A direct interview with charismatic people who make money through “audio streaming,” the most powerful and secure side business!

I was just doing it as a hobby, and when I realized it, I was earning over 7.5 million yen a year,” he said. Some people give me 100,000 yen at a time.

Hikaru, who has 16,000 followers as a distributor on an audio distribution app, says, “I didn’t think I could make this much money. I didn’t think I could make this much money,” she says. In recent years, audio distribution services have been attracting attention as an easy and lucrative side business.

IT journalist Hiroshi Mikami describes the audio distribution market as follows.

The market for “watchable” content has been saturated for several years. The audio distribution market is expanding rapidly due to the spread of devices such as smart speakers. Until now, audio distribution has been the domain of professionals in the radio and music industries, but recently, apps that allow ordinary people to casually distribute their talks have become very popular.

He also points out that audio distribution apps are particularly easy to generate income.

Compared to video distributors, audio distributors have fewer followers, but they have many core fans who pay for their services, so it is easy for them to earn income. When you only use your voice, it is easier to deliver for a long time, and you can become a familiar presence for your fans,” Mikami said.

Voice delivery apps are basically “listeners listen to the talk of the delivery person. It is similar to radio, but the difference is that listeners can send “coins,” which are charged to the distributor. Some listeners give money in appreciation for the talk, while others make requests in the comments for songs or lines they would like to hear delivered, and some give large amounts of money. The more enthusiastic the fans, the more money the distributor can earn. The aforementioned Hikaru-san responded to our direct interview.

I use an app called ‘Spoon. I deliver songs and chats, and I get 100 fans when I have a lot, and 40 fans on average.

Hikaru began broadcasting four years ago, and currently works at the bar she manages while broadcasting from her home two to three times a week. One of the staff members who works at Hikaru’s bar, Ms. A, was originally a fan of his delivery.

When I was sick in bed with the flu, I heard Hikaru’s delivery on an app. As I listened to Hikaru-san’s delivery, I fell in love with his flattering personality and decided I wanted to work for him.

At the end of August, another fan of Hikaru-san’s will be moving from Kyoto to Mito, where the store is located. Why is he so attracted to a voice-only distributor whose face cannot be seen?

Because it is voice-only, I can talk about embarrassing things that I can’t even tell my family, and we have developed a deep relationship of trust. I don’t think I would be in Mito right now if I had met him without using the voice delivery app.

Fans who pay a lot of money

KIBAO, who once earned 1.4 million yen a month as a distributor while working as a creator, analyzes the reason why audio distribution is so popular.

Audio is easier to integrate into daily life than video. If you make it a habit to distribute once or twice a day, you will have a fixed fan base.

Since audio distribution apps rank subscribers according to the amount of money they give away, “many viewers give more money at the end of the month in order to increase the ranking of their favorite subscribers.

It’s similar to being a host. If you want to make money, it is important to make regular customers who pay a lot. I once had a 19-year-old college student with a rich family pay me 1 million yen for my distribution.

ZOO, who works as an apparel store clerk and also works as a video delivery service provider, delivers her programs every morning in her free time before going to work.

I don’t decide what I’m going to talk about; I just read the comments of the viewers and improvise to talk about my mood and plans for the day. I often oversleep, so I don’t have a fixed time.

While he earns 100,000 yen per broadcast, he also pays his own bills as a listener.

I charge about 300,000 yen a month. The performance of each person’s performance differs depending on the item they throw at me. For cheap items, it’s ‘thank you,’ but for expensive items, it’s ‘you’re mine. It’s fun to see the viewers’ reactions, and it’s also a good learning experience for my own delivery.

Because it is a new service, the number of users is not as large as that of video distribution, but it is possible that millionaires will be born from this area in the near future.

From the August 12, 2022 issue of FRIDAY