VTubers redefine the music industry as virtual concerts and idols rise up YouTube: Nana Asteria \/ YouTube: Bao The WhaleVTubing is an inherently creative field, so too music. With the two art forms colliding, influences from both sides are transforming their respective mediums as virtual idols come into prominence and new-age stars find innovative ways to express themselves. Music has always been a big part of Nana Asteria\u2019s life. Growing up she was \u201cthe good Asian kid,\u201d she laughed, going to classes and doing all the extra-curriculars attached to that. There was one problem: she was tone deaf. \u201cI was not a good singer,\u201d she told Dexerto. \u201cMy mum was like \u2018God why did you give me a daughter who was tone deaf?\u2019 \u201cEven though my mum knew I was tone-deaf she never put me down. She never outright said \u2018oh God, you suck\u2019, so I\u2019m very grateful for that.\u201d Music wasn\u2019t something Nana thought she could make a career out of. Putting her face out there as an artist wasn\u2019t something she was comfortable with. What music was to her was therapy, \u201csomething that healed the soul\u201d. But then VTubing came around, and everything changed. Nana Asteria is one of many talented VSingers \u2014 short for virtual singers \u2014 in the VTubing space. The Australian was inspired, and frankly \u201cpeer pressured\u201d as she put it, into tipping her toes in the field after seeing her close friends give the medium a try. So she became the song of the galaxy reincarnate, finding a way to channel her passion for music and share it with the world. It\u2019s important to note VTubing itself arguably evolved from a world of musical performance. Kizuna AI, the mother of the medium, was a virtual performer known for her big pre-produced productions. Covers and karaoke are in the blood of early VTubers, and that has only grown as agencies and independent talents forged their own ecosystem in the musical world. Milky Queen, a virtual idol herself, has seen that evolution firsthand. Part of the Mai Princess project \u2014 a three-girl group in Japan that debuted in 2018 \u2014 they were pioneers in the field. Milky had no idea what VTubing was originally, but had always been passionate about music. \u201cI always wanted to be an actress or a singer,\u201d she explained. \u201cI remember drawing pictures of myself on the red carpet, and this is a type of that right? You\u2019re entertaining people, making music, and I feel like it\u2019s the kind of work I\u2019ve always dreamed of doing. \u201cI don\u2019t think I took music that seriously until I got really into Japanese music and singing different things, then learning the language so I could sing better. When I started singing in Japanese, I was like \u2018I really enjoy doing this, I want to try and make a career out of this.\u2019\u201d Many might see VTubing as just streaming nowadays with the rise of the medium on Twitch and YouTube. Big agencies like Hololive, NIJISANJI, and VShojo, while they do musical numbers and have talented performers on their books, are streaming-first. It wasn\u2019t always that way though, with short pre-produced videos being the norm originally. \u201cWhen it first started out [VTubing] wasn\u2019t streaming,\u201d she explained. \u201cIt was more short-form video content and streaming became the main thing VTubers do in 2019-2020. When I started we were making skit videos, like mini anime videos. It\u2019s interesting how it\u2019s evolved.\u201d As technology evolved though, not only did it level up the live VTubing experience, but also what a virtual idol could feasibly look like beyond the computerized Hatsune Miku. Soon there were music videos, then there were concerts in real life venues accommodating thousands of fans, watching VTubers perform on stage via screen or hologram. VTuber music, not just VSinging, isn\u2019t some niche insular community either. It\u2019s breaking into the mainstream conscience as idols take over concert halls in Japan and worldwide and record deals are struck \u2014 most notably Hololive\u2019s Mori Calliope signing with Universal Music. It\u2019s also more vast than just that front performer. There are producers and mixers working on these tracks. Background music for streams is a must, and some have positioned themselves as experts at that in particular, curating soft tunes to add ambiance to a broadcast. Music videos involve animation and editing work. The crossover between VTubers and the music field is immense, but it exists for a reason. The medium opens up a world of expression never before seen, and now everyone is taking notice. Using music and VTubing as a means of expression No matter who you speak to in the VTuber music space, the latter always came first in their life. \u201cGrowing up I would struggle a lot with expressing myself \u2014 something I don\u2019t struggle with anymore but it\u2019s definitely thanks to music,\u201d Sugi Aoki, a woodland dragon VSinger, said. \u201cI found it a lot easier to say the things I wanted to say through song. That really gave me the tools to communicate in every single sense. That\u2019s how I learned to speak English and how to convey emotions a lot better.