September 25th marks the 13th anniversary of the Vocaloid track “Packaged” by livetune.
あれから13年、ぼくはまだインターネットにいます https://t.co/tpIggW7cFy
— kz (@kz_lt) September 25, 2020
This was the first Vocaloid track kz ever uploaded onto the Internet, beginning what has become a long and prosperous music production career. While kz had been creating remixes of various tracks under the name RE:NDZ before the release of “Packaged,” this track was what first put him on the map. Today, kz is one of the most recognized Vocaloid producers in the world and has left his mark in various other genres, from anime OPs to mainstream EDM.
Initially uploaded as a test video a few days earlier, “Packaged” was first uploaded to Nico Nico Douga on September 25, 2007, less than a month after Crypton Future Media first released the Vocaloid software for Hatsune Miku. The track also made its way to the now-defunct music sharing site Muzie. “Packaged” would become the title track of livetune’s first Vocaloid album, Re:package, released on August 27, 2008, with the record label Victor Entertainment. This is significant because Re:package was the first Vocaloid album ever released by a major record label. At the time, livetune originally consisted of 2 members, kz and Kajuki P, before the latter left livetune and ultimately retired from the Vocaloid scene in August 2008, shortly after the release of Re:package. “Packaged” has been remixed and re-released several times since, including:
- Packaged (piano ver) – Re:package (August 27, 2008)
- Packaged (kisk baker’s yogamix) – Re:MIKUS (March 29, 2009)
- Packaged – Re:Dial (March 20, 2013)
- Packaged (Shipping in 2013 remix) – DECORATOR EP (March 5, 2014)
As of the writing of this article, the Nico Nico Douga upload of “Packaged” has been viewed 2,272,621 times with 115 comments. It peaked at rank #7 in the “Musics” category and ranks in the top 10 for “Original Miku Song.” A few years after starting a YouTube account, kz uploaded “Packaged” there on December 15, 2011, where it has racked up an additional 391,314 views. While it is not quite as popular and well-known as kz’s later works and the works of other well-known Vocaloid producers, “Packaged” was the first spark that began kz’s journey to become the music production powerhouse he is today and paved the way for other aspiring Vocaloid producers to follow.
