‘I make £227K a year singing for other people over the internet’

Two multi-millionaire internet celebrities in China tell their stories behind the webcam

Wang Hong, in other words “internet celebrities”, are influencing millennials and mores in China. Internet celebrities make tens of millions RMB a year by entertaining their audiences in front of the webcam via live-stream platforms.

In 2017, 107 million viewers watched live-stream content via mobile devices in China, said iResearch. China is the largest live-streaming market in the world, Deloitte estimated the country’s live streaming revenue should reach $4.4 billion in 2018.

China’s tipping culture makes the industry remain lucrative. Traditionally, men are the primary source of tipping, to appreciate live female live-streamer’s physical appeal. The majority of internet celebrities in China are women in their early 20s. “The youngest live streamer we hired is a 16-year-old girl. The most popular female live-stream presenters are in their early 20th; Males are averagely under 25.”

“We manage around 200 different internet celebrities, and our average net income is 30 Million RMB [£3.4 million] a year. The most popular girls bring us rmb1 – rmb2 million [£113,000 – £226,000] a year.” Says Emma, a 26-year-old agent of an internet celebrities management company in China.

Here, two internet celebrities in China told me their stories behind the webcam in 2018, and revealed how they turn physical attractiveness into great fortunes and their conflicts between traditional and modern moral values.

Jin He, 21-year-old, has worked as a full-time live-stream presenter in Shanghai for 2 years. She earns £227,300 a year singing for other people over the internet.

I am a 21-year-old live-stream presenter in Shanghai. I dropped out from an Academy of Music in my hometown, Chongqing, two years ago. Yesterday was my 2nd anniversary of being an internet celebrity.

I work for an agent company who manages many internet celebrities. I get paid for singing, sometimes playing online games with my audiences via live-stream platforms. I have more than 6 million followers within a platform. When the business is good, I earn over Rmb200,000 [£22,600] per month, after a 50% deduction from the online platform.

I work 5 hours a day, 7 days a week, each month I have 4 days holiday. My agent does not allow me to travel or have a boyfriend, she reckons earning money is the priority. There’s nothing I can do about it because I’ve signed a 3-year-contact with the company.

The most generous “tip” I received was from a loyal follower during live streams, he paid me Rmb2 million [£226,000] overall within a year. Some of my followers asked me to be their girlfriend, I am not allowed to date any of them in my spare time.

My agent doesn’t take a lot of commission out of me though, around 1%, she gets paid fixed salary. The agency company took 10% of my income, I get paid monthly.

My audiences are mainly men in various age groups. From teen students, to 50-year-old entrepreneurs and senior executives of companies in China. I realised a fact that they are so addicted to offer money to us, some of them even borrow money to gift us.

A live-stream presenter told me that once she received an Rmb100,000 [£11,300] tip over the web, from a 12-year-old boy who stole that money from his family.

I reckon such addiction is the result of two factors. First, people are lonely in their real lives, they choose to pay me to have my company in cyberspace. Secondly, the male ego. The more they pay the more attentions they would get from me, subconsciously they compete each other by spending more money on me or say unusual things to amaze me and others. They are looking for a sense of self-existence. For example, one of my follower said he wanted to commit suicide within our online live-stream room. Consequently, everyone got panicked.

Some of my audiences told me to be their girlfriend and I didn’t accept them. Because I still have the dream of being a proper musician. With the money I’ve earned so far, I plan to invest it into my future career of being a professional singer.

I wasn’t feeling very excited when I earned my first million. When I realised that there was a million RMB in my bank account, I was quite calm because I knew how hard it was to create the fortune. Being a popular live-stream star, I am required to keep adopting new knowledges and fast-moving trends. I was almost even practicing new songs when I am sleeping. In addition, I need to think about what to wear each day in front of the webcam in order to appeal to my audiences. Replying to inbox messages from hundreds of followers each day could also be very time-consuming too, therefore I am
always on the phone.

I earn good money but at the same time lose my freedom, because I am being tied up to do live-streams for my followers. I am not allowed to go out for holidays or have a boyfriend, like a prisoner.

I know some internet celebrities are very unlucky, having been in this industry for years but only earning a fixed salary, around a few thousands of Rmb each month. No one wanted to tip them because they don’t have any are skills, such as singing or dancing etc.

People’s aesthetic standards are changing in relation to internet celebrities in China. The audiences’ preference has transformed from endearing girls with a cloned barbie-doll look (fair skin, double eyelid, high nose and sharp chins) to paying attention to those have natural looks with skills, including singing, dancing, or just being entertaining.

Occasionally I participate in events with brands such as Clinique and Bobbie Brown, to promote their cosmetic products via live-stream to my followers. Opportunities like this happen very rare.

I’ve heard people having prejudices against internet celebrities, especially for us live-streamers. They reckon that we are “indecent” and degrading social values. I don’t mind them judging me like this because I am not interested in studying nor getting a full-time office job. Graduates in Shanghai can only
earn around Rmb 10,000 [£1,130 ] per month from their day jobs, unless they graduated from A-list universities. House rents are expensive in Shanghai, which make ordinary people’s lives even tougher. So I think I will stay in the live streaming industry for another couple of years.

