Billion-dollar salary and the madness of Son Tung M-TP

On the stage of a recent music night in Hanoi, Son Tung M-TP caused a stir with his musical performances and clever way of interacting with the audience. Once again, the singer from Thai Binh proved his position different from the rest in the Vietnamese music market.

When Son Tung appeared, everything was just a name

After a period of silence, Son Tung returned with a performance lasting more than 30 minutes, playing the role of "closing the show" for one of the largest outdoor music programs since the beginning of 2024. It has been a long time since Vietnamese music has had such an explosive live stage and created such a strong social media effect. The heat that Son Tung created quickly spread throughout the night and the echoes have lasted until now.

Son Tung's explosion is a combination of factors: explosive music, meticulous staging of stage performances, audience sound and always having a smart way of leading and stirring. Son Tung can sing live worse than a series of colleagues. The male singer has never been highly appreciated for his dancing background. However, with his own style, Son Tung knows how to mix everything and create a unique version of Vietnamese music.

30 minutes of Son Tung's explosion

Son Tung brought to the stage the closest to a familiar formula. He appeared with an intro (a typical piece of music to open the performance), then continued with the set list of songs to perform as agreed upon from the beginning with the program. Here, Son Tung sang in turn Give it to me, Lost and Drifted, We don't belong together, You of yesterday and Don't break my heart .

The entire song was re-arranged by Son Tung, with the highlight being the reworking of the drum and bass sets to suit the nature of the stage performance. As the show's closing act, Son Tung was favored by the program in terms of duration, along with the most spectacular stage effects among the performances. Even the program's small details such as the ignition and smoke effects were specially choreographed to follow every moment of Son Tung.

The male singer opened with a rap segment for the intro, on a catchy Trap music background with the main sound being trumpet. Son Tung led the audience to join in the rhythm by calling out M-TP's name.

The biggest difference between Son Tung and the rest of the show's artists is his ability to stir things up. Not only on this stage but on many other stages, Son Tung always keeps the right rhythm of the music, at the right moment to catch the audience's rhythm. Even in the most explosive segments, typically the drop in the performance We don't belong together , Son Tung takes on the role of MC Hype.

Throughout Son Tung’s performance, the music was interrupted 3 times to make way for an exchange. At this time, the singer from Thai Binh also took on the role of MC to interact with the audience, express gratitude to the fanclub and cleverly promote the sponsor and show organizer.

Other artists in the show only spent a few minutes, interspersing their performances to interact with the audience. Meanwhile, half of Son Tung's time on stage was not spent singing. Not every singer dares to face this scenario, when the possibility of "stage death" is very high, if not tactful and clever enough when interacting with the audience. But Son Tung is very proficient at this.

On the same night, almost all the most famous singers/rappers in the Vietnamese music market today stepped onto the stage. Son Tung's performances were exceptionally "viral", first of all because the male singer's recognition was still in the top group. The music Son Tung brought to the stage was invested in, different, creating a feeling of "old but new", attracting audiences online.

More importantly, Son Tung has the support of the program to quickly push his performances to take over the airwaves. With a stage of this scale, the total investment can reach tens of billions of VND. In which, the cost of promoting the show accounts for 1/10 or 1/20 of the total investment, which is normal.

Son Tung has just created a "viral" with his own name, and has had the strong support of the most expensive organization at the moment. So it is understandable that the male singer has dominated social media in the past few days.

The male singer took on the role of MC Hype to incite the crowd.

The truth about Son Tung's billion-dollar salary

Since the Son Tung fever in recent days, the story of the male singer's billion-dollar salary has been debated by the online community. Many audiences believe that right now, to invite Son Tung to step onto the stage, the salary must be calculated in billions. Some even assert that Son Tung's billion-dollar salary is calculated based on each song, not just the entire program.

According to the revelations of people working in the music industry, it is true that Son Tung's salary has reached billions of dong many years ago. The singer's performances are divided into many different types, such as: Programs organized by brands, programs with brand elements, programs for student audiences, charity programs,...

For the show alone with its outstanding brand factor, Son Tung's salary will be at the ceiling, which is a billion. Considering the current market level, this is a crazy number. But with Son Tung's own position, especially the effect from the latest show, it can be explained why the male singer receives such high treatment.

A program that spends billions to invite Son Tung, not only for the purpose of bringing the male singer to the stage to perform music. Son Tung's appearance is a strategic card that decides the success or failure of the promotion plan before, during and after the program. Son Tung's salary is also directly related to the use of the image of the male singer by a brand/organization.

Son Tung's "viral" value is at its peak. It is effective in both natural spread and intentional promotion.

At the same time, competing for the heat of social networks with Son Tung are typical representatives of the market. That is Soobin Hoang Son, Hieuthuhai all stood in the "headline" position next to the singer from Thai Binh. In Ho Chi Minh City, Karik - who is gaining a good reputation as a coach of Rap Viet - brought a magnificent performance on a stage. Gen Z phenomena like Tlinh also appeared with a strong investment performance.

However, as an audience member shared: "When Son Tung appeared, everything was just a name." This is a half-joking, half-serious comment, but in reality, it reflects that Son Tung's position is still special.

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