Tokyo, Japan – In the newest stride of big brands tapping into the virtual talent scene, music label Sony Music Japan has announced the launch of its newest VTuber project called ‘VEE’ and are also pushing the call for around 50 new talents to join their V-Tuber project.

According to the project’s website, in addition to creating virtual media distribution and video production, they will be involved in music, voice acting, creative work, and other activities to make the talents ‘dreams’ come true. 

Sony Music Group in Japan, which has developed a wide range of entertainment businesses, will support the activities of the virtual talents by making the most of its know-how and solutions.

Requirements stated by the project side involve that the talent must be over 16 years old and of any nationality and gender, however they must be resident at the moment in Japan. Contracts for accepted talents are slated for a commitment of one year with the agency.

Registration for the VEE Project is now open, albeit the registration form is only available in Japanese, despite the project’s official site being officially available in English and Chinese. The registration opens from 20 July to 30 September this year.

The rate of corporate-backed VTubers is not slowing down, with more and more online users now rallying in support of these virtual idols. More recently, Hololive, a virtual talent agency owned by Japan-based tech entertainment company Cover Corporation, recently debuted its newest talent IRyS, a ‘virtual singer’ under its newest branch ‘Project:HOPE’ last 11 July.

Furthermore, brands who are not previously affiliated with VTubers in the mid of their corporate background are also getting involved with these virtual talents, including of AirAsia’s newest virtual idol, Aozora Kurumi of the agency Project Kavvaii, who debuted last 8 May, two months after AirAsia launched Project Kavvaii in search for the talent behind their first-ever virtual talent.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – As the pandemic amplifies digital adoption, companies from different industries have been developing their online content and embracing digital trends.

On airline airasia’s side, it has started efforts bolstering online content, where in last March, it launched ‘Project Kavvai’, a program that seeks to discover and develop the next big virtual idol to be showcased as a streaming digital avatar content creator in ASEAN.

After a long wait, airasia has finally announced its first virtual idol named Aozora Kurumi and is set to debut on 8 May 2021, which will be live-streamed on YouTube at 8:00 pm MYT.

Clad in a Victorian-style outfit with her trusted pet Jetson, Kurumi is designed by a renowned illustrator artist in the virtual idol community, Yueko. She was brought to life by industry veteran Iron Vertex, with vocals provided by a talent chosen from the ‘Project Kavvaii’ open audition. Kurumi will be responsible for generating exciting online content in gaming and lifestyle categories with live broadcasts while participating in engaging online and offline activities in the near future. 

According to airasia, the airline will also be working with pixiv, the top online community for artists in Japan and across the world, to produce an exclusive fan art contest for Kurumi in September, and a dedicated pixiv channel on airasia wifi that showcases exclusive content from the pixivision platform.

Rudy Khaw, the chief brand officer of airasia Group, said that they are proud to introduce the first virtual idol, which they foresee will be a game-changer in the future of streaming content in ASEAN. 

“As a digital company, the constant change in the way people consume online content drives us to explore cross-industry innovations with Project Kavvaii to stay relevant and ahead of trends. We are also very excited to have pixiv onboard this journey which would bring us closer to the community and hope to see Aozora Kurumi taking the content world by storm very soon,” added Khaw.

For more updates on Kurumi, fans may follow her on YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram, as well as Facebook.