Is Hatsune Miku a better pop star than Justin Bieber? (Another interesting video)

This is a another interesting video, comparing the Vocaloid phenomenon to human pop stars.

Vocaloid is an extremely interesting phenomenon to examine from the view of a media student. They say pop stars are nothing without their fans, but Miku and her fellows take that phrase to a whole new level. Vocaloids are literally built by the fans; their songs, personalities, all constructed by fans, for fans, in a variety of mediums. The only caveat to this is that the software itself is produced by a professional company. ASide from this, it's a perfect example of Prosumer culture. Someone will make a song and upload it to the web, often with artwork. Others will create fanart that fits the song. Some will remix it, create their own versions, translate it into other languages, etc. People feed and build off of each other's creativity.

Though many Vocaloid songs are made by professionals, just as many, if not more, are made by amateurs. The rise of the amateur is in full force. Vocaloid blurs the lines a little as well, meaning that amateur-made songs can be just as popular as ones made by professional bands, which has interesting implications for the 'long tail' theory.

Another interesting thing to note is that these amateur made songs can feed back into the professional world. The 'Project Diva' rythm game series, created by Crypton and Sega, essentially compiles some of the most popular Vocaloid tracks for each game, regardless of the professionalism of who made the song.