Livespace VietNam: New opportunities for indie music groups
(Baonghean.vn) - Livespace VietNam is a project to support and search for musical talents organized by the French Institute in Hanoi in collaboration with the organizing committee of the Monsoon Music Festival since the beginning of 2021. In the context of the increasing number of indie music groups (independent music groups, who compose and produce music without depending on any record label), Livespace VietNam has created a playground, performance opportunities as well as promoting the music products of young people to the public in a wide and large scale.
The highlight of the Livespace VietNam project in the past 2 years has been 5 music performances, introducing 12 indie bands from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City (selected from nearly 50 registered bands). In addition, there are group sessions to guide how to work in the studio, how to make products in the music studio and create better music products; the LiveSpace Pro series of talks provides opportunities to exchange with international and Vietnamese experts to better understand the challenges of the music industry, find solutions for Vietnam to better integrate into the international network.
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The Kids Band. |
The young artists on the Livespace stage truly brought the audience passionate performances, with songs they composed themselves, expressing their feelings and thoughts about life. Ms. Ho Quynh Anh, who attended the Livespace 4 show, commented: “The music products have many new colors in lyrics and music materials, expressing individual musical thinking. Each band has its own style and color. Modern, multi-dimensional music expresses the desire to think about life and experience.”
For Nguyen Ba Truong Son and the members of the band Nhung Dua Tre, Livespace VietNam is a precious opportunity to demonstrate their abilities: "We come to this program with the desire to do our best as well as try to innovate old songs in a new style and bring new emotions to the audience." - Group leader Nguyen Ba Truong Son said. As for artist Le Trang (Trang Chuoi), a member of the band Limebócx, in the context of young bands struggling with where and how to perform, continuing to make independent music or joining record labels, she hopes that Livespace VietNam will continue to be a place for young artists to express themselves as well as connect with each other more.
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Lope Dope Band. |
In the past 4-5 years, there have been artists in the indie music genre who have affirmed their own path such as Le Cat Trong Ly, the bands “Ngọt”, “Chilies”, “Da LAB”, “Cá hồi hoang”… Releasing music is now simpler than before. “This is both an opportunity and a challenge for those who are really looking for a chance to shine. Releasing music or creating a song is now much simpler than before. For example, in the past, you had to go to the studio, with many different steps, but now you can completely produce, record at home and upload to platforms without going through any other publisher. However, because it is easy, the challenge will be higher. Finding a space for yourself to shine is not simple” - said Tran Nguyen Dang Toan, member of the band “Nhung ga mong mo”. Therefore, it is important that bands must focus on practicing, writing music, and making music to have unique works with personality as commented by musician Quoc Trung (General Director of Monsoon Music Festival): “The first thing is that you must have really attractive, really perfect music products, then think about PR, communication, marketing... If you want to have a unique, perfect music product, there is no other way than to spend more time and effort on your product. That can be demonstrated by the recent successful young bands who can be more confident in exchanging their time and life to let their passion go to the end without regrets”.
The indie music trend is growing stronger and has spread to Asia. This will create opportunities for young artists with a passion for music to get closer to the public at home and abroad. The new voice of indie music also contributes to the flow of Vietnamese music with diversity, flexibility, freshness, and the personal mark of the young generation. However, in Vietnam, even reality TV shows in their second year have begun to show signs of "disbanding". This not only shows that our musical talents are very few, but also shows that the development of musical potential as well as musical talent is limited.
Music groups often take a year, even several years to release an album. That time is too slow compared to market demands. Musician Quoc Trung recalls: In the programs he has worked on such as Rock Stone, Monsoon, young artists do not have many products available. Therefore, music groups must spend more time on music, and the speed of product development must be faster. “I see that young bands also have many limitations in recognizing the level of their music products. They also do not know what the technical requirements are. That requires them to work much harder,” musician Quoc Trung expressed.
Therefore, a large-scale program that creates a playground and learning opportunity for indie bands in our country like Live Space VietNam is really necessary, creating confidence for indie bands, so that they can focus more on professional music activities. Only time and patience along with creating a diverse environment for indie music to reach the public is the long-term path for young people. If young audiences have known how to find new faces and new styles, the music scene is also in great need of attention and support from professionals, music producers, show organizers, etc. Because if they are still hesitant about new things, they will not be able to create a new audience and new faces for the country's music.
