What’s in store after BSB & Bob Dylan failures?
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Following a series of concerts by international musicians of all genres and stardom levels from Asian star Bi Rain to world-renowned icon Bob Dylan that has heated up Vietnam’s music scene in recent years, show organizers now promise there will be more to come.
Hints of upcoming shows featuring big names and not so big names, from Linkin’ Park, Michael Learns to Rock, Jason Mraz, Bon Jovi to Justin Timberlake, have been leaked to many media channels, arousing heightened expectations of Vietnamese music fans, especially young ones.
However, whether the excited fans will get to see more of their idols performing in Vietnam or not remains to be seen.
We may lose, but we will continue
“When we first decided to hold a Bob Dylan concert here, we already knew it would be a financial loss for us,” said Nguyen Kim Hanh of Saigon Sound System which organized last Sunday’s Bob Dylan show on Ho Chi Minh’s RMIT campus.
“But we will continue to do it because it is necessary to pave the way for the next stars to perform in Vietnam,” she said.
Bob Dylan and his band perform at Ho Chi Minh City-based RMIT university on April 10
The company suffered quite a loss, an industry insider said, when only 5,000 people showed up at the 8,000-seat RMIT campus last Sunday to watch the rock icon, with tickets costing from VND 900,000 – 2.5 million (US$ 43 – 120) generally and a discounted VND 450,000 (US$ 21.5) for students.
Even if the company had managed to sell 10,000 tickets at VND 2 million (US$ 96) each, it would have still made a loss on the show, according to its initial calculation.
Despite the foreseeable loss, the company still decided to spend more than VND 60 billion (US$ 2.8 million) out of their total investment to transport a Vertec sound and lighting system from the US to Vietnam, with all the accompanying technicians for the Bob Dylan’s show.
A simple math will easily show ticket sales only recovered a small part of the total investment the company had made.
However, Saigon Sound System already announced its next ambitious plan to invite stars like Jason Mraz over to Vietnam.
“We will continue to hold more concerts featuring international artists in Vietnam, even if it means we have to lose money,” Hanh said firmly.
Water Buffalo Production (WBP), organizer of last month’s Backstreet Boys concerts that were held at two of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh city’s football stadiums, was in the same financial boat with Saigon Sound System.
Backstreet Boys perform at Ho Chi Minh City-based Military Zone 7 Stadium on March 24
An industry insider said it suffered a massive loss from poor ticket sales as few fans actually showed up to fill available seats at the stadiums, although tickets at one point were discounted to one-tenth of the initial price.
Another unconfirmed source revealed the boys’ band did not get a high pay for their tour in Vietnam, which allegedly comes to US$ 150,000.
However, Water Buffalo Production still had to cut other costs to prevent further losses.
The concert’s sound and lighting system was an example. Instead of renting state-of-the-art equipment from the US as originally announced to the press, the company had to make do with local equipment during the band’s performances.
Despite the setback, Water Buffalo Production is still optimistic about its upcoming concert, rumored to be one by Justin Timberlake, of which it has yet to confirm any details.
“One hit wonder” organizer
“In fact, loss is a very common risk in Vietnam’s show business, especially shows involving international stars,” an industry insider said.
“However, some heavy losses will be too much for organizers to survive,” he said.
D&D, the organizer behind Korean pop star Bi Rain’s world tour “Rain’s coming” that stopped at Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City in 2007, was a case in point.
With a total investment amounting to US$ 1 million at the time, the show was highly acclaimed by music critics and industry insiders, but did not quite bring home the financial bacon for the company at the ticket office.
D&D has not announced any new plan to bring more stars to Vietnam since then.
Similarly, Viet Top is another “one hit wonder” organizer who was struck by huge financial failure of its first star-studded project.
After an unsuccessful Air Supply concert at Ho Chi Minh’s Hoa Binh theatre in 2009, the company has dropped its subsequent plans to invite other Asian artists such as Hongkong’s Andy Lau to perform in Vietnam.
It has never mentioned a similar project since then.
Currently, efforts by Viet Vision company to bring well-known rock band Linkin’ Park to Vietnam for a concert have also faced enormous financial challenges.
Planning to organize the show this September at an outdoor venue, the company is still hesitating over possible ticket sale loss, for the rainy season in September may take its toll on the show’s turnout.
Although the rock band said they did not mind singing in the rain, their managers require a large insurance fee to cover possible breakdown of all electronic sound and lighting equipment due to the rain.
A minimum ticket price of US$ 100 as set by the band has only furthered the company’s hesitation.
Despite the organizers’ press interviews and announcements of their ambitious plans, all the mentioned bands and musicians’ official websites have not listed Vietnam as one of the destinations for their upcoming tours.
