Sony Music Japan to Shut Down Prism Project ‘Virtual Talent Management Agency’

Sony Music Japan is officially shutting down its Prism Project “virtual talent management agency” less than two years after holding related auditions.

The Sony Music Entertainment division revealed the quick-approaching Prism shutdown via a formal release. Founded by a company called Anotherball in 2021 and brought into the Sony Music fold during 2022, Prism was at the time of the mentioned auditions aiming to “push the boundaries of the virtual talent space.”

“VTubers are a character, a talent, but at the same time, also a talented human being,” Sony Music Japan and Prism spelled out in August of 2022, with “VTuber” referring specifically to individuals who create and release YouTube content via virtual avatars.

Now, with the non-fungible token space and presumably the adjacent virtual-artist sphere having cooled, Prism is set to cease operating at March’s end, Sony Music Japan relayed. At that point, the rights behind the 18 digital entities on Prism’s roster will revert to their creators, fueling “independent talent activities” on the same YouTube and social accounts moving forward.