VTuber Agencies Reveal How Much They Take From Their Talents

VTuber agencies idol Virtual Talents, Kawa Entertainment, Infinite Live, Yume+ and now PixelLink have revealed how much they take from their talents, addressing some misconceptions about how VTuber agencies work, and providing potential talents a chance to make informed decisions.

Idol first laid out their details this week, as it commits itself to making its talent contract transparent by the end of the year:

"Our VTuber talents receive a 60% cut from their VTuber activities, but it doesn't end there. On average, our talents also indirectly receive an additional 15% each month from our expense coverage. This includes complete coverage of costs for video editors, music production, video games, equipment, and more. This means that talents effectively receive 75% of the revenue, both directly and indirectly. [emphasis theirs]

The remaining 25% is retained by idol each month, allowing us to remain a profitable company and to reinvest profits in our growth, team salaries, expansion, and more VTuber debuts."

Idol CEO Aviel Basin further clarified that the 15% expense coverage is an average estimate that the company shoulders for a talent's individual expenses, in contrast to most agencies. Idol does not offer performance bonuses at the risk of focusing too much on metrics, leading to stress and burnout.

Basin also made it clear that the agency has been able to sustain itself and continues to grow, while it still invests back to their talents who would like to pursue content creation full-time.

Later on, idol released a breakdown of revenue split bwteeen them and their talents in several segments—including physical (30% share for the talents) and digital goods (60%), sponsorship (55) and YouTube superchats and tips (60%).

After a conversation with idol, Kawa (NewsDrop's founding partner) followed suit and revealed their details regarding revenue share:

In contrast to a percentage share, Kawa only charges a monthly fee, which in average is $183. The rest of the revenue goes to the talent. To second-generation talent Pastaroni Ravioli, this is amenable: "[A] Fixed fee is always better for those that are growing in the industry."

Later on, Kawa disclosed the revenue share for digital (70% to the talent) and physical (40%) goods:

Throughout the weekend, UK-based Infinite Live also provided their take on revenue share between them and their talents:

Yume+, a newcomer in the scene, is the latest to reveal their revenue split just before they close auditions for its first-generation talents, with a different arrangement on ad revenue and voice packs, and sponsorships.

October 25, 2023: PixelLink, an agency based in the US, has also revealed its revenue sharing:

November 2, 2023: Upcoming group Virtux shares their revenue split model.

Banner Photo: Towfiqu Barbhuiya on Unsplash