A while ago I updated my Terms of Use to express the difference between what I deem to be acceptable “Doujin” use vs non-acceptable “Commercial” use of my UTAUs.

I actually did this after I saw a series of confused tweets by a Chinese UTAU user who wished to make phone charms of Aiko for an UTAU-centric doujin fan-event in Japan. They are a user I admire, and I was very happy to give them permission to use Aiko’s image, and at that point I decided to try to make the clarification between the two on my Terms of Use to prevent future confusion and to allow a bit more freedom for those familiar with doujin works to use my characters/voicebanks (even if I can’t write my terms in multiple languages yet, unfortunately).

I currently do not allow commercial (such as pay-per-download music) use of my UTAUs without explicit permission, though to be honest, I never thought that people had the interest in using the Kikyuunes for such until this past month. Over the course of June, I’ve had 2 instances of people requesting commercial use permission, and ONE instance of commercial use (on a Bandcamp album) without initial granted permission.

I’ve now come to realize that more people than I initially expected may be inclined to use my UTAU commercially other than just friends and colleagues I’ve collaborated with already. In this case, I will be soon drafting a commercial-use license for those interested in using my Kikyuune voicebanks/characters.

I am not yet certain what this license will cost though I doubt it will be over $12. There will first be a digital option for purchase, followed by a physical boxed copy of Aiko that will come packaged with the license, much like the UTAU Namida’s boxed version.

Today’s a very special day: I’m extremely excited to announce the very first Kikyuune Family album!

STRATOSPHERE is a compilation album created under Empathy Studios (EmpathP’s VocUTAU label) in collaboration several talented producers from the UTAU community!

The second track, “Face2Face,” is actually my first completed original; it’s a duet between Namida and Aiko about internet or long-distance friendships. To be honest I’m a little embarrassed cause the lyrics are cheesier and cornier than cheddar grits, but I do hope you enjoy!

A few more notes: PlusMinus’ track features Aiko’s beta CVVC Japanese using presamp, and Breaking Point is sung by Aiko’s CVVC English!

Full credits and free download can be found on Bandcamp! Thanks again to everyone who participated!

Below is the crossfade video with previews of each song. I’ve included Face2Face’s lyrics on the Lyrics page, and a special high-rez wallpaper of the album art, drawn by Misha and edited by myself, can be found here.