When you think of Sony Music Entertainment Japan, you probably think of their English-speaking Vtuber lineup and organization, right? No? Oh. Well I suppose that’s why Sony Music recently announced the closure of the PRISM Project, their own in-house talent agency that was a competitor to Hololive English and similar Vtuber groups. In a statement provided on their official X account, the company explains operations will cease come March 31st. Merchandise orders and planned events/streams for March will continue. After this month though, the talents will be released from the company and become independent entertainers. They will be able to keep their characters and accounts as their own IP. The project’s producer explained the closure with the following excerpt:
“After careful consideration and discussion between management and talents regarding each talent’s goals as virtual performers, and with an eye towards industry trends and the considerable staff resources required not only to sustain but to further grow the brand, together we have made the incredibly difficult decision to cease talent management operations and make it possible for each talent to continue their talent activities under their current talent names with their current character IPs. I recognize that this will be a heart-wrenching and surprising announcement for our fans, but I want you all to know that PRISM Project is eternally grateful for the long-term, passionate support of its fan audience, and we hope that fans will continue to support each talent as they take the next step in their talent activities.”
Once upon a time I wrote an article about how the Vtubing space seems to be growing saturated quickly, and I think this whole project is evidence to that. I had never even heard of the PRISM group before this post, and when I looked through some of the accounts I saw why. The official PRISM Project Youtube only possessed 15k subscribers. The actual Vtubers’ accounts fared better, but I found most to hover around 20k subs. A few breakouts did occur here and there as I stumbled across some members with over 100k subs. However, none of the pages seemed to rival the more established Vtubers in the space from other companies. For a small project, PRISM had a ton of members. From 2021 to 2024 the company debuted a total of 21 (18 currently active) talents according to their wiki. For a small operation that’s a ton of people and I suspect part of the previously mentioned problem with “considerable staff resources” by the producer stems from the roster size.
On the bright side, while this is a sad day for the fans, it’s great to see the company willingly transfer the character rights to the individuals upon disbandment and seemingly show much respect for their talents. After learning about the horrible practices occurring at Nijisanji EN, this press statement felt like a breath of fresh air. Have you heard about Project PRISM? Did you know Sony was trying to compete in the English Vtuber space? Did they try to expand the group too fast, or did something else lead to their closure? Find some rainbows, follow your favorites, and wave goodbye to the PRISM Project in the comments below!
