Making Red Music in Late Socialist Vietnam

This colloquium explores the studios of Voice of Vietnam Radio, an institution described as the "mouthpiece of the communist party", to understand what motivates musicians and composers.

Vietnamese radio music ensembles have been producing communist propaganda songs (red music) in support of single-party rule since the 1940s. The lyrics of these anti-colonial and anti-imperial songs are less relevant to many of the citizens of post-war, independent, unified Vietnam, but state-sponsored ensembles continue to record and broadcast them every week on the national media.

This presentation examines the contemporary production of red music in the studios of Voice of Vietnam Radio, an institution described as the "mouthpiece of the communist party", to understand what motivates these musicians and composers. In extending the discussion of my most recent book, Voices of Vietnam: A Century of Radio, Red Music, and Revolution (Oxford 2022), I examine the differences between nationalist- and communist-leaning personnel at the station and the influence of gate keepers in the media and music industries.