Meet Hatsune Miku: Hologram Pop Idol

In March 2012 Hatsune Miku played four shows in a Tokyo venue with 10,000 seats. Each show sold out at $76 a ticket.

Those numbers would be impressive for almost any pop star - but they become truly eye-popping when you consider that Hatsune Miku isn't a human being - she's a holgraphic avatar.

Hatsune Miku is the wildly popular creation of Japanese tech company, Crypton Future Media. Hatsune Miku's singing voice is based on Yamaha's Vocaloid 2 singing synthesizer software: Just type in lyrics and melody and a vocal performance emerges.

The success of Hatsune Miku, coupled with the April 2012 appearance of Tupac Shakur - who died in 1996 - as a projection at the Coachella Music Festival (see video below), raises the possibility that living pop stars may soon have competition from performers who never ask for perks like an endless supply of Flinstones vitamins (Britney) in their all white trailers (J-Lo).

No comments:

Randy Finch's Film Blog:

Thoughts from a film producer about making and distributing films.