‘Understanding your market’, right key to success says Thanh Bui
Date posted: 15 Dec 2011
Thanh Bui
BInfoTech 2004
The Vietnamese Australian – who has written songs with Grammy Award-winners such as Charlie Midnight, Jim Marr, Michael Jay and Andy Goldmark – said the better that artists understand their markets, the more successful they will be.
“The course was fantastic. It’s been massively helpful in all markets,’’ he said.
Seven years after graduating from Swinburne in Melbourne, Thanh has gold records in Germany and Japan. He has worked in London and Asia, and has had his songs placed on hit TV series like The Kardashians and MTV’s Real World.
The pop-soul artist said he never really wanted to do his Bachelor of Information Technology, but in hindsight credits the business side of the degree with the perspective that underpins his success in international markets.
“It gave me such a wide overview of business systems. It wasn’t just IT and programming, but also learning how to build a business, run your own business, learning accounting, knowing what a profit and loss statement is, understanding basic economics.
“It’s been so helpful, because as an artist I see things more from a business perspective. I see myself as a product rather as a musician. So in that way Swinburne’s helped me understand that at the end of the day, there’s supply and demand.”
Thanh - the son of Vietnamese refugees escaping the after-effects of the Vietnam War and the first in his family to attend university – said his approach is to give the market what it requires.
“I have been to the United States; worked in Germany, Europe, and London. Am currently in Asia. It’s all the same thing. It’s all business and if you can’t think this (way), you don’t survive. It’s that simple,” he said.
However his current project is personal, and very close to his heart.
The 28-year-old – whose parents are strong on preserving their Vietnamese culture, but who describes himself as ‘100 per cent Aussie, mate’ – has written his first album in Vietnamese.
You can now connect to Swinburne through the following social media platforms:
