Can You Be Successful in 2020?

[Hentai]

So there was a discussion on another message board about "success" in UTAU and how many of the UTAU that are deemed successful by the community have been around for a long time and some may even have up to a 10 year head start.

The question from a prospective UTAU creator was:

Is there any way at all to "make it" in the UTAU community in 2019-2020?

Are the innate hurdles of early adopters something that can be overcome? When did you enter the UTAU community? How do you gauge the success of your own UTAU? Do you believe there is ever a "too late" when it comes to getting into UTAU?

 

[Kazumimi]

What an interesting topic!

I didn't enter the UTAU community until early last year and wasn't very active until the middle of the year, and I don't have my own UTAU yet, but the way I would gauge success is by a couple of factors "do people seem to like my UTAU?" and "is my UTAU receiving a fair amount of usage?". I don't think it's ever too late to get into the game; I'd like to argue that sometimes it's better to get into something later because there might be friendly "veterans" who have a lot of knowledge they can share with a newbie and so some information is easier to come by.

I'm not an UTAU maker, but I'm definitely a producer who frequently uses UTAU, and I've seen some decent success with my cover songs that I've done. At the end of the day, though, I'm just happy to have fun with the software, and if other people like what I do, that's great, too.
(I used myself as an example since I got into UTAU so late into the game.)

 

[lunari162]

Personally, I don't think there's a "too late." This is a hobby for a lot of us! I think it's possible for anyone to "make it" and become popular, but it's hard. (and also depends on your definition of popular; is it your follower count, view/like count, number of times your UTAU is used, etc.?)

As the years go by, more people enter the "veteran" category, so that can cause an interest boost when newbies see how long you've been here. I've always believed that connections are what make people popular, though. The more friends you make and the more you put yourself out there, the more you're seen. Being friends with popular users is a major factor. I'm cynical. I think some popular UTAUs wouldn't be this big if not for their creators' connections. (but they're as valid as every other UTAU, I'm not saying they should be completely unknown!)

I started using UTAU in 2015, but I didn't really enter the community until 2017, when I joined UtaForum. I gauge my UTAU's success on her number of covers, since I can't properly count downloads. The popularity of her covers, specifically mine, means nothing to me. Sometimes you get lucky, sometimes you don't! I feel like success isn't a strict thing, but her being used for an original was a standout moment. Someone liking her enough to use her in an original requires a lot of effort. I feel like she's definitely gotten somewhere because of that.

tl;dr: Yes, it's possible to still "make it!" The community still has members, things are still happening, and there's still interest. It may take time (or knowing the right people), so maybe it won't happen in 2020, but there's always that chance.
And if you define "making it" as personal progress, then you're already there!

 

[Mazing]

I started using UTAU in 2013 on DeviantArt. I left in 2015 because of infighting with the groups I was in. I recently got back into it about a month or two ago. I certainly think it's still possible to make it big, but is there as much interest in UTAU now as there was a few years ago?