\u201d Both are a means of communication and expression. Music is a very traditional art form, passed down through centuries with each generation \u2014 and even within a generation \u2014 adding some personal twist to it. It\u2019s used to tell stories, evoke emotion, and as an artistic joy everyone can take part in. It gives you the liberty to be yourself, and VTubing affords a very similar ability. It can enhance the musical experience for some creators, who might not be confident showing their face on stage, or even in a video. Hardly anyone has experienced that euphoric feeling more than Bao, a popular whale VTuber known for their music work. Previously under the moniker Hikaru Station, they found success in the mid-2010s YouTube cover era along with plenty of original work, but VTubing leveled up the creativity. \u201cI think VTubing has opened so many doors for me in terms of creative expression,\u201d she said. \u201cBefore I was just a voice online, someone you recognized in a song. But now I\u2019m a personality and that in itself allowed me to fully connect with my base in a way I never could before. Sometimes a song can\u2019t capture everything, so that\u2019s where streaming comes into play.\u201d \u201cI think the cool thing about VTubing is that it meshes with so many kinds of communities on the internet. The medium itself becoming so accessible allowed a lot of creative people online to fully flesh out their online personas in a way that we\u2019ve never been able to before. Integrating that with content creation as a whole made people realize how limitless VTubing is.\u201d Everyone has their own perspective on what this creativity can look like. It can be a story-building exercise, and you can bend the rules of reality a little bit like Nana Asteria: \u201cVTubing expanded my horizons far more than I could ever do as an IRL person. It allows me to have a sense of anonymity \u2014 and this is breaking the fourth wall here \u2014 but it allows me to be something that I\u2019m not. I\u2019m a song of the galaxy!\u201d It builds on what was possible in real life, and allows creators to show a different side of themselves: \u201cIt\u2019s the most successful people who are the shyest,\u201d Sugi Aoki mused. \u201cIt\u2019s great we get to show our full potential because even if I\u2019m shy, I know there\u2019s potential. Before VTubing I would always try a way to do it but it would never be good enough.\u201d And ultimately there are so many avenues of expression, Milky Queen added, that it\u2019s not just musicians who can take part because of all the moving cogs in this new age industry that fosters previously unimaginable creative expression. \u201cIt\u2019s similar to someone who loves writing \u2014 you can write a story, but you can put in so many creative elements. You\u2019re making music, artwork, videos of your character. There\u2019s so many different areas. People who are good at a very specific thing, or those good at lots of different things, can utilize all those skills. I think that\u2019s one of the reasons why it draws a creative crowd.\u201d How VTuber music differs from traditional forms VTuber music isn\u2019t necessarily a genre, but it has its roots and influences. Some come from Western spaces, branching out into the animated realm. Others are idol fanatics, living out their dreams of being part of a group \u2014 just virtually. The vocaloid and utaite scenes of online Japanese music culture have also played their part, coalescing into one massive amalgamation of talent from various backgrounds, all feeding into a diverse industry. Within it though, you still have creators making music from every genre under the song, from your pop to your metal and even some EDM thrown into the mix. In that way, VTuber music isn\u2019t so different from what we traditionally know music as. But the sheer diversity of backgrounds, interacting in a homogenous space, makes it special. wasi is a music producer who works in the VTuber space. While not a virtual idol himself, he has collaborated with big talents working on the production side, and even handcrafted a few stream background tunes too. He has seen people transition from the vocaloid and utaite spaces into this new one. Previously, wasi has existed in a very underground scene. People do it for the joy of music, not to really make a living. That commercial viability is now within scope though because of the appreciation of all sides of creative that VTubing spurred on. \u201cWith their team members behind them, VTubers have been able to bring their content to the next level,\u201d he said. \u201cIn turn, creators get much-deserved recognition and compensation for their services. Many creatives have been able to turn their hobby into a living through the VTuber community. \u201cIt\u2019s a symbiotic, interdependent, and reciprocal relationship. But with the level of fervor and dedication I see in the community, it\u2019s never purely transactional. So much heart in each and every project, always striving for the highest \u2014 the spirit of VTubing is unquestionably built on the passion and the love for the art.\u201d The virtual side of things does throw some interesting curveballs into the mix. For starters, it becomes a bit more difficult to hold a physical concert. That\u2019s slowly changing though as idols start creating virtual and real-life sets for themselves to hold live shows in. You don\u2019t have to book out a stadium, but you can invite people onto a VR stream with a manicured stage and your model there, front and center. If you have the budget, you can do a full-blown stadium production with holograms and the like. Mostly only major VTuber agencies like Hololive have been able to fully realize this yet, but it is the future \u2014 one that Milky Queen has lived out, performing at a virtual concert in Yokohama, Japan. They had a holographic stage setup at a VR theater, being on stage as a virtual performer: \u201cThe holographic stuff was so cool, and you could combine real people with it. Everyone was standing together. It was an amazing experience to be a part of. \u201cI\u2019ve always enjoyed watching VTuber concerts where you can see everyone with their glow sticks in the real space, but then you have the virtual space with the holographic stuff so we can be together there with the audience. It\u2019s a nice combination.