Who is the Lofi Girl? YouTube phenomenon inspires millions of fans

The Lofi Girl has long been considered a YouTube icon. (Image source: YouTube/Lofi Girl)

A young girl sits at a desk in dim lighting and writes a few lines in a book, turns the page and the scene begins again. The content of what is written cannot be guessed. It's snowing outside the window, a cat is watching the drifting snow. Soft music sounds.

The scenery drawn is strongly reminiscent of the legendary animes of the Japanese studio Ghibli, which has been making film classics like this since 1985 The castle in the sky, My neighbor Totoro, Prinzessin Mononoke and many more produced.

The whole thing can be seen on YouTube in the form of an endless live stream. Early on Monday morning, at the time of writing this article, almost 25,000 viewers were already listening to the chillout program on the channel of the same name Lofi Girl with a whopping 13.8 million subscribers. According to an Arte article, there should be an average of 40,000 viewers.

But what is Lofi Girl all about? What's behind the YouTube phenomenon?

Link to YouTube content

What does Lofi stand for?

Lofi stands for low fidelity. In this case, however, that does not mean that the music is of poor recording quality in contrast to high fidelity (hi-fi). The lofi here refers to how relaxed she is. Basically, Lofi (Lo-Fi) is music that uses few, simple means, or at least gives the impression that it does.

The YouTube channel was created in 2015 and the first livestream took place in 2017. Back then it was still under the name ChilledCow. To Lofi Girl It was renamed in 2021 because the girl of the same name was already considered an icon of the channel and on YouTube.

What is the purpose of Lofi Girl?

As can be seen from the video article from Arte linked above, the Lofi Girl is intended to help students and teleworkers (home office) to relax and concentrate. We can confirm the calming effect in a self-test. Whether it's possible to work or learn on the side is another question that everyone has to answer for themselves.

The canal had to overcome some hurdles

Shortly after its launch, the live broadcast was stopped by YouTube in July 2017. The reason was a copyright infringement, as until then it was a scene from the animated film Voice of the heart from 1995, which actually comes from Studio Ghibli.

The endless stream could then be resumed in September of the same year. The artist Juan Pablo Machado took over the animation and created the Lofi Girl we know today – who, by the way, used to go by the name Jade. However, the Japanese drawing style was retained.

In February 2020, YouTube also blocked the channel, because it clashed with the company's own guidelines (via The Verge), but activated it again just a day later. With a length of over 13,000 hours, the resulting video is one of the longest on YouTube (with 218 million views). However, it is no longer available.

On the channel are located under the heading Live two more videos, each with over 20,000 hours of playing time – beats to sleep/chill to (129 million views), beats to relax/study to (668 million views). However, if you try to play them, you will receive a message that they are currently being processed.

The lofi girl also has a brother

In April 2023, the Lofi Girl left his apartment. Channel owner Dimitru Somoguy wanted to draw attention to a new live stream. Synthwave Boy lives across from Lofi Girl. He sits in front of a computer and types something with the mouse and keyboard. You can hear electronic sounds that seem no less relaxing to us than the music from the original stream.

Link to YouTube content

In total, the YouTube channel currently offers three endless live streams. There are also several videos that cover different moods. Among other things, the Lofi Girl sits on the roof and admires fireworks. Another time it stands on the balcony, arms leaning on the railing, while it rains.

But Lofi Girl is not the only YouTube channel of its kind. There are a number of other channels that broadcast live chillout music. What makes Lofi Girl special, however, is the type of animation, the almost 14 million subscribers and the sheer number of his views – making him one of the largest and most important representatives of the genre.

What do you say about Lofi Girl? Can you get something out of the live stream or don't you have the nerve for it? Do you generally listen to music to work or study? And what do you listen to to help you leave the stressful everyday life behind you? Feel free to write to us in the comments!