#dearvtubers: Making the cool innovative thing is great and all, but it's only half of the job. (Stay with me here - I'll break down the why and how behind it.) There are plenty of VTubers playing around with cool ideas every day! But a lot of them are so focused on making the product or experience good - while discovery just gets left to the algogods. Well, that's one possible strat...but that doesn't leave you with much agency (cue "the algo hates me!" or "people just don't care" complaints). And honestly...you've worked so hard on your Cool New Thing, so discoverability really isn't something that should be fully left to chance or luck. "But RAINA, shouldn't good stuff get found on its own?" Sure, sometimes the algo catches it. But virality is NOT the best way to judge the quality of your ideas, or your execution of them. Think of how many "hidden gems" and "best-kept secrets" you know of - great work goes unnoticed all the time. If you're making something new and cool that you think should matter to more than just yourself, and you're doing your craft to a high standard - then yes, discovery is absolutely a skill issue. Granted, there's still some luck involved, but you can definitely stack the deck in your favor if you've got something fucking cool to promote. So if you don't already have people advocating for you, that job is yours: keep putting your Cool New Thing in front of people, and make it clear why they should care, because it's not always obvious. Yes, I know it’s hard, tiring, and sometimes discouraging when other people aren’t clipping your stuff. But they may just need an example of how to do it - so you gotta be your own best advocate first. "OK, but what do I even say?" You need to find the story moments in the Cool New Thing, and how it would connect to someone else out there - not just narrate that it exists. Take a look at a few different angles to advertise your Cool New Thing - usual way before, better alternative after: The moment "Concert VOD is up!" vs "The exact second Jane VTuber did a death drop while shredding the guitar and the audience lost it (0:47)" The why "New original song out now" vs "I wrote this about the year I got constantly bombarded by an ex and almost quit." The making-of/behind the scenes "New model reveal tonight!" vs "My rigger and I spent four months making one blink feel otherworldly - see how we did it and find out if it worked tonight on my channel!" The reactions "My con panel went great!" vs "200 strangers had to save my castle together. Someone cried...happy tears, I think." The bridge (great for capturing new audiences outside of core VTuber fans) "Playing [game] tonight!" vs "If you like D&D actual-play, we have that tonight - except chat controls the dice." Same Cool New Thing, different reasons to look at it. Not all of these reasons will stick with viewers the first time, so rotate the angle instead of repeating the exact same pitch. (This will take some practice.) People DO care about new things; they just won't recognize it as new until you show them what's different. Android often had cool new features and advancements first; they just spoke about them like a dry-AF spec sheet. Apple was more known for "telling the story around these features", and made it easier for users to see why it matters to them. [Personal disclaimer: I'm Team Pixel and use one as a daily driver - so if anything, I'm biased the other way.] Chances are, you’re probably too close to your Cool New Thing to see why it may matter to others, which is fair. Viewing something you made with an "objective but kind" lens is hard to do right away - you want to identify what might seem magical and cool to others (which you might think is ordinary), and you don't want to "so what?" your own work until you feel "nothing matters anyway". If you can't see the magic in your own work yet, borrow someone else's eyes: ask a friend which part made them go "wait, what? that's cool!" A caveat: Not everyone will care even if you show your Cool New Thing to them, maybe because it's just not to their taste - and that's okay! It's not always a reflection on you as a person, or a verdict on the quality of your Cool New Thing. "But RAINA, self-promo feels cringe." It will, at first. You're not going to be fearless right away, and you can't wait until you are, because waiting doesn't make you any braver. I get that many people have been shamed for trying to talk about their interests in the past, but only doing it in private won't change the feeling. Start small if you need to: a WIP snippet instead of a big launch post, a reply under someone else's thread encouraging input/sharing of experiences, or show it to your Discord community before your timeline. Small reps still count, as long as someone's watching - you're building the evidence for your mind to know that you CAN do it, so that you can set the fear aside. And yes, there are avoidable missteps. I once saw someone keep mentioning they did a particular style of event first, before one of the big agencies did. More power to you - but that's not a good look, and you've kind of advertised for them anyway. "I did it first" is why it matters to you. Lead with the thing you did and why it matters to them. Flip side: if someone did