Why Is Hatsune Miku So Popular?
Right now, I'm in a very bad procrastination. I feel like I haven't accomplished anything in the past week. But, apparently, only in situation like this I can set my mind free and think about irrelevant things in my life, such as Hatsune Miku (hell, why I keep writing about weird stuff).
If I recall correctly, many many years ago someone told me that there was a singing hologram named Miku which just held a concert, and the concert was attended by real people (man, what a crazy world).
At that point, I don't know (nor I care) anything about Vocaloid. I wonder if anyone else also doesn't.
Then I found this interesting survey. In January 2013, a 3 day survey was run by Tokyo Polytechnic University. During the survey (based on ages 12–38) 95% of those entering reported knowing who Hatsune Miku was. In comparison, participants barely knew who Megpoid, IA or Aoki Lapis were.
A careful look at google searches also seem to support this hypothesis:
The fact that Miku is still the most popular Vocaloid despite many newer Vocaloids were released after her, made me wonder, why is Hatsune Miku so popular? How did she become so popular?
So I began my intensiveprocrastination research on Vocaloid. There were many answers I found around the web, but most of them only highlight a specific side of Hatsune Miku (or Vocaloid). So I decided to compile them all in a single article. I found out that there are at least three sides of Hatsune Miku:
Thousands of people have gathered in a large convention center, holding their lightsticks passionately. Suddenly, a bright hologram shows up in the middle of the stage, accompanied by a cute, synthesized voice of a girl.
Who would've guessed that? The very first Vocaloid prototype was intially developed in Spain, Barcelona in the late 20th century. The first attempt wasn't succesful. They decided that the program is just too big and unfeasible.
A few years later, Yamaha helped the researchers to start a new project. Yamaha stated that they wanted to make singers who "will sing the same song as many times as desired, always correctly, and always without complaint" and also "make it accessible to everyone".
After several changes and improvements, they finally built an engine that can make human-like voice with some samples.
But that also wasn't a success. The very first vocaloid was originally released in English, they are Leon and Lola. They weren't considered seriously and the sales were very poor.
But then a Japanese company, Crypton Future Media, made their own vocaloids, Meiko and Kaito. They were better received and sold more than their english counterpart. But that was nothing compared to what happened next.
In 2007, CFM released Hatsune Miku. And boy, it was selling very well! How did that happened? Maybe some luck, and some innovations. The package of Hatsune Miku finally featured a cute anime-like avatar, which is really an attraction. And also, since Miku was released on VOCALOID2 engine, the program had improved so much and it was a lot easier to use.
So, you got a cool concept, a product that stands out in the market, and an easy-to-use UI. Everything you need to sell a software. But I feel like something is still missing. The puzzle isn't completed yet...
Before Miku came, an amateur Japanese musician had basically no good outlet for their work. You could post it on a video-sharing site like YouTube, or share it on a music-sharing site like Soundcloud (which wasn't that big at that time), but people really didn't have any reason to seek out your music in particular unless, e.g., there was a recommendation from a different musician they know. Putting yourself out on the market as an amateur musician was extremely difficult.
The same could be said for artists in other disciplines - literal artists, i.e., pen and paper artists, could share their original artwork on private websites, but how would people find or appreciate their work? Video artists, choreographers, amateur editors, etc. could post to their blog, but would a potential audience find their blog?
On the other side of the coin, there were plenty of casual consumers out there who enjoyed watching videos, listening to music, and looking at art from these creators, but had no real means to explore new creative work beyond crawling through random forums and webpages or getting recommendations from their friends and online peers.
Then Miku stepped in. Miku was the first Vocaloid easily usable by amateurs, by the everyman - you could synthesize music in your home, for fun, and have a way of setting it to a decent vocal track. Some of the early musicians to use the software, the musicians people listened to when they were wondering "what on earth is Vocaloid?" made legitimately good music. Rather than thinking, "wow, here's a new artist I like," people were also thinking, "wow, people are actually making pretty good music with this software." And so rather than just adding one more artist to their list of favorites, they start looking through other Vocaloid music, and the Vocaloid fanbase starts to gain traction.
Vocaloid had begun to establish a community, and fans and consumers in the community would seek out new creative works under the Vocaloid umbrella. Over the years, the movement has spread outside of Japan, and many of the current generation growing up on the internet have seen Miku even if they have no idea what Vocaloid actually is.
But the Vocaloid fans, when watching Miku dance on stage in a projected concert or buying Miku merchandise, aren't appreciating just a character they have become fixated on, but are also appreciating the ingenuity of a generation of creators and consumers that found each other, in a sense, through Miku.
Source:
http://vocaloid.wikia.com/wiki/VOCALOID
http://vocaloid.wikia.com/wiki/Hatsune_Miku
http://daily.redbullmusicacademy.com/2014/11/vocaloid-feature
http://www.yamaha.com/about_yamaha/research/vocaloid/
https://www.reddit.com/r/Vocaloid/comments/44tnup/please_explain_to_me_why_hatsune_miku_is_hatsune/
If I recall correctly, many many years ago someone told me that there was a singing hologram named Miku which just held a concert, and the concert was attended by real people (man, what a crazy world).