\u201d It\u2019s not just the concerts and lives differentiating VTuber music from other fields. There\u2019s smaller things in just how the community has built itself. The amalgamation of backgrounds and influences affords it the space to collaborate on a truly global scale, but not have to worry about the logistics of being in the studio at the same time. \u201cI collab with people all over the world and it\u2019s so nice to make friends from all these different places,\u201d Milky Queen continued. \u201cSometimes I don\u2019t know anyone from a specific country but now I know a VTuber from there! That sharing of cultures is a fun thing, VTubing is so fun from that aspect.\u201d Ultimately though, it\u2019s music at the end of the day. It\u2019s meant to unite people, and the only major difference \u2014 and it doesn\u2019t even matter too much \u2014 is that it involves a 2D persona. \u201cVSinging and regular music creation is really only separated by whether or not a persona is involved and if the persona is actually representing a singer or the producer or both,\u201d Bao stated. \u201cI think a lot of people [like utaite on NicoNicoDouga or YouTube] were technically VSingers before the term became popularized.\u201d The future of VTuber music For as glorified as the VTuber music space can be, especially when you see big names on big stages, it\u2019s a cutthroat industry. Creatively, people can find their own goals and succeed. But if you want to make a living, it\u2019s a lot more difficult than it looks \u2014 much like any form of content creation. Indie creators have it even harder without agency backing. \u201cAs an indie, we have part-time jobs or full-time jobs, university, a household to take care of,\u201d Nana Asteria said. \u201cOnce you\u2019re under a big corporation it could be considered a full-time job. You have benefits, resources, professional assistance. \u201cFor indies it\u2019s about time management, knowing the right people to commission for mixes, instrumentals, animators, and sometimes you don\u2019t know. If you\u2019re really shy, it\u2019s hard to reach out. For companies, you have a manager who can help you find these people and make a decision. It\u2019s a lot easier, but it\u2019s not impossible as an indie. I\u2019ve done it, and you just really need to step out of your comfort zone, be willing to make mistakes, and ask for help.\u201d However the space is only going to keep growing as people outside of the VTuber circle latch onto its potential: \u201cThe anime figure, the face, the brand brings it a lot of attention,\u201d she continued. \u201cIf done with the right marketing and the huge backing of existing music companies like Universal and Sony, there is huge potential. Companies love that.\u201d \u201cPeople are going to realize there is huge potential in entertainers and what they\u2019re doing and it could become something more. There\u2019s a huge cross-cultural market between games, anime, singing, and VTubing which I think is really amazing.\u201d And as much as singers get the majority of praise in the space, it needs those other helpers behind the scenes like producers and other creatives. That\u2019s a \u201cbudding community\u201d right now, wasi says, and it\u2019s only going to get bigger as the projects scale up. \u201cI get especially excited when they play instruments or produce music on stream,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m also seeing VTubers gradually getting involved in multimedia projects, such as in collaborations with games, anime, and 3D traditional live streamers.\u201d There are the usual barriers to cross over. There\u2019s the hurdle of getting people to recognize and accept VTubing \u2014 something which is easy to do in the online realm but gets progressively harder the more \u2018mainstream\u2019 it becomes. The aforementioned resource struggle is another. Like it or not though, the VTuber music community is only going to expand as people use the medium as this enhanced form of expression. And truthfully, people don\u2019t get into VTubing or music for the money. It\u2019s all about the art form and bringing joy to others, and that\u2019s all these virtual idols want to do. \u201cI want to help people feel the way I feel about music,\u201d Sugi Aoki stated. \u201cI remember a couple of months ago talking to someone and they said music didn\u2019t make them feel anything. That was crazy to me. I\u2019ve lived this life, and the way I feel about music I\u2019ve felt that my entire life. \u201cBut I also want to have a space that\u2019s safe for people. Life is tough and there\u2019s plenty to worry about, so I want a space where people can go and vibe to some music and have fun. It sounds a bit basic, but it\u2019s really all I want. I don\u2019t care for numbers or anything like that. I just care about having a positive space, and everything else will come when I achieve that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
VTubers redefine the music industry as virtual concerts and idols rise up YouTube: Nana Asteria \/ YouTube: Bao The WhaleVTubing is an inherently creative field, so too music. With the two art forms colliding, influences from both sides are transforming their respective mediums as virtual idols come into prominence and new-age stars find innovative ways […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-63675","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63675","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63675"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63675\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63675"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63675"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63675"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}