Thúy Nga Inc. () ( dba Thúy Nga Productions, variously referred to as Thúy Nga Incorporated, Thúy Nga Paris, and Trung Tâm Thúy Nga) is an American entertainment company founded in 1984 in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, and currently based in

Westminster, California Westminster is a city in northern Orange County, California, known for its many Vietnamese refugees who immigrated to the city during the 1980s. They settled largely in Little Saigon, and the city is known as the "capital" of overseas Vietnam ...

. The private company is known for its Vietnamese-oriented entertainment, such as the variety show and direct-to-video series '' Paris by Night'', and music released as part of the record label Thúy Nga Music.

History

1963–2000: background and founding

Founder Tô Văn Lai first formed a music company in 1963, in Saigon, South Vietnam, as a precursor for the current company and record label. After the Fall of the Government of the Republic of Vietnam, the company had to stop operating for a period of time. Tô began operations for Thúy Nga in 1984, in

, France, starting with production for the show '' Paris by Night''. Afterwards, the company transferred to

Orange County, California Orange County is located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in Southern California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,186,989, making it the third-most-populous county in California, the sixth-most-populous in the United States, a ...

, which has one of the largest Vietnamese populations outside of Vietnam. The company has since produced more shows in the series, along with other videos, and a catalog of albums by various artists from the Thúy Nga Music record label.

2000–present: digital piracy

In the 21st century, however, the company began to lose revenue due to the piracy of the video and album releases, with chief-executive Marie To commenting, "Profit? We are barely making it." Works released by the company are also banned in Vietnam, which has the largest source of pirates. Due to the rampant online piracy, Vietnamese entertainment companies have ceased productions, with exceptions being Thúy Nga, Garden Grove-based Asia Entertainment, and Van Son. In 2008, Marie To commented, "Ten years ago, there were about two dozen music studios, now only three labels are active." In 2010, Thúy Nga nearly shut down, narrowly avoiding it due to community support and new business strategies, which included lowering the cost to perform at venues, and increasing advertising. The company has since moved to social media by 2010, posting videos of ''Paris by Night'' performances and full albums on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

along with advertising, in order to lure audiences into purchasing the label's works.

Organization

Although production for the company's products include various freelance workers, producers, directors, and such, the full-time staff is limited to about a dozen people. Many singers for the company have originated in Orange County. In addition to its headquarters at

, and its original headquarters in

, Thúy Nga also has regional sales and distribution centers in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

, Canada and in

Bankstown, New South Wales Bankstown is a suburb south west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is 16 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district and is located in the local government area of the City of Canterbury-Bankstown ...

in Australia. The company also transferred part of its Australian distribution rights to a local music center at

Footscray, Victoria Footscray is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Maribyrnong local government area. Footscray recorded a population of 17,131 at the . Footscray is ...

Associated labels

* N-Q Records (1996–1999) * Như Quỳnh Entertainment (1998–present)

Artists

These artists have released albums (billed as a main artist) under the main Thúy Nga Music label. * Ái Vân * Ánh Minh * Bằng Kiều *

Don Hồ Hồ Mạnh Dũng (born February 22, 1970), better known as Don Hồ is a Vietnamese American singer who is known for appearing in '' Paris by Night''. Early life Don Hồ, whose real name is Hồ Mạnh Dũng, was born on February 22, 1970, in ...

Dương Triệu Vũ Dương Triệu Vũ (born January 1, 1984 in Cam Ranh, Vietnam) is the stage name of Tuấn Linh, a singer on the popular Vietnamese diaspora music show '' Paris By Night''. Born into a family of six children as the youngest, Tuấn Linh showe ...

* Hồ Lệ Thu * Hương Lan *

Hương Thủy Hương Thủy is a County-level town (''thị xã'') of Thừa Thiên–Huế province in the North Central Coast region of Vietnam. As of 2020 the town had a population of 95,299. The town covers an area of 426.96 km². This district ...

* Lam Anh *

Lynda Trang Đài Lê Quang Quý Trang Đài, also known by the stage name Lynda Trang Đài (born October 9, 1968 in Đà Nẵng), is a Vietnamese American singer. She has appeared in many of the Paris By Night shows of Thuy Nga Productions, for example Paris By ...

* Loan Châu * Minh Tuyết * Nguyễn Cao Kỳ Duyên * Như Loan * Như Quỳnh *

Phi Nhung Phạm Phi Nhung (10 April 1970 – 28 September 2021) was a Vietnamese-American singer, actress and humanitarian. She specialised in Dan Ca and Tru Tinh music. She sang for Paris By Night and Van Son and also acted in their plays and Tinh p ...

Quang Lê Quang Lê (born 24 January 1979) is one of the top selling Vietnamese-American recording artists, renowned for his unique covers of many traditional Vietnamese songs created and written before, during and about the Vietnam War. Quang Lê has become ...

* Tâm Đoan * Thanh Hà *

Thế Sơn Thế Sơn (born 10 October 1965) is a Vietnamese language pop singer from southern Vietnam, and is a long-time member of the long running Vietnamese diaspora variety show '' Paris by Night''. He performed in Paris By Night from July 1994 until J ...

* Thủy Tiên *

Tóc Tiên Nguyễn Khoa Tóc Tiên (; born 13 May 1989), known simply as Tóc Tiên, is a Vietnamese singer, model and actress. Beginning her career as a child, Tiên later became a teen idol, participating in several singing competitions and releasing ...

* Tommy Ngô * Trần Thu Hà * Ngọc Ngữ

References

External links

Thúy Nga's worldwide shopping website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thuy Nga Vietnamese music Asian-French culture American record labels American record producers French record labels Privately held companies based in California Vietnamese brands Companies based in Paris Companies based in Westminster, California Entertainment companies of Vietnam 1984 establishments in France