From Corporate to Indie: Exploring the Dynamic Between the Two Models
By Shazly Zain
Jan. 6, 2025 6 PM PT
Office meeting room. (Benjamin Child / Unsplash)
Since the major boom in 2020 for English viewers, VTubing has become a staple in the entertainment industry. A derivative of the ever-popular anime culture, VTubers have since moved out of the relatively niche space into everyday conversations, be it through partnerships with major brands, government agencies and philanthropic activities.
Recently, discussions have intensified around corporate VTubers choosing to go indie. While much of the focus has been on negative factors driving this trend—such as corporate mismanagement, cultural differences between Japanese and non-Japanese work environments, and reported abuse—there are also positive motivations. Many talents are drawn to the potential for better financial returns, greater creative freedom, and an escape from restrictive corporate practices.
This trend may be in its infancy, as various industries experience cycles of fragmentation and consolidation. A crucial question arises: what are the implications for the broader VTubing industry?
Employment Structure of the Landscape
The VTuber labour market comprises two primary employment models: independent (or indie) talents and those affiliated with corporate agencies. This dual structure creates a unique dynamic, as talents can transition between models—a rarity in many other industries.
Success can be achieved under either model. Some of the largest VTubers are part of corporations or agencies, while a wave of independent creators has also found significant success. A notable example includes Dokibird (789K YouTube subscribers in just nine months) who showcases a successful transition from corporate to indie. Likewise, some of the biggest corporate VTubers today have had history streaming as indies.
Given these impressive performances, it’s understandable why fans of corporate VTubers encourage their favourite creators or oshis to consider the indie path, particularly among those affiliated with smaller agencies. These smaller entities often lack the resources to fully support talent growth, leading to arguments that indie creators could achieve similar success as their corporate counterparts.
Putting the VTuber Numbers into Perspective
Analysing VTuber viewership as a proxy for industry health reveals an interesting status quo. Overall viewership numbers have increased over the past three quarters; however, indie VTubers have maintained a stable 36% share of total viewership despite the emergence of several successful newcomers in Q2 and Q3 2024. In contrast, corporate VTubers from agencies like Hololive, NIJISANJI, and VShojo have experienced only minor increases in their viewership figures.
Figure 1: Top 5 VTuber Agencies Proportion by Viewership (Streams Charts, 2024)
While the indie path may seem appealing, it's essential to consider various factors before making the leap. Many newer indie VTubers have achieved remarkable success, largely due to the transfer of their existing corporate fanbases into the indie sphere. Fans often express their loyalty with sentiments like, “I am loyal to my oshi, not the company,” particularly when corporate VTubers graduate or leave their agencies. This loyalty means that new indie VTubers who come from established backgrounds can expect to draw significant numbers compared to those starting from scratch.
The VTuber industry also suffers from the “superstar” phenomenon. This phenomenon occurs when income within a given industry generally goes towards a small select group of individuals, many of which now have prior experience in the corporate setting. One can consider how footballers in first division teams can earn millions compared to professionals just one tier below. Likewise, the average 36% of views credited to indies are likely to be accounted from a select group of successful indies.
It is also important to recognise that the industry is still developing. At approximately 4.5 million subscribers, Gawr Gura is the most subscribed VTuber currently. However, this number is significantly smaller when compared to other YouTubers or other mature entertainment industries. VTubing is still in its infancy.
The Wrong Conversation?
There have been disingenuous ecosystem conversations about the VTubing landscape that typically frame a direct comparison and competition between indie and corporate VTuber performances. These conversations range from comparing numbers between these two sets of VTubers or pressuring corporate VTubers to graduate and go indie (there are genuine cases to push for this, but it is seen as somewhat unprofessional).
This is unhealthy as both corporate and indie VTubers can have wildly diverging access to content, marketing and management resources. Both sets of VTubers also have different performance expectations and such comparisons will only create unhealthy competitive pressure for talents and propagates a toxic streak among would-be fans.
From Fragmentation to Consolidation
Figure 1: The Consolidation Curve (Havard Business Review, 2002)
Perhaps the conversation can be reoriented to consider the future development of the VTuber industry. It is somewhat accurate to describe the recent trend of talents leaving agencies as a sign of fragmentation.
Fragmentation usually occurs as market accessibility improves. In its nascency, virtually anyone could be a virtual streamer (no pun intended). The Live2D modelling technology is highly accessible and streaming platforms were originally lenient and exploratory with content.
As the industry matures however, it is important to recognise that the barriers to entry do exist and will get consistently tougher. The influx of experienced streamers into the indie scene will heighten competition. These new indies may have access to better equipment and are generally in a better financial position to launch their indie career more successfully. It also cannot be ignored that prior experience as a corporate VTuber has placed this new wave of indies in a good position. Budding indie talents may feel unnecessary pressure to attempt to compete with these better equipped talents. This only leads to disenfranchised indies who are demotivated to stream professionally. This phenomenon is already present among YouTubers as the general sentiment of content today being highly curated and the opportunity for unorthodox content becomes scarce.
Interestingly, this may result in a consolidation strategy as like-minded indies or smaller agencies band together and share resources under a larger agency or corporation framework. There have been several acquisitions within the VTuber industry, most notable Brave Group acquiring Idol this year. It would also not be surprising to see more talent-driven, VShojo-type organisations developing soon.
Going Indie will get Tougher
Given the nascency of the VTuber space, it is perhaps alarmist to proclaim that indie VTubers will be priced out, both financially and experience-wise, from going professional and the future of VTubing will be completely driven by corporations. There will always be many examples of newer indies starting out from scratch and becoming successful. Some might even join corporations themselves. Most importantly, the consumers i.e., the fans are the primary driver of the industry. However, it should be noted that going indie will get tougher as competition intensifies and the fluidity between the two employment models will get progressively stickier. Whether the fans and the wider industry will seek to maintain this fluidity is up for debate.
Op-Ed by Shazly Zain, Public Policy & Qualitative Researcher
Shazly has spent the last seven years providing strategic advice based on innovative, mixed-Qualitative and Quantitative methods in both commercial and sociopolitical research.
Beyond his professional work in the public policy and government relations space, he likes using games & pop culture as unconventional inspirations for his public policy musings. Shazly is also a massive fan of the Tempus boys and owns a reasonable number of Gura merch.
Follow or connect with him on LinkedIn here.
