When digital music technology took over with the explosion of YouTube, Spotify, Apple Music..., physical albums gradually became "memories". Therefore, when the trend of releasing physical music albums returned, even becoming a popular trend, the audience was surprised.
Experts once predicted that the CD market would be wiped out when witnessing the increasing popularity of digital music technology. However, contrary to what many people thought, the CD market suddenly became bustling when a series of singers released physical albums. Although the number of albums released was not as high as in the golden age of the CD market, it was still not small.
Revive the market
After 2 years of preparation, singer Quang Dung has just released the album "Love you in the middle of a forgotten life". The album includes familiar love songs which, according to him, "are songs that I love very much, have performed on stages and received a lot of love and support from music lovers".

Songs in the album such as: mash-up "Drizzle - Winter is coming in the city" (musician Duc Huy), "I still love you - I still owe you" (Phan Thanh Tai - Anh Bang), "This afternoon without you" (Ngo Thuy Mien), "Love you in the middle of a forgotten life" (Truong Sa), "Giang Ngoc" (Ngo Thuy Mien), "Like the sea tonight" (Dieu Huong), "Tears for you" (Tu Cong Phung), "Biet gio tro ve" (Ngo Thuy Mien)... show the refinement of a voice that has established itself in the hearts of old music lovers.
These songs are given a new look with a contemporary feel and civilized musical color, but still retain the core spirit and message value of the work.
"Every time I perform my favorite song, I feel extremely happy. That happiness is doubled and resonates when the audience welcomes it" - singer Quang Dung expressed.
Meanwhile, My Tam is a pioneer singer in "declaring war" with digital music technology when she always prioritizes releasing physical music albums. In 2017, when digital music was almost a safe solution for the Vietnamese music market, My Tam still decided to release the physical album "Tam 9". Within 1 hour of release, more than 5,000 discs were sold, not counting the number of online orders - breaking My Tam's previous DVD "Heartbeat" record (3,000 copies/day) and surpassing the record of her album "Yesterday and now", released in 2003.
Not only veteran singers, many young singers also join the physical album game, such as: Orange (Khuong Hoan My), Wren Evans (Le Phan), rapper Tran Minh Hieu, Tlinh (Nguyen Thao Linh), Phung Khanh Linh, Dong Nhi, Hoang Thuy Linh, Phuong My Chi... The products of these singers cost from 300,000 to nearly 900,000 VND/disc. The album price is even higher when the singer combines the sale of the disc with accompanying accessories such as: t-shirts, bags, water bottles, pictures...
Young singer's efforts
In fact, the physical album market in Vietnam is becoming increasingly bustling with the participation of many Gen Z singers. This phenomenon more or less reminds the audience of the golden age of the CD market 20 years ago.
According to Billboard magazine statistics, 46% of singers' current revenue comes from online music websites, 6% from YouTube, 38% from audiences downloading songs and only 9% from disc sales.
This shows that the audience's music enjoyment trend has clearly changed and the majority has chosen to listen to music on digital platforms because of its mobility and convenience. The Vietnamese music market is no exception. Singers all admit that streaming is a trend in the music industry.
However, as shared by young singer Phung Khanh Linh, releasing physical discs is really difficult and risky. "But I personally want to have pride when looking back on my musical journey through these CDs" - she expressed.
Many singers participate in releasing physical albums not with the expectation of making a profit but to consolidate their name despite facing many risks. Albums such as: "LoiChoi" - Wren Evans, "Vu tru co bay" - Phuong My Chi, "Ai" - Tlinh, "Ai cung phai bat boi tu dau do" - HIEUTHUHAI, "99%" - MCK, "Cam on" - Orange... all have more or less impacted the revival of the Vietnamese music CD market.
Ha Anh Tuan is also one of the singers with a "huge" number of albums sold when releasing physical albums. The current physical album sales are certainly far behind the golden age, but the artist has a reason to believe that his products are not outdated at all. Many audiences have shown their love for their idols by keeping souvenirs that are products associated with the singer.
In fact, this is completely deserved because the albums of Phuong My Chi, Wren Evans, Tlinh... are highly invested in terms of design and aesthetics, not inferior to international products. Not only impressive in terms of form, the musical value that these albums bring also really makes anyone who spends money to own them feel it is worth it. It is not by chance that at many recent major award ceremonies, these young artists have all appeared in important categories thanks to their albums.
Singers releasing music products in physical form not only affirms their seriousness in their career but also creates positive impacts on business services in the music entertainment industry.
Are audiences willing to spend a lot of money to own albums with quite high prices of Vietnamese singers? Certainly yes. After 3 releases of music CDs in 3 big cities, My Tam announced that all 10,000 albums were sold out. To meet the needs of many people, My Tam reprinted 2,000 CDs and continued to quickly "sell out".
In total, 12,000 copies of My Tam's CD were sold out in the first release. In early January 2018, another 20,000 copies were sold - setting a record in the Vietnamese music industry. After that, 5,000 additional CDs were also sold quickly, bringing in revenue of about 5 billion VND - used entirely for My Tam's charity trip.
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