YOUTAITE TIMELINE.
Milestones and influential events & developments through the history of the Youtaite community, as perceived by our admins. This does not describe the experience of every youtaite.
Please note this may not be entirely accurate or comprehensive — feel free to use our contact form for corrections or suggestions.
2006 - 2007
English-speaking singers on YouTube (who would go on to influence, establish, or join the Youtaite community) upload covers and collaborations of Japanese music — namely anime and idol songs. Many referred to themselves as "fandubbers," a term now less commonly used to describe singers. Most of these videos had either no mixing or basic volume adjustments, and visually featured the original material or a still image. Popular software included Windows Movie Maker, Garageband, and iMovie.
2006, December
Nico Nico Douga launches its Japanese video sharing website, on which singers (literally "utaite") upload their covers.
2007 - 2010
YouTube singers are inspired by Nico Nico Douga utaite and "choruses;" they begin to upload covers of Vocaloid songs.
Unlike the typical present-day collaboration, early projects tended to be spearheaded by a host who would span all "staff" roles. Rather than scripting, it was customary for vocalists to sing the entire song, which would be split by the mixer/host. It was common to audition to join one-off collabs, as well as permanent groups.
Later collaborations in this period saw the popularity of both scripting and using Vocaloids to represent each vocalist. Countless auditions and groups revolved around Vocaloid casting.
The roles of mixers and "animators" emerged as software became available and video editing is used to mimic the style of early NND choruses, with nameplates and/or existing art of Vocaloids and anime characters. Popular software included Audacity and Sony Vegas.
2009, August
Among the YouTube channels creating choruses and holding auditions is YTChorus, founded by RinSakuraRin.
2010
【Nico Nico Chorus + Fantastic PV】 Romeo and Cinderella
This video shakes the community with its visuals featuring groundbreaking camerawork and effects — inspiring a new genre of videos. (Original upload unavailable.)
2010, August
To celebrate its one year anniversary, YTChorus hosts the first chorus battle: YTChorus Chorus Battle (YTCCB).
It was first suggested by Ciel* who was inspired by Nico Nico Douga chorus festivals. This CB prominently featured existing art of Vocaloids and anime characters, videos made in Sony Vegas, and audio mixing using a variety of DAWs.
2011
Twitter rises as a major communication hub for the community. For private conversations, Skype is the popular choice.
2011, December
The chorus battle VOCA★FUSION is hosted by a Vocaloid event in the Philippines by the same name.
This CB popularized both custom drawn art of youtaite personas, as well as videos made using After Effects — expanding the community to include even more artists and animators. Vocal pitch tuning is now commonplace.
2012
Nipah and Anba coin the term "YouTaite" partially as a joke, stemming from Nipah pronouncing utaite as youtaite in a video.
Initially although the word was used to distinguish the community due to lack of better terminology, most were reluctant to call themselves "youtaite." Through a slow process of years does the term become fully accepted and embraced by the community.
2013, August
With 238 entries in its first round, Keichi Entertainment Duet Battle 2013 (KCEDB2) currently holds the record of competition with the most entries. This is not to say most participants, as the team sizes were smaller.
2013, October
Diana Garnet aka Tonkhai becomes the first youtaite to sign with a major label, debuting under Sony Music Artists. She would go on to release numerous acclaimed songs, including “Spinning World” for Naruto: Shippuden.
2014, June
【ONE TRACK NOISE】 Rising Hope 【SCB-R4】
This youtaite creation is the first to go widely viral, amassing almost 6 million views as of 2023. It's frequently cited as the entry point or an influential work for many in the community.
2016
Discord quickly overtakes Skype as the non-public platform of communication. Youtaite adopt it eagerly as its much larger group size limit and channel capabilities served the open community and project organization better.
2017
A wave of newcomers from Smule, which has its own culture of audio-only chorus battles, join the youtaite community.
2017, March
Boasting 97 first round entries, Serendipity Chorus Battle 2017 (SCB2) held the record for most entries in a chorus battle (excluding duet and trio battles), and most individual participants. It's estimated that 974 people participated!
This record was broken in 2024 by Vintage Chorus Battle.
2017, December
Interlunium, a virtual idol group, releases their debut single including members of the youtaite community as part of the voice cast and staff; this inspires the formation of other idol groups within the community. Although covers are still most prevalent, original music surged to relevance through these groups and later CB entries.
2019 - 2021
This period saw a rise in original music being produced for numerous chorus battles such as ACB2, LSO2019, IECB, MSCB'20, KACB, MoRCB, and HCCB.
2020
As the COVID-19 pandemic hit and VTuber culture rose to mainstream, a section of the community decides to participate in streaming and vtubing — some keeping both affiliations, others retiring their youtaite identities. (We miss you.) Quite a few ex-youtaite have taken their skills to become significant in the VTuber industry. Utilizing the recognizability of the VTuber concept, certain youtaite choose to adopt the labels "Vsinger" or "Vtaite."
Many community newcomers attributed their entrance to looking for a pandemic stay-at-home hobby or being introduced to it by VTubers.
2020, July
With 126 participants, the currently largest known project in the community is fubbi chorus' mass chorus of "Hello/How Are You" for the song's 10th anniversary.
2020, October
#youtaiteworks (also written #YoutaiteWorks) becomes the prominent hashtag used to discover the community's work, the closest to a centralized gallery of youtaite creations that yet exists. Its entries can also be viewed on an automated playlist which has amassed over 4,200 videos in two and a half years. The hashtag #youtaite is also used.
2023, May
Website Milestone: The launch of our new Youtaite Resources site!
2024, January
With 115 entries in its first round, Vintage Chorus Battle sets the record for most entries in a chorus battle (excluding duet and trio battles) and most individual participants with 1025 total!
As this follows a three-year period of CBs having under 70 entries, this shows a resurgence in CB culture. Additionally, VCB notably saw a rise in frame-by-frame animation being used.