it before you (or did it better), that doesn’t cancel or invalidate your Cool New Thing. Again, remember Android and Apple: being first isn’t what makes people care - the story is. And "better" depends on who's watching: other people's versions of your Cool New Thing won't always gel with everyone, and your version might end up finding audiences that theirs never did. It's not a zero-sum game. "Cool story, but people outside the VTuber space don't even look at us." Non-VTuber folk are actually often more curious than we realize - they just haven't seen anything yet. So give them a reason to show up, and start from something they already love (peep the D&D bridge example from earlier). And if your current audience doesn't appreciate what you make? Keep sharpening your skills where you are, then (re)package them up and take them to a different or wider audience that will. VTubing is a "comfy" small place, but it's just one of many possible mediums and niches - and there are so many people in the world out there, so you really don't have to stick to catering to existing VTuber fans. Grow the damn pie; don't fight with others over the same slice. "Uh, doesn't all of this still depend on the algo?" Yes, the algo still plays a part - you can’t escape it on any platform. But there’s a difference between waiting on the algorithm and working with it. Showing and telling the story behind your Cool New Thing gives the algorithm better signals (people actually clicking, sharing, sticking around). And plenty of what I've covered here doesn’t necessarily need the algogods' "blessings" at all: your Discord, replies on other people’s threads (where relevant), collabs, other communities, and people sharing your stuff because they want to. You didn’t wait for anyone’s permission to make the Cool New Thing - don’t wait for the algorithm’s permission to be seen either. #RAINArambles Know someone still praying to the algogods? Send this their way.

So I actually touched on this in my initial draft, but took it out for length - interesting that you brought it up though! Yes, what you're thinking of exists, but it's not quite regulations in the same way the word "regulations" works in the West. Japan routes a lot of this through non-binding guidance from various government bodies, where being publicly named - in press releases, etc - is the enforcement. Back to your example: The JFTC issued a set of guidelines on performer-agency relationships in 2025, after a 2024 market survey. Think of these guidelines as "just so you know, these types of actions could put you in breach of the Antimonopoly Act (or other relevant laws), so we advise that you better do things this other way". It's usually enough to make agencies adjust, but not automatic - and not a de facto transfer of the name to the performer. Note that they don't actually explicitly say what type of performers - it's left broad, and most likely on purpose. This matters btw because in late 2025 the JFTC issued cautions to a number of livestreamer agencies, applying that very same set of guidelines as a framework. Yeah, they're not vtuber agencies - but it goes to show that the JFTC isn't just looking at traditional idol or actor agencies. So I wouldn't put it past them to look at VTuber agencies as well. Now about the "stage name transfer" guideline you're looking at - it actually assumes the agency may hold those rights. BUT what it asks is that: - this ownership of the name needs to be in the contract up front and properly explained - any restriction needs to have a reasonable cause, - and that any restriction needs to stay within reasonable bounds. It even floats usage fees as an alternative to an agency barring you outright from using the name if you leave. So it's not so much "you the performer get to automatically keep your name" - more "if anyone's laying claim to the name if/when the relationship ends, say so at signing, and don't be unreasonable later." There are two caveats, though, and the second one is a lot messier. First up: none of these guidelines actually fully addresses what happens if a company closes, per your example - that's insolvency, different area of law entirely. The bigger one is that VTubing is in an awkward spot. The character IP is the company's, not the performer's - and crucially, it's detachable from them. For IRL/"fleshtuber" performers, there's a physical human likeness tied to the stage name and performer identity, so there's a stronger tie and a possible claim to the stage name there. But some people would argue that being a vtuber performer is similar to being an anonymous VA for a long term gig, and VAs for shows get replaced/recast while the character remains. (That said, trying to recast Kizuna Ai's VA went pretty poorly, so...) There have been JP agencies that have closed but allowed the performers to retain the IP and name to go indie (Prism Project post-Sony, Specialite EN) - but that is not actually a norm, and not every agency can do this (I won't go into the reasons why here, but just know that they exist). In short - whether a name and a whole commissioned persona get treated the same way by the law/JFTC is an open question, and one I want to write about properly. But only when I have more research in hand.