I am not keen to go back to University and finish my studies like other 21-year-olds. However, when I was exhausted after a 5-hour-shift in front of the webcam, I did feel like I am at a crossroads. Should I choose to live in a more dignified life, or stay in the industry and continuing earning millions of Rmb a year? I started thinking about it recently.

Melissa Zhang, 21-years-old, a part-time live-streamer in London and earned £34,000 within 2 months.

“My friend earns £912,000 a year drinking toilet water for his
followers. Money comes to those who give up their pride, I am glad that I am out of it.”

I don’t think I am a real Wang Hong. I did live-streams for a self-publishing platform in my spare time when I was studying at Cambridge in 2016. The reason I did live streams was because I was lonely and most of my friends are based in China. So I decided to live-stream my everyday lives in order to make new friends.

I’ve been doing live-streaming as a part-time job for 2 months.

I grew up within a wealthy family. I didn’t intend to make serious money from being an internet celebrity, it was just for fun. Until I realized that I had become quite popular, I had more than 120,000 followers on Yingke, a self-publishing online platform in China, and earned more than Rmb 300,000
[£34,000] within 2 months. The platform took 1/3 of my income as commissions.

I worked 3 hours a day. Most of other internet celebrities within that platform are Chinese overseas students based in the UK and USA. I used to share spoke my life experiences in London to my followers.

Tips are donated by female and male followers evenly: half of my audiences are females.

I enjoy having girly-talks with my followers who are in their 20s.

Interestingly, my followers are divided into two very different social groups in China. One are ordinary people, they used to talk about their life problems to me; the others are insanely rich and very mysterious, they could tip us millions of RMB over the internet, without any reasons. No matter what the live-stream presenter looks like, no matter what kind of entertainments the presenters provide during live streams, they just donate money like mad.

However, I was treated very badly sometimes. A male follower tipped me a lot and asked for my contact details, I said ‘no’ then he started to swear at me. I had to block him from the platform.

Those rich followers of mine who give millions away are in their 30s. I think they are kind of people who somehow get rich too quick, and don’t appreciate the value of money.

I didn’t collaborate with any brands because I didn’t sign any contracts with agent companies. As I said, doing live-streams were only entertainment for me. Even though I could still feel that “the water was very deep”.

My brother is a CEO of a professional Internet Celebrities Management Company in China, he once tells me that “If you are well-educated I do not suggest you become an internet celebrity Wang in China, because the industry has very low entry standards, it’s all about advertising and gaining attention, anyone can be popular if they promote themselves.”

You don’t need to look very pretty to be an online celebrity in China, my brother once says “Anyone can be popular if we decide to promote them. Being popular is only a matter of us paying for web traffic over the internet.”

I think those China-based internet celebrities are very different from how we are in the UK. They do not have a baseline for morality and pride. They would do very stupid things to appeal their followers, such as finishing eating a whole watermelon or sweet corn within one minute – of course their audiences paid them to do so. And that is the reason I decide not to participate in the Internet Celebrities industry anymore, I don’t want to be classified as same as they are. Doing live-streams is far too different from my normal lifestyle.

A friend of mine who dropped out from a university in Canada and turned himself into a full-time live-stream presenter. Two years ago, a male live
stream presenter earned almost Rmb 8 Million [£912,000] a year doing outrageous things for his followers, such as licking a toilet lid and drinking toilet water. He said, ‘Money comes to those who give up their pride’.

The industry is toxic, I am glad that I am out of it.

I think the fundamental reason for rich people ever required to watch a live-stream presenter to do outrageous things (such as licking a toilet lid etc.), is because when they pay to humiliate someone, they feel empowered. The more embarrassing the live-streamers are, the more powerful they feel about themselves. In other words, “Money is power” within the internet celebrity industry in China. The great fortune they’ve earned certainly doesn’t match their moral standards.

Andy, one of the most generous followers of mine, told me that he grew up in a poor family in China and was brought up by a single mom. I don’t think he was educated very well when he was young. When people
experienced tough lives and finally became rich, they are likely show their muscles by splashing out a lot of money, in order to boost their self-confidence.

I also found out that some internet celebrities, those Chinese students in USA and Canada, are very immoral. A girl I was familiar with, who was sentenced to 20 years in jail for fraud crime. Because she was accused for ripping off Rmb 80 million [£9 million] from a Chinese millionaire follower. She
was once involved with him, a married man, who ended up being
bankrupted after buying her luxuries and taking her on luxury holidays to places such as Dubai.

In comparison, I think some of London’s local internet celebrities are much more cultured and artistic, as they share their opinions and life experiences with others on the internet. I used to show different artworks to my followers when I go to art galleries in London.

I decided to give away all the money that I earned back to other live streamers when I decided to step out of the internet celebrity industry.

The two-month experience of being a live-stream presenter made me get to know who are people totally different from those in my social circle. For instance, one of a rich male followers could tip us Rmb 60,000 – Rmb 70,000 [£6700 – £7900] a day over the internet, while other followers of mine could only stretch Rmb 20 [£2.26] for me from their weekly savings. I was quite shocked that although we are already living in the 21st century, the gap between rich and poor in China is still tremendous.