fact that the whole song is only built to serve a hook segment. That song can reach millions of uses but also easily disappear when the trend ends.
Therefore, the solution is not to require artists to stop making TikTok-appropriate music or turn their backs on short videos.
For young artists who do not have a large fan base, viral music can open up opportunities to reach the public. However, views, sound usage, or trending position should be the starting point, not the destination of the composition.
A hook can only last 15 seconds, but a song needs to be strong enough to hold listeners for a few minutes. Trends can be short-term, while artists need works with long-term vitality.
The platforms can increase the connection between short videos and complete music, helping viewers easily find song titles, artists and switch to music services. As a result, the heat from a viral clip can spread to the entire product.
For composers, the problem is not necessarily a choice between art and algorithms.
A song can have easy-to-remember hooks, suitable for short videos but still ensure quality in terms of melody, lyrics and message. Viral ability and musical value are not two opposing factors.
