Big challenges await Spotify in Vietnam

The news on March 13, 2018 about Spotify became a hot topic of discussion on social networks, which appeared to indicate a good future.

However, analysts said that this does not mean Spotify will ‘make things happen’ in Vietnam. Apple Music and Netflix also stirred up the public when they arrived in the country.

The number of people trying Apple Music increased rapidly in the first days of service. However, it still has not become popular in Vietnam, because the majority of people want free music service. Meanwhile, Apple Music sets high service fee and doesn’t focus on Vietnam’s music.

Analysts commented that the monthly fee of VND59,000 set by Spotify is the same as Apple Music in Vietnam. The subscription fee is much cheaper than other markets, but higher than the fee set by other music websites.

The VIP service fee set by Nhaccuatui and Zing Mp3 is around VND30,000 a month and VND80,000 for three months. 

The fees for long-term subscribers would be even lower, VND150,000 for six months and VND270,000 for 12 months.

Currently, Spotify only accepts payment via Visa/Master Card. Zing Mp3 and Nhaccuatui accept other payment methods, including via scratch cards and e-wallets such as Zalo Pay and MoMo.

Spotify provides free music, but there are limitations. Users, for example, can have six songs within one hour and can only listen to online music with a smartphone app.

However, there are differences between Spotify and other service providers. The biggest advantage of Spotify lies in its interface and user experience which are better than other applications. It suggests music and playlists based on users’ behavior and tastes.

However, the challenges will be big for Spotify. Though Spotify has its marketing solutions to attract users, such as providing a free version and acting as the exclusive distributor of some albums like Tam 9, some of the rules it sets (no offline downloads on smartphones) would keep Vietnamese users away.

Collecting fees from users and ads are the major sources of income of service providers like Spotify. However, users want free music, and the income from ads is shrinking because of the competition from Google and Facebook.