Miku Hatsune is Japan’s number one virtual idol. Her songs are sold online, she is one of the most requested karaoke downloads, she promotes Toyota in TV commercials, she performs concerts with live bands – and she doesn’t exist. Miku is a voice in music synthesizer software, and her community of users have created something new in the world of popular culture: a crowd-sourced celebrity. Based on fieldwork in Japan and the US, this talk will explore the dynamics of the social in media and the value of collaborative creativity.