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What are VTubers? Japan’s virtual YouTubers are taking over the world, says Sony, and are ‘an inspiration to others’
- In K-pop, virtual hybrid entertainers like girl group Aespa are rising in popularity. In Japan, virtual YouTubers are well-established content creators
- Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) has launched Vee, a project featuring five Japanese VTubers that it is hoping will gain global popularity
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Japanese virtual YouTubers, or VTubers, can earn over US$1 million a year – but what is it about them that makes them so special?
Everywhere you look, virtual entertainers are taking over. In K-pop, they take the shape of girl group Aespa’s virtual “ae” members, AI-enhanced girl group Eternity and the new, partially AI boy band Superkind.
In Japan, where many of the most successful virtual entertainers such as Hatsune Miku have become household names, the metaverse’s reach is spreading to every facet of entertainment.
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VTubers – video creators and entertainers who use virtual avatars – have seen increasing growth in Japan in the past few years, with some of the biggest names in entertainment investing in their further growth.
While conversations about the metaverse (a virtual world where people are expected to socialise, play, trade and work in the future) in English-language entertainment spaces truly kicked off in early 2020 when the Covid-19 pandemic was well under way, Japan’s VTuber scene has been around since the mid-2010s. Some VTubers are hoping to go global as virtual entertainment continues to grow.
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