At that point, I don't know (nor I care) anything about Vocaloid. I wonder if anyone else also doesn't.
Then I found this interesting survey. In January 2013, a 3 day survey was run by Tokyo Polytechnic University. During the survey (based on ages 12–38) 95% of those entering reported knowing who Hatsune Miku was. In comparison, participants barely knew who Megpoid, IA or Aoki Lapis were.
A careful look at google searches also seem to support this hypothesis:
| Note: Of course, the searches on "miku" aren't always associated to "hatsune miku". But the search volume of this other "miku"s are relatively small compared to the total, so they can be ignored. |
The fact that Miku is still the most popular Vocaloid despite many newer Vocaloids were released after her, made me wonder, why is Hatsune Miku so popular? How did she become so popular?
So I began my intensive
1. The Virtual Pop Idol
Thousands of people have gathered in a large convention center, holding their lightsticks passionately. Suddenly, a bright hologram shows up in the middle of the stage, accompanied by a cute, synthesized voice of a girl.
2. A Vocal Synthesizer Software
Who would've guessed that? The very first Vocaloid prototype was intially developed in Spain, Barcelona in the late 20th century. The first attempt wasn't succesful. They decided that the program is just too big and unfeasible.
A few years later, Yamaha helped the researchers to start a new project. Yamaha stated that they wanted to make singers who "will sing the same song as many times as desired, always correctly, and always without complaint" and also "make it accessible to everyone".
After several changes and improvements, they finally built an engine that can make human-like voice with some samples.
But that also wasn't a success. The very first vocaloid was originally released in English, they are Leon and Lola. They weren't considered seriously and the sales were very poor.
 |
| The package design is terrible, isn't it? |
But then a Japanese company, Crypton Future Media, made their own vocaloids, Meiko and Kaito. They were better received and sold more than their english counterpart. But that was nothing compared to what happened next.
In 2007, CFM released Hatsune Miku. And boy, it was selling very well! How did that happened? Maybe some luck, and some innovations. The package of Hatsune Miku finally featured a cute anime-like avatar, which is really an attraction. And also, since Miku was released on VOCALOID2 engine, the program had improved so much and it was a lot easier to use.
So, you got a cool concept, a product that stands out in the market, and an easy-to-use UI. Everything you need to sell a software. But I feel like something is still missing. The puzzle isn't completed yet...
3. A Medium for Creativity
Before Miku came, an amateur Japanese musician had basically no good outlet for their work. You could post it on a video-sharing site like YouTube, or share it on a music-sharing site like Soundcloud (which wasn't that big at that time), but people really didn't have any reason to seek out your music in particular unless, e.g., there was a recommendation from a different musician they know. Putting yourself out on the market as an amateur musician was extremely difficult.
The same could be said for artists in other disciplines - literal artists, i.e., pen and paper artists, could share their original artwork on private websites, but how would people find or appreciate their work? Video artists, choreographers, amateur editors, etc. could post to their blog, but would a potential audience find their blog?
On the other side of the coin, there were plenty of casual consumers out there who enjoyed watching videos, listening to music, and looking at art from these creators, but had no real means to explore new creative work beyond crawling through random forums and webpages or getting recommendations from their friends and online peers.
Then Miku stepped in. Miku was the first Vocaloid easily usable by amateurs, by the everyman - you could synthesize music in your home, for fun, and have a way of setting it to a decent vocal track. Some of the early musicians to use the software, the musicians people listened to when they were wondering "what on earth is Vocaloid?" made legitimately good music. Rather than thinking, "wow, here's a new artist I like," people were also thinking, "wow, people are actually making pretty good music with this software." And so rather than just adding one more artist to their list of favorites, they start looking through other Vocaloid music, and the Vocaloid fanbase starts to gain traction.
Vocaloid had begun to establish a community, and fans and consumers in the community would seek out new creative works under the Vocaloid umbrella. Over the years, the movement has spread outside of Japan, and many of the current generation growing up on the internet have seen Miku even if they have no idea what Vocaloid actually is.
But the Vocaloid fans, when watching Miku dance on stage in a projected concert or buying Miku merchandise, aren't appreciating just a character they have become fixated on, but are also appreciating the ingenuity of a generation of creators and consumers that found each other, in a sense, through Miku.
EDIT (20 April 2017)
I think I have a better answer now. Do you notice how Miku is even more popular than Vocaloid itself? That's the answer. Not everyone knows her as a Vocaloid, some only know her as a virtual idol. And while I'm sure that there are better Vocaloids than Miku, there are no better virtual idol than her.
But what makes a great virtual idol? Well, that topic can be a very long essay on its own. But at least I can say this: it's not so different from what makes a (real) person a great idol.
Source:
http://vocaloid.wikia.com/wiki/VOCALOID
http://vocaloid.wikia.com/wiki/Hatsune_Miku
http://daily.redbullmusicacademy.com/2014/11/vocaloid-feature
http://www.yamaha.com/about_yamaha/research/vocaloid/
https://www.reddit.com/r/Vocaloid/comments/44tnup/please_explain_to_me_why_hatsune_miku_is_hatsune/
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