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Korean style: Young singers prefer performing lightweight pop at major shows and concerts as an easier way to attract fans. — File Photo |
HCM CITY — Young musicians and producers are driving the music industry but there is a litany of complaints against them, especially that their works are too love-heavy and lack gravitas. Young musicians now prefer to make soft music about loneliness and unrequited love, Vo Cong Phuoc of the Military Zone 7 Art Troupe told members of the HCM City Music Association at the association's yearly congress which ended in HCM City last week.
"Some singers and their producers boast they have discovered new genres but their tunes are copies or variations of American and Korean songs.
"It's fine to learn from foreign countries but local musicians should choose songs suited to Viet Nam that preserve national characteristics."
Composer Quang Hai called for revitalising music.
"I like new trends by young musicians like Nguyen Vinh Tien and Le Minh Son in Ha Noi and producers Nguyen Van Chung and Duc Tri in HCM City."
However, he complained, love songs and sentimental lyrics that dominate the music market are increasingly coming under fire from tired musicians and listeners.
The two-day meeting was attended by more than 300 musicians, composers, producers, and critics, including stalwarts like Tran Long An, Nguyen Ngoc Thien, Nguyen Van Hien, and Tran Vuong Thach who were instrumental in developing Vietnamese music.
Four years ago romantic creations by newcomers like Duc Tri, Phuong Uyen, Vo Thien Thanh, and Thanh Tam given a fresh and exciting dimension to the music scene.
Along with pop singers Thu Minh, Thanh Thao, Lam Truong, and Tuan Hung, they fostered the development of the music and CD markets.
They used folk music and pop to attract young and old fans alike.
Tri went on to become a producer, setting up Music Faces, one of the city's leading music studios, which released albums in a range of genres by youngsters like Ho Ngoc Ha, Phuong Vy, and Pham Anh Khoa.
But times have changed since.
Fans have begun to write in to TV and radio stations to complain about the overdose of soft songs at major shows and concerts and demand curtailing the number of flossy songs in their own broadcasts.
"Romance has … become tedious," Tran Hoai Thuong, a fan in HCM City, said.
"We're tired of hearing young singers who are paid to cry for love."
Tran Long An, chairman of the HCM City Music Association, said: "Viet Nam has many beautiful songs remembered by generations of people. Young artists must build on this legacy and advance it." — VNS