Maou-Ge | Artist

"Why don't you release more covers if you're a Vsinger?" Well, I think I speak for a lot of people here when I say that Vsingers are probably one of the most screwed-over types of VTubers. Our main content is music, whether we're talking about covers or original songs. The harsh truth is that we barely generate any revenue from it. Releasing music is basically like flushing money down the toilet. We literally do it... for the love of art. Actually, let's break down what the costs can look like (based on my own experience). But before we start, if you're going to comment that "You can do all of this for $0 if you do it yourself", please keep scrolling. This post isn't for you. Everyone knows that the standards for releasing covers nowadays are really high. You're going to need at least a decent mix, an instrumental (if the original one isn't provided or nobody has remade one), artwork, and an MV. Yes, these things are "expensive" (and that's relative, because it depends a lot on people's wages. What might be cheap for one person could be really expensive for another). That's because behind every one of these services, there's someone working their ass off to deliver high-quality work for you! I consider myself very lucky because I remake my own instrumentals and mix my own songs. But if I had to commission everything... Instrumental: $300 Mix: $100+ (if you need harmony guides, add another $30) Artwork: $80 MV: $80 That brings us to the bloody total of $560 just to put out a decent-quality cover. That's $560 that we're most likely never going to make back. Sure, you can probably bring the costs down if you're happy with something a bit simpler. I just put together an average based on the prices of several artists I've come across. If you use an official instrumental, the copyright gods will bonk you on YouTube, and you won't be able to monetize your work (it would also be illegal LOL). But do you think having a remade instrumental will automatically save you and allow you to monetize your covers? ERMMMM NOPE. Unfortunately, even paying for a mechanical license (For distribution in digital platforms) and having a completely remade instrumental from scratch doesn't guarantee that you'll be able to monetize your cover... And if you're curious, my last cover uploaded to Spotify generated the terrifying amount of... $1.67 🤡 My most-viewed cover on YouTube, with over 60k views, has generated 10$ . I think it's pretty obvious that this isn't nearly enough to cover the costs. So, when you ask why we don't release more stuff, remember: We're trying our best. We would LOVE to release more music. But sometimes, it's simply not financially feasible. Be gentle and support your favorite Vsingers, even when they can't release as much music as they'd like to. 💜