Lo-Fi Girl Music Is An Excellent Example Of Great Marketing
Yes, I'm obsessed. Deal with it.
If you’ve hung out with me in person, you may have heard me say I live in Neo-Tokyo, or that my life is a lo-fi hip hop movie. It’s kind of true. I mean, my apartment is done up in a super cozy yet modern aesthetic, I live in a city with crazy synthwave views, and well…it’s just my vibe.
For those not in the loop, lo-fi hip hop is a genre of music that is not traditional hip hop. It’s beats that sound “homemade,” often with the click of static from analog devices included in them.
Most lo-fi hip hop has a relaxing, modern, and dreamy vibe to it. In fact, the LofiGirl channel on YouTube was one of the first major channels to bring this music to the world.
Originally known as ChilledCow, the Lofi Girl YouTube channel really brought that music to the world.
This is the Big Granddaddy of lo-fi music, and it’s a radio channel that came to define the music genre. Online, this is known as the dreamy, relaxation-enhancing music that comes from YouTube channels featuring picturesque Studio Ghibli-style aesthetics.
The funny thing is that Lofi Girl is not from Japan. This channel originated in France by a music artist named Dmitri. The girl in question was modeled after an anime character named Jade, but was later altered. She’s now just Lofi Girl, with Lofi Cat right behind her.
See that video above? That’s the radio station that kicked everything off. The illustration loop became pretty iconic, getting to the point that it actually sparked a “Global Lofi Girl” illustration meme on the internet.
How it snowballed from there really got me thinking.
Lofi Girl’s success cannot be understated.
There was something about the original lo-fi stream that got people going. Was it the engagement from Dmitri? Was it the live chat? Or, was it the dreamy music and the really serene scene of a girl studying?
I don’t know, but I think it’s a mixture of all of the above.
The original radio stream went on to be the longest-running single stream on YouTube. Then, it started right back up. To date, the channel has over 13 million subscribers.
Today, Lofi Girl expanded in ways that I don’t think anyone could have seen coming:
It’s got a music video series, YouTube shorts, and lore. No, really. There’s lore behind the Lofi Girl. It also branched off into another station called Synthwave Boy, who seems to be a quasi-love interest.
Lofi Girl now is a full-service record label. I only recently found this out. They release vinyls of the site’s top hits. It’s actually really amazing and huge.
Lofi Girl Studios also does custom animation, illustration, and design. They even worked for Disney and several major game labels. Tell me you made it without telling me you made it.
The studio has also got a full swag site. I want their notebooks. And their backpack. And their plaid. Above all, I want a Lofi Cat plushie. But like, yeah, these things SELL. They even had a partnership with Ketnipz.
How did this channel get to be so friggin’ big?
Honestly? There are a couple of things at play here, from what I can see…
First, it is a YouTube channel that fed the algorithm.
Like all modern media companies, you gotta feed the algorithm. Lofi Girl became iconic because it was appearing on everyone’s feeds, everyone liked the music, and everyone was interacting with it.
Much of feeding the algorithm dealt with the name of the channel, plus adding a description below. However, the major rule always remains the same: if you are consistent and put out good content, people will come.
The music is good, the animation is gorgeous…so yeah, people will come and stay. When enough people come, big companies like Disney will start wanting to work with you.
Lofi Girl videos are fairly neutral, relaxing and positive.
We have all seen a girl like Lofi Girl. She may be a classmate, a coworker, or even you. You don’t know what she’s thinking, where she is, or who she could be thinking of. This gives Lofi Girl, as a character, a reliability that’s almost universal.
Many of us see a part of ourselves in her. Or, we see someone we know. Between her and the comforting music, it’s hard not to feel a little relaxed. Besides, she has a cat in all her videos and it’s damn near impossible to hate cats—especially a smiling one.
One of the things that the Lofi Girl brand did beautifully is create scene after scene of calming, beautiful moments in this girl’s life. It feels intimate, yet at the same time, homey.
The live chat portion is pretty well-moderated and positive.
I’ve rarely ever seen it in a bad state. This is awesome because it helps people feel at ease. You know, I’ve also seen the channel ask people what they want to see, what their wishes are, and other good things.
In a world where it’s so easy to be negative, Lofi Girl is very positive. It’s a welcome break.
Lofi Girl, as a company, also invested in enriching and expanding the brand.
They didn’t just stick to one radio station. They made many, and more importantly, they made multiple long playouts that created different scenes. Lofi Girl also has shorts involving the Lofi Cat and the studio occasionally reacting to fan suggestions through Lofi Girl.
I think this is really what made them into a major multi-service agency. If he wanted to, Dmitri would have been able to make a nice living just keeping the radio going. He didn’t. He expanded the brand through world-building.
His choice to make new videos, either through his work or hired artists, helped the channel grow. And with that growth, people obviously started to ask for plays and digital artwork in the Lofi Girl style.
In my opinion, Lofi Girl is one of the biggest unsung success stories of YouTube.
We all hear about Jacksepticeye and Markiplier, but we forget that some of the biggest channels out there are ones like Lofi Girl. And what’s amazing about this is that Lofi Girl isn’t just Lofi Girl anymore…It’s a record label, an animation production studio, and a merch store.
The question is, are we going to see a bunch of stories like this come from Substackers? I guess it all depends on how they use social media sites like YouTube to expand.
I listen to this station every day and have for years!