The year was 2007. Hatsune Miku didn’t exist. Japan did not yet have a video sharing website in their mother tongue.
Haruhi Suzumiya and Touhou music were popping off on 2chan.
When Niconico went online in January, some of the very first bored, terminally online people uploaded karaoke covers of songs like “God Knows” as a way to pass time with friends.
the legendary niconico meet up in akihabara
By July, Hatsune Miku’s first songs were showing up online, and the “Melt revolution” would change both the entire course of the internet and Japanese music forever.
And so, it began – groups of anonymous teens and twenty year olds singing into cheap microphones started one of Japan’s most influential music movements.
“I tried singing…” Why “try” so hard?
The genre of these faceless hobbyist singers became “Utattemita”, a word meaning “Tried to Sing”.
The name came from a category tag on Niconico called “yattemita” (trying to do something), where people could upload their takes at trying to do… anything.
Videos ranged from people uploading their takes of playing instruments, cooking, dancing, cosplaying – any casual attempt at trying a hobby.
One of the many insane yattemita videos – “I tried becoming Initial D”
Showing face was very taboo at the time, so these singers would create their own avatars.
Using these avatars, they would upload covers, livestream, and connect with fans without revealing any real info about themselves. While comments from listeners were flying across the screen in chaotic niconico fashion, these mystery artists were arranging and singing some of Vocaloid’s earliest songs.
An Entire Ecosystem
Vocaloid music exploded with Miku’s release, and with it gave anyone with a skill a chance to participate in the fun.
a cover of “kagero days” with 50 vocalists!
A typical Vocaloid song demanded an entire team of artists, who could be any age, come from any background, and any skill level. And, all of these artists were complete strangers.
Gaming, art, streaming, creating, and music melted together.
One of the first utaite’s to leap from the internet to the big screen was Mafumafu, with his ending song for Dangan Ronpa in 2013.
Nico Nama – NND Livestreamers
The livestreaming feature, called Nico Nama, allowed these anonymous artists to stay up all night honing their craft, finding pals along the way.
Across categories, creators mingled and collabed – like Eve making this song (and becoming best friends) for the top “Let’s Player”, Kiyo.
Creation was a click away – if you need instrumentals for a song, hop on the “hiitemita” tag and ask a musician. If you wanted vocals, comb through the drunk karaoke streams or reach out to one of the many aspiring utaites.
Illustrators were on standby listening to music while drawing pictures of the anonymous utaites and Miku on stream. All of these artists were shoved into the same small space.
Youtube Killed The NicoNico Star –
Eventually, the original creators started to move on, and the next generation moved to Twitter, Youtube, and Instagram. Showing face on social media became the norm worldwide, and the need for small niche communities vanished. The livestreams stopped, vocaloid covers hit a slump, and the zany inside jokes and memes dried up.
The desperate need for friendship and a creative outlet while maintaining max privacy was no longer a priority.
For years, it was quiet. Hachi, one of the most popular creators from Niconico, declared Youtube killed Niconico, and took a break from uploading songs. (he wrote an entire song about it)
After a major downturn, from the ashes rose the biggest artists today – Yonezu Kenshi (Hachi’s real identity), Ado, Yorushika, Yoasobi, and the Vtubers.
The artists and their unique culture still had a pulse, and ended up coming back to carry the entire music industry.
What made these artists from a dying culture suddenly rise to the top?
Maybe it’s their determination, their ability to interact with fans, their knowledge of self producing, spending all night singing on livestream – for me, it reminds me of when I was once a lonely teenager who wanted to connect to others online with music.
I made a playlist of my favorite songs from this time. Check it out on the playlist page 🙂
Until next time. <3
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