The Virtual YouTuber scene is continuously expanding as you read this. In the age of content, we see a lot of people making their dreams come true. A lot of countries have caught up to the hype already, but how about countries which have no VTuber representation whatsoever?
Enter the Israel-based Idol VTuber agency, which aims to fill the gap. On this feature, we take a look at what Idol is, and what’s their goal in the VTuber community. We also spoke to Idol to understand where they stand in the global VTuber scene.
With the theme “Where Gaming Worlds Collide,” Idol’s debut trailer is a mix of great talent. Kuli Komis’ PaztG (Video VFX/Editing) and Minutiae (3D/VFX) created the trailer with UWU Media in-charge of the logo design and Farhan Sarasin taking charge of the music.
Five VTubers will compose Idol’s first-generation lineup of talents: Kattarina Qutie, Nikki Rei, Neo Sparkles, Lily Sin and Emi Suika.
Described as “Fierce and menacing,” Kattarina grew up in the mafia long enough to be a mafia boss herself. Although she looks intimidating, she has a great interest in playing video games.
You take one look at her Twitter and you can feel that she’s adorable—there’s a reason why she is an adorable Qutie.
Magical fox Neo Sparkles looks cute, but we are warned that she can be unpredictable sometimes.
We reckon that she’s a foodie—she’s a member of the burger gang, and her current choice of drink is very specific: “Chocolate Irish Cream Bubble Tea is the best.”
This demon girl is someone to be feared. She has a dark, tragic past; and she has sealed a deal with the devil. Upon closer observation, she’s game for some soup and memes.
Apocalypse survivor Nikki Rei has been lied to in the past, but her endurance is what makes her move with hope up to this day. She has her spiked baseball bat ready in case something bad happens: “I don’t get bonks, I give the bonks.”
Among all the talents, Emi Suika seems to be the comfiest. She is also the shortest of them all at 135cm. All we can see from her is watermelon slices—wait, is that Netflix Israel recommending her some titles?
Idol has explained in length their purpose and their goal in establishing VTuber footprints in countries which have no representation:
We believe that VTubing in general has been a rising force in content creation more recently. What started out as a niche entertainment scene based from Japan blossomed into a global phenomenon with millions of followers. From corporate-backed VTubers to your bedroom indie VTubers, the industry alone has been the source of new ways to entertain online followers, in addition with it being the future of content creation.
Despite the popularity of the VTubing industry in general, we have observed that this is only concentrated in several markets like Southeast Asia, North America, and Europe. Meanwhile, there are potentially hundreds of VTubers and other content creators in other parts of the world that have talent but lack the proper exposure.
This is where Idol Corp. comes in as a VTuber company. Our main driving force for the company is to spotlight the rising number of worthy content creators from countries and territories that have limited or no representation in the VTubing community. And with that driving force in mind, we are also hopeful to foster a generation of VTubers that will provide entertainment to the rising VTuber fan demographic. We believe that in every territory and nation, talent perseveres always and we seek to find the best of them.
In short, Idol Corp is a VTuber agency that brings the light of the VTubing community to more territories and aids accepted talents to became the best of their VTubing craft.
While Idol understands that the majority of the viewing audience is older, they commit to be responsible in following platform terms of service:
We understand that the VTubing space has been predominantly composed of fans older than 18 years old, so our entertainment direction will be always directed to these older and mature audiences. However, we are always mindful of the platforms our talents will be communicating with utmost care and mindfulness with the guidelines under these platforms.
Being online influencers themselves, we believe that influencers should set an example to their followers, and to those that are being welcomed into the community. As much as our talent growth banks on the large support from our growing fanbase, we believe that there should be greater thinking on deciding first if this content is worth posting online.
Idol’s talents will stream on YouTube, but the management is open to other options:
After careful observation of the initial demographics our talents’ subscribers have gotten, we have come to the conclusion that YouTube will be Idol Corp’s platform choice for its talents, as it is the most accessible for the larger number of VTuber fans globally. However, this doesn’t mean that we’re disregarding other options.
For now, we would have to observe current streaming trends whether Idol Corp retains its choice of streaming platform or migrate to another streaming platform for other experiences.
Following a deal with local Nintendo distributor TOR Gaming, Idol will sponsor top streams in Israel to host their respective watch-along parties. They are also open to collaborations with other VTubers:
For now, we have yet to announce any other collaborations or pop culture events that we at Idol Corp can join to. However, we are always reaching out to other brands and organizations that we believe can bring more value to our company.
Speaking of VTuber collaborations, we are more than happy for VTubers within the community to reach out to us for potential collaboration. You can always check out our contact form on our website should you reach out for VTuber collaborations. We’re also more than happy for other brands and organizations to reach out to us for potential marketing partnerships in order to amplify both parties online.
As an agency, Idol provides support to its talents by providing them streaming resources and legal support. In fact, each talent’s mic and mixer set is already prepared for debut. The question is, to what extent does Idol have when it comes to creative control?
As we have mentioned previously, our goal as a VTuber company is to foster a generation of VTubers that will be the best in their craft. As such, we want to intervene as little as possible in the content creation of our VTuber talents. For us, we’re here to give them resources and external support in order to make their content as impressive as possible. And them? They just need to be the best version of themselves and grow as a VTuber/content creator.
Perhaps our way of intervention for our very own talents would be in the form of talent advice should the planned content might harm or offend the talent, as well as providing legal support for our talents in the case of facing legal-related issues in the future.
It is a tradition for big agencies to roll out a debut song featuring their talents as they debut, and a debut song for Idol’s VTubers is already in the works:
We recently announced online that we are working on an original song, to be performed by our first generation VTuber talents. This will be released days before the debut to keep up the hype to our loyal subscribers. We have worked with music producers dylonmaycel and Master Andross for this song, with lyrics being written by JubyPhonic and Monii.
We hope you can look forward to Idol Corp’s upcoming releases and most importantly, the debut of our talents!
Thank you to Idol Corporation CEO Aviel Basin for sharing his time for the VTuber Section.
Source: Idol Corporation Email Correspondence / Photo Handout
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