/vt/ - Virtual Youtubers

Here is a blast from the past, an article on the rise of vtubers, before the Holo explosion in the scene
>Is the Virtual Celebrity Industry Still on the Rise in 2020?
https://arvrjourney.com/is-the-virtual-celebrity-industry-still-on-the-rise-in-2020-60cfd2b2c315

Here are some excerpts
>What’s the Secret of the Growing Channels?
>So how are these channels still managing to grow fast? What differs them from other virtual celebrity channels?
>As we stated in the previous article, the answer still seems to be in talent agencies and China-based fans.
>However, another trend also arose — focusing on other platforms such as TikTok.


>1. Talent Agencies
>Over half of the newly added channels and fast-growing channels are associated with talent agencies.
>Nijisanji and Hololive by themselves make up a big chunk of the share, each holding 28% and 17%.
>The same rule applies to the +20% growth rated channels.
>Among the 54 +20% growth celebrities, Nijisanji and Hololive each hold 43% and 13%.

Here is something interesting, they already figured the "box" out back then
>What are they doing so differently?
>While researching those uprising channels, we realized that Nijisanji & Hololive associates utilize the agency system and hold collaboration streaming with other associates, introducing each other to their own fans.
>With similar 2D anime look and content, they seem to share the audience base, drawing their fans to become other associates’ fans with the minimum effort.
>This technique helps out beginner VTubers to obtain subscribers in a short amount of time.

Also, they figured the spread of Hololive across the world and, back then, their presence on bilibili
>Another interesting thing about talent agencies is that their fan-base can be different.
>While Nijisanji associates mainly act on YouTube, Hololive associates tend to be more active on Bilibili.
>While the key audience of Nijisanji associates is in Japan, that of Hololive associates is spread to the US, SE Asia, and Europe.

>2. China-based Fans
>As we noticed in the last article, there are major Chinese channels that are operated in Bilibili/Weibo.
>Half of the celebrities with over 500K subscribers are China-based and some only act on China.
>Yousa and Momo are great examples with over 1M followers.
>Some Hololive associates are strategically streaming mainly in Bilibili to obtain Chinese fans — Fubuki, Aqua, and Matsuri are those Hololive cases.

It is absolutely incredible that Hololive managed to tank the chinkout and pivot hard out of that strategy.