There's a subset of people who can't tell the difference between an independent contractor and an employee, and where they differ in terms of the obligations a company has to them. Which is fair, since people also use "salary", "wage" and "fee" interchangeably - when there are actually slight differences. Just so everyone's on the same page: Most corporate vtubers you know are independent contractors, NOT employees. They're paid fees from percentage cuts on stream revenue, merch and voice packs, appearance fees, collab licensing - and it goes up and down month to month. So: not a salary, which is a fixed amount paid at fixed, regular intervals. Some agencies might offer a minimum guarantee if the talent hits their minimum content output goals for the month - which is generally a goodwill thing offered when the talent hasn't hit sufficient monetization goals in the early months, more as a safety net. Given the independent contractor relationship, the agency isn't actually REQUIRED to do this. This is the "[low] base salary" people are referring to with some early agency talents who have talked about it on their streams, and it's probably why people get confused about what talents are actually entitled to. (Worth noting: in some cases, the minimum guarantee "salary" is a "draw" - as in, it's recoupable against future earnings. So it's an advance, not an income. I don't speak for Cover Corp, but I have seen this "recoup from future earnings" arrangement at some other agencies.) Now - revenue sharing with an indie contractor only makes sense as a structure if both sides are actually putting something in, to give the VTuber IP its best chances of success. And usually, both parties are clear on expectations - or rather, who provides what. The talent brings the performance, the hours, and usually the audience relationship/community building. That last one is very much a talent contribution no matter how big or small the agency is, because more audience = more people who can be monetized from, so agencies and vtubers will obviously seek to grow that. A more known agency may provide an "initial fanbase" at debut so you're not entirely starting from zero, but it's still entirely on the talent to retain and further grow it. The agency is supposed to bring the things a solo creator can't easily buy: back in the day, it was enough to provide just a model and rigging for it. But getting a VTuber model is a lot more accessible nowadays, so you've also got to consider things like production and music budgets, promo reach, management, event and sponsor access, sometimes training (singing, dancing, Japanese) or studio time. That's what the agency cut is for. And under formal employment, a lot of that would attach automatically by law - more on that in a moment. But under contractor status, the agency owes exactly what's in the contract and nothing else - which puts a LOT of weight on how well that contract was drafted, and how much leverage a debuting talent had to negotiate it at the time. Plenty of what gets promised lives in the recruitment ads, the interviews, the pitch meetings - rather than in the document. And even then, the contracted stuff sometimes doesn't materialize - budgets shrink, staff turn over, companies overcommit across a whole wave and can't follow through. On paper, yes - the talent is entitled to what's on the contract. In practice, enforcing it means one contractor going after an agency, often across borders...usually while still signed to them. (Side-eyeing you, microcorps.) Now - about "employee status": It's a lot more protected. In most countries, if you hire someone as an employee, you're required by law to pay and provide a bunch of things in a timely manner. So that's things like fixed(!) salaries, overtime pay (if applicable), pensions, insurance, other statutory benefits - whether the employee brought in 2k or 20k in revenue. You also often have strict thresholds for things like termination or making someone redundant, especially in Japan. (Hooray for labor laws and protections!) On top of that, a functional employer is also expected to give employees the means to do the job - so that's why things like equipment and courses can be, and often are, covered by companies. But the minimum legal obligations aren't cheap. In Japan, employer-side social insurance contributions alone run roughly 15-16% on top of gross salary, and that's before you count anything else (equipment, training, anything discretionary.) It's not a viable expense for many companies, especially when you're launching new VTuber IP (x4-5 batches of costs, given a wave size) - and you don't always know how soon it'll get monetized, how much it's going to rake in, how long that audience gravy train will last...well, that's kind of hard to justify in the budget for the performers - on top of the asset costs, and agency staff costs. A former VTuber agency director once told me that "corpo vtubing is very much gacha - you release a bunch of IPs built together with a bunch of performers and staff, and you hope one of them catches on, and that the rising tide lifts all boats in the agency. There's no clear target dates or numbers for a return on your investment." So it's understandable why agencies try to exercise that control over their performers, in order for their vision to be realized, for success and profit to roll in, yada yada. But they can only do so much, because well - independent contractor, not employee. To be clear: independent contractor status isn't necessarily a "downgrade" for the talent. It's not really a choice either; it's the model basically every agency offers, so "choosing" it mostly means choosing to sign. And most showbiz veterans can tell you that many areas in the entertainment business work this way: musicians live and die by revenue splits with their labels on album/streaming numbers, tour sales, brand deals etc. (Different industries have various workarounds for the "not earning enough in the early days" issue. Kpop agencies defer this - they cover a LOT more costs upfront for things