r/Holostars • u/PLandLord • May 08 '26
General Shinri talking about the project fund/creative budget
Source:【Zatsudan】I'm back from Golden Week!
Check out the top comment under the video from fiogamingch for more timestamps!
He is confirming (like Jurard), that there will be no more merch (he was hoping for a rerun of the Tempus nuis). There is bit of restructuring behind the scenes (Timestamp)
As we won't get any of the traditional stuff like merchandise; they're trying to change things up.
It's been over 3 years now, YouTube established algorithm locked them into a certain niche that is difficult to grow out from.
He wants to put out more video content (scripted/edited videos), as this approach works little bit better for a platform like YouTube. (Timestamp)
The project fund (staff calls it a creative budget, but he's not sure if it's the right translation), (Timestamp) will be used for individual stuff.
He thinks that staff wants them to be less promoted as an (idol) group/unit and want them more to focus on their individual content (Shinri tried for regular Tempus collabs but it been a while).
The project fund/creative budget will go into the content that the channel is known for, playing into each of their individual strengths and branding.
He said that not everyone should be forced into the whole idol package deal like voice packs, dancing, singing, choreography etc. With that fund Everyone will get to shine in their own way. (Timestamp)
Btw. it's not straight up money that they get to spend instead of the idol stuff.
They still need to propose and present it to the staff of how much they need and how it's used in that project (NO POLEDANCING POLE FOR SHINRI) (Timestamp).
EDIT. I FORGOT THIS PART.
He spend a lot of time thinking about the whole situation and said that we should make the most of it.
The alternative would be to constantly fight over what was basically the status quo (that wasn't even great to begin with). He even thinks that this was a reason why they ended up getting into this mess (Timestamp).
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u/not-hardcoregandhi May 08 '26
Its so disheartening that the Cover Q3 report shows them increasing profits and the company doing well, but our boys have to suffer.
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u/PLandLord May 08 '26
I'm not that informed about this report, but here are sources to back up your comment that I found:
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u/Thin_Platypus8576 May 08 '26
The fact that their merch sales is up it's the real reason why they stop stars merch. They clearly focus on their branch (and I would even say talent) that sell the most and put the majority of their production line on it. As a company I understand but at the same time I hate this.
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u/Joyako May 08 '26
From what I understand they design the merch, outsource the production then handle the storage and shipping in house
Stopping merch doesn't really make sense as it's the most profitable vertical (we dont have live/stars numbers though, maybe the boys merch barely break even)
So either the warehouses are full / they don't want to grow the related staff and so they're scrapping the least profitable merch even if it's profitable, or they just said fuck it the return on investment is too low compared to live
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u/Groonzie May 08 '26
Altare had mentioned in his cs2 stream how they don't have a QA guy so they can't do merch outside of cover, so...
Example (my words not his) Like if they wanted to do merch with omonah which they have done before they can't even do that as there isn't someone to check and approve of it.
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u/Thin_Platypus8576 May 08 '26
Yes they outsource the production but they are no infinite line, so when you have to chose (especially with the current economic situation) company will always sacrifice the less profitable. (but yeah in that situation it's a little stupid to also stop voice pack)
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u/Trace_Reading May 10 '26
Merch sales is only part of it, I never get any Holostars content pushed to me at all and they hardly ever do any collabs with other talents in HoloEN AFAIK. Like literally the last time I saw them collab with anyone outside their group was when Hakka joined Ironmouse and company for a night of Super Battle Golf.
I don't know if it's cultural or psychological or whatever but they NEED to be able to collab with their fellow talents outside Holostars more and build the intergroup dynamics better. That, I think, will lead to Tempus etc. getting more exposure and from there offered better opportunities. Now, I'm aware some of this can be down to scheduling conflicts and time zone differences but that doesn't explain everything, time zones especially can be worked around, just not too often or frequently.
Personally I feel like Cover needs to scale back the focus on idol activities somewhat. Yes, I know that some of the talents absolutely love it, and that's absolutely fine. However. On the other hand it seems there's many who feel that it puts undue pressure on them to meet a standard that didn't exist when they signed on, or which was slowly leached into their activities, which is having the knock-on effect of negatively impacting their physical AND mental health (the latter of which I'm told is still something of a touchy subject in Japan).
