>>14716055>What does Hololive actually do for their talents?The singular primary thing that Hololive actually "provides" (from the perspective of a new talent / potential applicant) is the access to / attention of their big fanbase they've cultivated over the years, i.e. what's called the "brand buff", that basically guarantees a six-figure subcount right out of the gate nowadays before you even had your first stream.
Why else do you think they have thousands of people applying for every open spot they have every year? Of course all those indies looking to score what is arguably the most profitable position in the vtuber industry aren't doing it because they're especially enamored by Cover's "superb models, management or idol shows". Those things are at best just incidental (and arguable at worst), in the grand scheme of things it's all just about the eyeballs in the end, and Hololive for better or worse means you get handed the opportunity to appeal to the biggest fanbase in the vtuber industry.
In other words, it's a "shortcut", because sure, you could try to grind it out and hope to build up a similar six-figgy subcount / four-figgy viewcount by yourself over a few years, but that's hard work mostly doomed to failure, whereas scoring a Hololive spot is basically an instant guarantee for that. (Before anyone misinterprets, this is just a description, and not any kind of value judgement on whether any talent does or doesn't "deserve" it, also most of them still had to grind alot before Hololive, to build up the portfolio that allowed them to get in in the first place).
>They are scooping up all the independent vtubersAre they, actually? Less dramatizing, more facts. HoloEN only has 10 people right now, 11 if you count Irys, meanwhile there are hundreds, probably thousands other EN vtubers. Hololive isn't "scooping them all up", in fact many people complained about how slow they were in expanding their gens, and the vtubers they did pick up weren't even the "biggest" ones available, but rather mostly B- or C-tier. Other companies have added much more people much more quickly to their roster, so if you think the scene is getting fished dry, it's not really by Hololive only.
