>>5218539What makes you think they're contractors? Taking what has been publicly explained at face value, VShojo operates as a talent agency in the Western sense. They find and negotiate opportunities on behalf of their clients (sponsorships, collabs, acting roles, etc.) and provide services (e.g. technical, clerical, and legal assistance) in exchange for a fee.
When we think of actors or athletes, that fee comes in the form of a percentage of the contracts the agent negotiates for the client. However, the dynamic is a little different in that for most actors and athletes (i.e. not the huge stars getting major endorsement deals), their main income is from contracts for their main gig which will be negotiated by agents. In the case of the VShojo members, their primary revenue streams are Twitch (ads/subs/bits), CB, Patreon, and donations, and the agency sees none of that. Therefore, the agency is highly incentivized to find as many outside opportunities for their clients as possible in order to maximize the revenue streams that they DO get a cut of.
Now, besides merch, I don't think we've heard details about what kind of fees the agency collects and on what types of income, but given the differences between traditional agency clients and streamers, it would be logical if streamer agencies collect a higher commission on their negotiated contracts to compensate for the off-limits revenue streams. That's pure speculation, of course. Regardless, if the agency botches marketing or merch, they're screwing themselves most of all.