like training, food and housing, though it's usually recouped from earnings later. J-idols at the lower rungs do a lot of unglamorous dispatch work while their own IP isn't paying yet. All of these solutions have different trade-offs, but that's for a different analysis post.) But there are also benefits to being an indie contractor on a revenue split: your upside isn't capped, so if you blow up, you're not on a fixed salary watching your agency bank the difference. (Keyword: "if" you blow up.) So when people say "just pay them a proper salary," even if it's out of consideration for their oshis, they're not just describing a baseline - they're also describing a ceiling, and usually a shorter leash (without realizing it.) And importantly, the exclusivity clause for VTuber performers typically binds professional conduct related to the performance identity and possible competition, not the whole person. Yes, you're generally exclusive as a VTuber talent, and yes, the persona is usually the agency's IP. But without naming names, for obvious reasons: some of your corpo oshis still run their prior creator brands from before they went corpo, albeit usually on reduced schedules and changed scope/branding. Some other corpo oshis do paid work (illustration, for example) that's not performance-related under their other identities. So yes, your oshi at the bigger agencies might be slammed - but generally, if you have the capacity for it, you CAN still have other income streams outside of your corpo vtubing gig. (Other than working a regular day job, that is.) The tradeoff is real, though - and it's not the same tradeoff for everybody, which is why some people have expressed curiosity or concern on the whole "moving to Japan" uptick amongst corpo vtubing talent under JP agencies. (Even if yes, sometimes your oshi wants to move there just because they like the place.) Contractor status doesn't produce one risk profile; you often get wildly different ones depending on where the talent physically lives. A Japan-based talent is on National Health Insurance and the national pension by default (mandated by law for all residents) - so the safety net under them exists, whether or not the agency built it. European-based talents have similar fallbacks for health coverage. SEA-based talents who have mostly paying audiences from the west can make their money go further, so it's less about safety nets and more that the maths is in their favor. But if you're in the US...well. Insurance has to be self-sourced if your employer doesn't cover it, and we know how infamous US healthcare costs are. Same contract, same agency - but completely different risk and exposure tiers. That's why "does the agency cover medical/(insert benefit here)" is a question with all sorts of different correct answers, depending on who's asking it. Also worth knowing, because it's recent and barely discussed: "not an employee" thankfully no longer means "no protections," at least in Japan. The Freelance Act took effect in November 2024, and it requires all sorts of things: - written contract terms upfront - payment within 60 days of delivery - no unilateral reduction of agreed remuneration - 30 days' notice before termination or non-renewal on continuous contracts of six months or more (with reasons disclosed on request) - actual harassment-prevention measures - which matters because freelancers were previously outside workplace harassment law entirely. These are a direct answer to a lot of what I said earlier about promised things not materializing - well, at least on the parts that involve getting paid. The stated government position is that these rules apply where all or part of the business activity is considered to be undertaken in Japan. How it will play out in practice for remote streaming talent outside of Japan, though - I can't tell yet. But these protections are only for how your oshi gets treated by the company, not how much they actually bring in raw revenue. Nothing in here obliges a paying audience or a brand sponsor to show up. Now there's also actually a hard boundary on how much control companies in general can exercise before the "independent contractor" classification is moot. There have been MANY cases around the world where businesses got taken to court because they exercised too much control over an independent contractor, and courts ruled: no, you should be classifying them as an employee, and paying them a proper salary and benefits if you're going to demand this much. (Whether you have the resources to take the business to court, though, is another story. Depending solely on the law to protect you can be slow and resource-heavy.) In a nutshell: Yes, the pay structure really is "just the way it is". This independent contractor structure is the model that corpo vtubing + the wider entertainment industry largely runs on - and for the most part, both talent and agency are aware of this when they enter into agreements. Neither party chose a conventional or stable 9-5, so expecting corpo vtubing to behave like one - even for the bigger agency names - is where a lot of the "but my corpo oshi deserves a regular bag" arguments go to shit. I can't speak for whether this business model is sustainable or not - your corpo oshi is an adult who made the choice to do it this way, and things can change with both audiences and brands/sponsors over time. But I don't think having "contractor status" as a talent is the actual risk here. The main danger is getting into a bad deal, or one that disproportionately requires more time and money out of you than what you're getting back from the job - and in some cases, you end up having to pull the plug before your time + effort invested get a proper fighting chance to pay off. Or as we've seen with many other now-dead agencies (Specialite EN, FSP JP)...your company just pulls the plug instead. Issue is - as an individual performer, that's a good chunk of your time and lots of opportunity cost that's now sunk. For the company? That's just a few gacha rolls that didn't work out. #RAINArambles