Communication strategies of Vietnamese music groups: Balancing cultural identity

The band B.O.F. in a performance — BOF band in a performance

New direction

The 100-day training journey of the reality TV show searching for and training the next generation of pioneering idol groups in Vietnam, called “Rookie of the Year - Survival Stage”, just ended a few days ago, with the launch of the “Rookie of the Year” lineup consisting of 11 young singers.

This is a pioneering program, entirely produced by Vietnamese people, a combination of music competition, reality TV and personal image building journey. The program has 2 routes: selecting and training trainees according to international standards; debuting music groups, competing with international music groups. In the past 3 months, the trainees have participated in a closed training process according to the standards used to create top Korean boy bands such as EXO, Shinee... The selected members must ensure that they have the ability, star qualities, development potential, impressive performance style, team spirit, hard work...

Vietnam currently has no program that possesses a professional training and coaching team like “All-Rookie - Survival Stage”, when gathering big names in the entertainment industry, training Korean idols. Notably, there is “hit-making wizard” Hyuk Shin - the person behind a series of billion-view hits by Justin Bieber, EXO, Shinee... His presence in this project as training and development director is a “guarantee” for the quality of training and professional music orientation. In addition, the program has the participation of top V-Pop artists such as Soobin, Kay Tran, Toc Tien, Dinh Ha Uyen Thu, SlimV... Sharing about the training process, Mr. Hyuk Shin said: “Although applying training methods from Korea, due to the participation of Vietnamese coaches, the program still ensures to retain the unique elements of you”.

In the next phase, the “Rookies Upgraded” lineup will continue to receive intensive training and compete with international bands in the region. The organizers have announced the performance schedule for August 12, September 10, September 25, October 9 and October 24 at Tan Binh Stadium (HCMC). Korean band 8TURN are the first international artists to compete with the Vietnamese band.

Before “Rookie of the Year - Survival Stage”, there was the reality show Vote For Five - the first survival show held in Vietnam, giving 100% of the decision-making power to the audience to find the “New Generation” idol group. The show had 3 coaches: Dong Nhi, Isaac and Truc Nhan. The participating members were all Gen Z artists: Alex Duong, Gusty, Jayden, Cuong Bach, Jiroh, Jbin.

Music producer SlimV believes that today’s young audience needs a musical language that is both modern, fresh, trendy, and linked to national cultural elements. Therefore, to make a successful music group search program, there must be a clear direction and strategy.

Smart social media communication strategy

V-pop is a fertile land for the development of music groups, but in reality, there are times when this model is no longer popular, leading to many music groups with good abilities but cannot last long... On the contrary, some music groups with tradition still stand firm, making their mark such as Buc Tuong, MTV, Chillies, OPlus, Mat Ngoc...

CN3 tieu diem.jpg — Soobin will lead the 11-member "Rookie Upgrade" team to compete with international groups.

However, after the success of programs with a large number of participating artists such as Chi Dep Dap Gio, Anh Trai "Say Hi", Anh Trai Overcome Thousands of Challenges..., the music group model is showing a strong tendency to return. In early June, the music group BOF with 5 artists Jun Pham, ST Son Thach, BB Tran, Kay Tran, Bui Cong Nam just had their first showcase (debut performance), creating a positive effect.

Before that, a series of music groups also continuously debuted to the audience such as: "Nha Tre" with 7 artists Tien Dat, Binz, Rhymastic, Ha Le, Quoc Thien, Duy Khanh, Tien Luat; "MOPIUS" including JSOL, Quang Hung MasterD, Duong Domic, Hurrykng; "LUNAS" with Trang Phap, Ninh Duong Lan Ngoc, Diep Lam Anh, Huyen Baby, Khong Tu Quynh; "VibeQueens" with Luu Huong Giang, Phuong Vy; "XYNTRA" with Dieu Nhi, Duong Hoang Yen, Hau Hoang...

The Vietnamese music market is growing, which is a good sign, but the emergence of a series of music groups also contains many problems. The more members in each group, the more challenges it faces to build recognition for the group. What music groups lack most today is a lack of hits to stand out and attract the attention of the audience. In fact, some newly formed music groups, despite being oriented and having high expectations, have quickly fallen into oblivion because they cannot make an impression on the audience.

Going the long way in the era of increasingly fierce competition in the performing industry is not an easy task for young music groups. In addition to professional issues, they also have to carefully understand the market, audience tastes, and have a smart communication strategy on social networking platforms. Applying foreign training formulas also needs to be considered to balance and preserve Vietnamese culture. Because if they do not have their own identity, creating values that are very Vietnamese, even if they have technical factors that meet international standards, Vietnamese artists will find it very difficult to compete.

TIEU TAN

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/chien-luoc-truyen-thong-cua-cac-nhom-nhac-viet-can-doi-voi-ban-sac-van-hoa-post807642.html