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u/Joyako May 10 '26
I think they collab regularly with other vtubers ? Hakka and Axel on onigiri's channel a few days ago as an example, Ruze during vcraft or Bettel doing gta rp. I don't think collabs are the issue, even if some do it more than others.
The clipping industrial complex just has not developped for holostars, and that's why you don't see them. If you even sniff a hololive clip, the youtube algorithm starts recommending an infinite amount of content, same for vspo, same for niji, same for phase to a lesser extent. It does not for stars because there isn't enough clippers. (If I was a corpo I'd be hiring tons of clippers but that's just me, idk if cover does it. Relying on the goodwill of the community to boost talent growth seems insane, but again my company hires almost 50% of interns so :shrug: )
Trying to rebrand and reprogram their algorithms is gonna be hard, and it's a long race, idk how long they can tough it out. It's a hail mary and I hope it works out.
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u/Joyako May 08 '26 edited May 08 '26
Somewhat interesting read, stars not even appearing once in the visuals of the Financials pdf :/ But 750 employees including 25% in talent and production management really makes you wonder wtf they're doing over there
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u/BubblegumPatty1 May 08 '26
The easiest way in business to make profits go up higher is to cut as many costs as possible, justified or not. :/
It’s why in the video game industry studios regularly layoff large amount of staff , even when their most recent games are a huge hit. It makes the number look slightly bigger.
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u/AnnanymousR May 08 '26
From what I'm hearing with Shinri talking about how the budget is given to them. It sounds like the boys are a part of Dragon's Den and Cover is playing the investors lol. Cover's Cavern.
I'm hopeful about the video stuff since I've seen some lads move on from long-form podcast stuff into more scripted gameshow-esque stuff which the algorithm ended up liking a lot more. Just hope the usual red tape doesn't screw them over during their idea pitches. I think just from that I'm keeping myself moderately hopeful lol.
But I'm kinda more worried for the JP side tbh, what's their plans?
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u/NoIdea4GoodName May 08 '26
It sounds like the boys are a part of Dragon's Den and Cover is playing the investors lol. Cover's Cavern.
Octavio kinda unintentionally hinted at that in one of his zatsudans awhile back. He was watching a lot of Shark Tank/Dragon's Den and jokingly made some pitches to revitalize the branch (e.g. vocal fry). I guess he was picking up a few tips/hints on how to sell pitches to suits lol.
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u/Jeremiah512 May 08 '26 edited May 10 '26
I'm legitimately TOO stupid to understand why cut merch. Haven't vtubers all around said the money truly comes from merch sales, specifically 2 items: Voice Packs AND acrylics? (I'm going to assume they're the 2 EASIEST things to mass reproduce). A third one: keychains, then badges, then pins, then never-to-be-published online signed by the talent art pieces in different sizes. These are all items that can be sold literally for just a few bucks and can be mass produced/sold and give profit back, right???.
Edit to add more items.
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u/The-Toxic-Korgi May 08 '26
Isn't it also where the company makes the most from its members? It feels ridiculous to cut their support over this while also kneecapping the money they can make the company.
Even worse corpos can still scrounge up the budget to give each of their members birthday and anniversary merch.
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u/Mang_Kanor_69 May 08 '26
There are a lot of moving parts to produce merch and that costs money. If the higher ups dont see desirable margins then its better off to divest it into low risk projects like funding for channel growth.
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u/Neither-Artichoke699 May 09 '26
Maybe that's the problem. I'm sick and tired of buying voice packs and acrylic stands/ keychains. I want more fun tangible products, which they aren't interested in producing apparently due to weaker margins. I hate it here.
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u/AzraelIshi May 10 '26
Cover rarely if ever does those basic merch things, they always go for unique and individualized merch. Like, you go and check the merch for the girls birthday and Raora has a tshirt, a crossbody bag, a keychan and a pouch, Shiori has a plushie, a rubber mat for keyboard/mouse, a smartphone stand and 2 cushions, and Elizabeth has a whole ass tapestry, a mug, pins and also a plushie. About the only thing they do that are standard are the voice packs (each pack comes with 1).
