>>102061498A Triple Challenge
The most significant structural shift in the VTuber business is the established precedent that performers can remain popular even after going independent. This marks a critical turning point for the industry.
First, performers’ incentives to stay with agencies are weakening. In the past, benefits like equipment support, management, and audience-building assistance were clear advantages of agency affiliation, but many of these can now be replicated independently.
The decisive factor is the clear structure where fans are attached to the performer’s "soul." As mentioned, a popular VTuber who graduated and re-debuted under a new identity achieved 1 million subscribers in days. This shows that, without the agency’s branding or character design, performers can take their fanbase with them based on their own charisma and track record.
In such conditions—where popularity doesn’t wane, profitability increases, and freedom expands—staying with an agency loses its appeal. This mirrors UUUM’s structure, fostering a career mindset in the VTuber industry that assumes independence.
Second, revenue is heavily concentrated among a few popular VTubers. For instance, at Cover and ANYCOLOR, roughly 20% of total revenue comes from just five VTubers. This isn’t merely a concentration of popularity—it signals operational vulnerability, where the departure of these five could directly devastate company revenue.
Even with a large roster of talents, only a handful drive actual revenue. A single performer’s hiatus or graduation can impact financial reports, stock prices, and business strategies. This is a classic case of person-dependency, a state that should not exist in an IP business.
For example, IP companies like Sanrio or Pokémon never see Hello Kitty or Pikachu "graduate." Even if popular characters are absent, the company retains full control, able to revive and deploy them at will. The character’s value is independent of any person, unaffected by human circumstances—this is the greatest strength of IP.
VTubers, however, are different. Even if the character’s appearance or name remains, the value plummets without the "person inside." Major member graduations have even affected stock prices. Revenue concentration thus equates to revenue instability. A structure where a few performers dictate the company’s fate cannot support stable growth.
VTuber agencies may appear to follow an IP model, but their operational risks closely resemble those of small talent agencies.
Third, the management system itself has fundamental design flaws. Cover introduced an internal initiative called the "tea party system" to strengthen communication with performers. Under this, CEO Motoaki Tanigo personally holds regular meetings with affiliated VTubers to directly hear their concerns and opinions, earning praise from some fans for its sincere approach.
However, this system implies that management at the operational level is not functioning effectively. When the CEO must personally gather frontline feedback, it suggests that middle management—managers or team leaders—may be failing to build relationships or address issues with performers.
In a listed company, frontline issues should be escalated hierarchically and addressed through departments. Yet, a structure where the CEO resorts to "tea parties" for individual engagement raises questions about the authority of frontline managers and the coherence of decision-making, highlighting governance concerns.
In a scenario where management should mitigate the vulnerabilities of a person-dependent model, management itself is becoming person-dependent. This is a common organizational risk for fast-growing startups that scale up without establishing proper governance as a listed company.
