VietNamNet Bridge – While foreign singers organize live shows to earn money, Vietnamese singers hold live shows to “burn” money!

Hong Nhung and Quang Dung.

Surveying the boom in live shows and overseas tours of world music stars, Andy Cirzan, deputy director of Chicago & Jam Production (USA), told Rolling Stone magazine that singers are earning money through live shows and tours because of the steep drop-off in recorded music sales.

The Spice Girls reunion in 2008 earned about GBP16.5 million after 11 shows at the O2 Stadium in London. The Police earned GBP7.2 million after two live shows at the State de France Stadium, GBP3.5 million from a show in Tokyo Dome Stadium, Japan and GBP2.9 million from Maracana Stadium in Brazil. Other stars like Beyonce and Eric Clapton also earned hefty sums from their tours.

It is different in Vietnam, where organizing live shows often means incurring heavy losses.

Diva Thanh Lam was the pioneer in organizing live shows. Her first live show, called “Give me a day,” took place at HCM City’s Lan Anh Stage in 1997, without any sponsors.

In 1998, diva My Linh had her first trans-Vietnam show named “My Linh’s Voice.” The show was a huge success, despite also not having sponsors. Two years later, she organized the second live show “My Linh and Brothers”. This time the show had a sponsor and earned a small profit. Four years later, My Linh’s 2006 tour was praised for its quality but the singer suffered losses of nearly 300 million dong, despite the show being sponsored by Samsung and tickets selling out. My Linh explained that she incurred losses because of big investments in technical equipment and expertise. She paid $10,000 a night for Japanese audio experts. She said she organized the shows to satisfy her artistic passion.

In March 2007, pop star Lam Truong launched his “Yesterday” live show at the Military Zone 7 Sports House in HCM City and incurred heavy financial losses. Since then, almost all singers have reported losses when they organize live shows.

Why?

“Live shows” in this article mean shows where music stars meet certain technical standards for stage, sound, and light quality, not just shows held every night at bars or clubs in Hanoi and HCM City. These kinds of shows are almost always profitable.

If singers are not “stars”, they can’t expect to draw audiences to their live shows. Show organizers would never accept offers to organize these shows. However, some unknown singers consider live shows a shortcut to fame. Singer Lam Chi Khanh is a typical example. He sold his house to hold two live shows, in which tickets were delivered free.

But why are real stars like Thanh Lam, My Linh, My Tam, Phuong Thanh, Dan Truong, and Lam Truong still losing money from live shows?

If international stars organize tours of concerts, Vietnamese stars only hold a single show. Vietnam currently doesn’t have any theaters for big shows while stadiums are large but still only appropriate for sports events. Only Hanoi and HCM City have several theaters that are good enough for small shows, such as the Hanoi Opera House, Hoa Binh Theatre, Lan An Stage, etc.

As a result, singers have to hire modern light and audio systems in order to organize live shows. My Linh even hired Japanese audio experts. Will audiences dare pay more for shows that are organized on unprofessional stages?

These stages increase expenditures for live shows while security remains low. Two live shows by pop star Phuong Thanh were unsuccessful because of rain. My Tam’s live show was also affected by rain.

Moreover, it is a waste to build a modern stage for only one show.

However, the more profound reason is that Vietnam doesn’t have a real music market. This market is affected by free shows organized by television broadcasters. Also, singers can only sell tickets worth a few US dollars in Hanoi and HCM City.

What’s the future for live shows?

Diva My Linh in a live show.

Vietnamese singers have learned not to organize big live shows and instead focus on smaller ones. Hong Nhung and Quang Dung were very successfully with a small live show for a hundred audience members at a club in HCM City. The tickets for this live show were priced up to $150, a record in Vietnam.

Pop star Dam Vinh Hung organized a similar show named “White Night Party.” He even brought this show to the US, selling tickets at $100.

MFC company also organized small live shows for overseas Vietnamese star Tuan Ngoc at Sofitel Saigon Hotel. Other overseas Vietnamese singers did the same at some nightclubs in HCM City.

Some singers organized shows at small theaters to cut costs, while still managing to attract larger audiences than those typically seen at nightclubs. Thanh Thao, Phi Nhung, Huong, and Lan May Trang band followed this policy and managed to earn profits.

Big live shows are now only organized if singers have big sponsors.

PV