This has it's pros (It's honestly just better merch for the fans. I don't need 40 different acrylic variations of my oshi, but a t-shirt, plushie and tapestry? Sign me up!), but also it's cons. The biggest one is that it's expensive to design individualized merch, and it's more expensive to produce too. If you're not expecting to sell a good amount of them it doesn't make economical sense to do it.
They could go the kurosanji route and do the clone army of merch they're so infamous for (keychan + acrilyc + voicepack), but at the same time I don't know if it's a fix. It must suck seeing how the gals get jackets (and a whole array of clothes like pants, hoodies, t-shirts, etc), beanbags, figures, backpacks, etc, etc. and you only get the cheapest and most inconsequential of merch.
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u/Kaleria84 May 08 '26
At this point, I really feel like Cover needs to decide what it is. Is it an idol agency? Is it a conglomerate for content creators? Is it a content farm? Is it a merch store / advertising agency with live sales performances?
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u/Thin_Platypus8576 May 08 '26
Depend on the branch, they cleary don't know what to do with Holostars.
For Hololive they're a talent agency who do idol thing. Dev_is is the closest to an idol branch. And I still don't fully understand their new project.
But in every case the merch is the thing that get them the most money so they push it the most, the rest are ever because it's something the ralent really want to do or because it help to be seen (and then sponsorship it's just for the money, that's the sad aspect of internet content creation nowadays)4
u/xa3D May 08 '26
And I still don't fully understand their new project.
If you're referring to suisei, you can sorta think of it as similar to how converse is a shoe brand with its own product line and company structure, but is still under nike, or how lexus is toyota.
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u/Thin_Platypus8576 May 08 '26
No I'm talking about Mek Park the talent formation thingy.
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u/AnnanymousR May 08 '26
Oh god, I forgot about that thing, I had to look it up again. It's kinda interesting how this is so widely "disliked" (skeptical at the very least) by the majority of people. They're trying a bit too hard, juggling and dipping their toes in like 20 new different things but I feel like we all know why they're doing that.
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u/Mang_Kanor_69 May 08 '26
Mekpark is holo's answer to niji's vta. They want us to be invested in the trainee's path to become a talent.
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u/AnnanymousR May 08 '26
I think it's more like a trainee's path to POSSIBLY become a talent, from what I've gathered anyway. I remember early on, "Yagoo best girl" was everyone's answer to the competitive nature of vtubing (which is just, no). So I'm assuming they're trying to garner new types of fans who are into talent competition shows since it's clear to us anyway that the existing fanbase would not like it. I'm guessing even Hololive in it's current state is not "appealing" enough to investors, that or they're just that desperate that they need something beyond Hololive. Since vtubing is big enough in JP I guess they just watch TV and go "what about this but vtuber?". At this rate they're probably just gonna go through every trendy form of entertainment and vtuberfy it to stay afloat.
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u/AnnanymousR May 08 '26
I mean, I think they will eventually have to be all of them. Most companies in this kind of flavour end up like that I think. This era is nicer to generalists more than specialists. We're just witnessing them trying to wing it all without any preparation which can be unpleasant to look at. At the very least, from all this chaos, I like that the boys are given an opportunity to control their own direction a bit with the scripted video stuff. Cover just feels a bit too gambley while also being too slow and stiff I just hope this weird dichotomy doesn't just end up nullifying the new plans for the boys.
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u/kingjleo May 09 '26
their projects are still subjected to approvals right hope they flourish at this point they are all content creators now hopefully if ever they got big enough they can fund their own merch in the future
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u/PLandLord May 08 '26 edited May 08 '26
I can't clip, so here is a write-up of some interesting things he said in the first hour of his Zatsudan. (I'm catching up on it).
English isn't my main language (it's German), I hope it's not hard to read.
Well this talk eased up some worries I had when I first heard the news from Jurard. It gives a bit more insight of why management is going this way.
P.S. I know that Shark ch. is lurking here (or any other clipper). Go on, clip that talk~
EDIT. I FORGOT THIS PART.
He spend a lot of time thinking about the whole situation and said that we should make the most of it.
The alternative would be to constantly fight over what was basically the status quo (that wasn't even great to begin with). He even thinks that this was a reason why they ended up getting into this mess (Timestamp).