A young girl bent over her desk, headset on her ears and looking sullen in front of her homework with, in the background, soothing melodies.
Well known to Internet users who love quiet music, this animated illustration has been accompanying subscribers to the eponymous YouTube channel since 2017.
Launched by a certain Dimitri, this radio is accessible seven days a week and broadcasts ambient sounds, intended to accompany listeners in their work, their reading or their moments of rest.
Having become a brand, “
Lofi Girl
” presents itself as a French music label, whose playlists are available on various streaming platforms.
In total, the channel has more than 12 million subscribers, with an average of 40,000 listeners on its live stream and a lively discussion thread.
Over the years, the young girl has become a symbol of the web.
Easy to recognize with her knotted brown hair, her green sweater and her helmet, she has often been hijacked by Internet users.
Its design was imagined by the artist Juan Pablo Machado, who was inspired by the Japanese animation studio Ghibli, to design his environment.
Through the window of the student's room, the spectators can also see a few buildings.
These would represent buildings in the Lyon district of Croix Rousse, where the designer would have lived as a student.
A new character
Since its launch, the channel has hardly ever experienced an interruption, except in July 2022. That year, YouTube suspended live, following a complaint from the Malaysian label FMC Music.
The videos recorded during this live interruption are among the longest in the history of the platform, with 20,843 hours for 668 million views for one, and 20,772 hours for 129 million views for the other.
On July 11, YouTube apologized and confirmed that the suspension requests were abusive.
A new live video is relaunched in stride.
Building on her success, the famous student has welcomed a new member to her channel since Wednesday.
The latter is none other than the "
synthwave boy
", who has his own animated radio.
Comfortably installed in a blue and purple room, this young virtual boy plays on the computer while listening to sounds of the same musical genre as his name.
The "
synthwave
" is a current born in the 2010s, which offers a remix of sounds from the 80s, with a more modern production.
The appearance of this character and this new stream has been masterfully orchestrated by the channel.
A few days earlier, deep in the decor of the student's room, a mysterious blue window began to flash.
It was, according to the research of Internet users, a message in Morse code revealing a web address entitled
lofiworld.com.
The information was then confirmed by the official twitter of the “
Lofi Girl
”.
If this address does not yet work, it could mean the future extension of the projects carried out by the brand.
Live Event
Fans of the channel were, however, not at the end of their surprises.
Monday, April 10, the music stream "
Lofi Girl
" disappeared from live for several hours.
His bustling office sat empty, in front of puzzled onlookers.
At the same time, screenshots were relayed on the official social networks of the account, to arouse the curiosity of subscribers.
During this same evening, a new live appeared on the channel.
In the image, a simple door and a countdown leading to Wednesday April 11 at 7 p.m.
It was precisely on this date and time that the “
Synthwave boy
” opened the said door to enter his room.
The young man, accompanied by his dog, sat down in front of his computer and started strumming.
The event, broadcast live, panicked the channel's discussion thread.
Once the helmet was put on by the boy, the sounds of “
synthwave
” started.
The new radio has become official.
This second musical stream already attracts 15,000 listeners on average against more than 40,000 for its student neighbor.
After this revelation, subscribers to the channel continue to ask many questions.
In particular concerning the internet address revealed a few days earlier.
Both music streams are now broadcast simultaneously.
Both figures can see each other's window, lit up in the building in the background.
Screenshot/Klara Durand
Some also hope to see this new stream be broadcast in parallel on Spotify, as is the case for that of the “
Lofi Girl
”.
While waiting for answers, the two characters, who can see each other from each other's windows, continue to enliven the days of their attentive spectators.
