This live streaming entertainment site wants to turn Indonesians into sexy video DJs

It looks like Indonesia’s Zeemi.tv has a new competitor in the form of social live-streaming site CliponYu. The new portal allows people to interact with video DJs in public and private. The site has been live in the archipelago since August, but has managed to keep a relatively low profile despite sharing an office with and receiving technical support from Chinese internet behemoth Baidu.

Baidu declined to comment on its level of involvement with CliponYu, but several signs on the site indicate that the Chinese firm plays a substantial role, including the Baidu name appearing in the URL of a product satisfaction questionnaire. Baidu entered the Indonesian market in early 2013, when it stealthily launched a localized version of links portal Hao123 in the archipelago.

CliponYu is a mix between an online radio/video podcast site and a social network. There’s also an attached merchandise store. The site bears striking similarities to other successful user-generated live-streaming entertainment sites across Asia, such as Japan’s Niconico, South Korea’s Afreeca TV, and China’s YY.com.

CliponYu differs from those in that the video DJs – who are called hosts – only play songs requested by the viewers. Other similar sites encourage live-streamers to get creative with any form of entertainment they like. Those sites have created an industry out of popular hosts – many of whom are young women – who have huge fanbases and make money from their live shows, such as the South Korean woman that thousands of people pay to watch eat.

That same phenomenon might also happen with CliponYu. While there are a few male hosts on the site, the ratio of male to female performers on CliponYu is nine to one in favor of young attractive women.

See: Baidu Browser targets Indonesia with sexy girls

How much do you love your host?

On the site, hosts can play songs requested by the audience while also chatting during the live stream. When visitors decide they like a host, they can send virtual gifts and “love cards”. The more love cards and gifts a host has, the more likely they are to increase in popularity. Hosts may also exchange these items for cold hard cash from CliponYu once they reach certain levels of popularity. Currently the site has about 30 hosts who provide live entertainment.

Ken Tao is the project director of CliponYu, and says that the current team behind the screen is still less than 10 people. According to Tao, CliponYu is still in beta. “Today CliponYu is promoting content in accordance with the wishes of the user and would like to invite more new users to visit and enjoy this service,” says Tao. He did not comment on the site’s business model, nor did he mention CliponYu’s timeline and strategy for monetization.

He does say, however, that the site has seen significant growth. Since August, CliponYu has recorded two million new pageviews, 300,000 new active users, and one million new unique visitors each month.