Hello all! I have a very important announcement to make, pertaining to the future of Project UTAU XYZ. It’s nothing bad (don’t worry, I’m not quitting UTAU or anything!) but it’s a decision I’ve been working on for some time. As of today, I will begin the process of rebranding and renaming Project UTAU XYZ to Studio VOXYZ permanently.
What will happen to “Project UTAU XYZ”?
Nothing! It’s just being renamed and expanded, that’s all. I’ll keep the utau.xyz domain and have it redirect to the new URL indefinitely; I know UTAUxyz has been my identity in the singthesizer fandom for seven years now so that will likely make it easier. My channel URL on YouTube will remain as UTAUxyz as I cannot actually change that, but the display name will be updated to Studio VOXYZ.
What does VOXYZ mean?
VOXYZ is a portmanteau of “vox” (the Latin word for “voice”) and the “XYZ” from UTAU XYZ, which originally indicated the variety of voicebanks I had planned to produce. VOXYZ is intended to be pronounced somewhat like “proxies”. Or, as “voice proxy,” in the sense of Vocaloid and UTAU being used in place of human voicers or as an artist’s alternate persona, which is an aspect of VocUTAU I’ve always found fascinating.
Why the rebranding?
Project UTAU XYZ began as a YouTube account under which my friends and I could post our UTAU covers and voicebanks. At first, I never intended nor imagined singthesizers to influence my career choices, and UTAU XYZ would remain just a hobby project for several years. But as time passed, I found myself thinking more and more about seriously pursuing a career in multimedia arts, which is something I had been wanting to do since before high school (but admittedly, I’d put off ever since finishing college). I’ve therefore decided to focus on my passions in digital art, design, and music with renewed vigor, and I plan to use Studio VOXYZ as an outlet for this.
Therefore, I can no longer justify using “UTAU” stylized in all capital letters as part of my label name; this is Ameya’s personal trademark for the UTAU software, as designated in his terms of use. Think of it like how Macne Nana changed from Mac音ナナ to マクネナナ when ownership of her trademark switched over due to her Vocaloid licensing!
Studio VOXYZ will be used for any of my multimedia projects, including those outside of singing synthesis and music production (including web design, video editing, game development, etc.).
I am NOT planning to stop creating USTs or making covers of existing songs! I’m just turning my focus onto producing more original works alongside that. Also, I am certainly NOT giving up production of ANY of my voicebanks! Aiko and the other XYZ series characters will remain an integral part of Studio VOXYZ, should my other voice providers allow it. Aiko will likely take on the role as studio mascot, though I’m not sure how much I’ll be promoting her as such yet.
I hope you all understand! This might not come across as the most drastic change to some, but it’s very important to me, and I hope it leads to bigger and better things along the way. Thanks as always for reading!
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