So, you’ve heard of Hatsune Miku? Me neither. She’s grown into a world-wide holographic phenomenon, with millions of fans. A true “cyber celebrity”, the first of her kind, Hatsune has become one of Japan’s most successful inventions, and a cottage industry unlike any other. Released in 2007, Hatsune was created using Yamaha’s Vocaloid 2 and Vocaloid 3 programs. To market “her, Crypton Future Media created an “android diva” with a backstory about a near-future world where songs had been lost. Manga artist, Kei Garo, created a slim figure in a futuristic school-girl with long turquoise pigtails. She’s a 5-foot, 92-pound, sixteen year old girl, born on August 31st. Her popularity has outpaced the wildest expectations. The entire Vocaloid phenomenon, of which Hatsune Miku is just one example, has become incredibly lucrative. In addition to endorsing cars, the Hatsune Miku image has been used to promote the Toyota Corolla and in promotions for Sapporo, SEGA, and Google Chrome. What has driven her popularity more than anything, has been user response. When the program was first released, Crypton actually couldn’t keep up with demand. To date, there have been over 1 million images of her created by fans. Over 170,000 videos featuring her image have been uploaded to YouTube, and 100,000 songs featuring her have been released and she has nearly 1,000,000 fans on Facebook. In 2013, Crypton released an English-language version of the software, and her popularity increased exponentially. Hatsune Miku”, became the first Vocaloid album to chart at #1 in 2010. She has since gone on to perform sold-out live concerts in Asia and the United States, including a gig at LA at the Nokia Theater and has opened for Lady Gaga’s “ArtRave: The Artpop Ball” tour. Nobody knows how far the Hatsune Miku phenomenon will go as there’s been nothing like it before. This is a totally futuristic concept. Is an appearance on RuPaul’s Drag Race far away? Can’t you just see the “Vocaloid Challenge”? Check her out in concert and just imagine:
(via Celebrity Net Worth)
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