LOS ANGELES—Joey Kim credits the community she cultivated as one of adult’s most influential live streamers for inspiring her to create MuseLink.
In a passion project that has been over five years in the making, the “Asian strip spectacle” in April launched the new all-in-one platform for creators that represents a culmination of her 15 years of experience as an internationally known cam model and performance artist.
“We just all came together and built this and it was very much like the universe was sending me the people that I needed around me to make what was a vision for so long become a reality,” Kim says.
“And it just so happened to be like the most talented, the most skilled, the best people I could ever ask for.
“I would not be able to build this alone and I still feel that way. I cannot build this without other muses or without the members.”
Kim tells AVN she developed MuseLink to be an all-encompassing space that addresses every need of modern-day creators who want to monetize their content with multiple revenue streams.
It’s equal parts live-cam site, subscription site, timeline/social media site, clip site and e-commerce site rolled into one.
“There's also very built-out messaging systems so you can stay connected with your audience,” Joey says. “Right now with what exists you kind of need to be on this platform for live streaming and this platform for timelines.
"And then maybe have a whole other account on the same platform or on a different platform to make a free timeline; and then if you want to have a store then you have to open up a store website. So you need so many different applications to do everything."
Enter MuseLink, where Kim has curated a package of smart tools for creators to implement each of these solutions without leaving the platform.
“When it really comes down to it I built a platform that I would really value and use,” Joey says. “And tools that just make my life easier.
“From what I know, there really isn't anything like it where you can essentially do everything at once—in one place.
“So it's hard to boil it down to which platforms have most influenced it, but I think it's literally everything.”
Kim eased into adult entertainment in 2010, when she was sophomore studying photography at Parsons School of Design in New York.
She started as a non-nude model on MyFreeCams without doing any research and didn’t begin going nude on cam until 2013—around the time she became adept with self-portraiture.
In the years that followed, not only did Kim hone her craft as a live streamer, she also entertained audiences in person as a daring aerialist who specializes in sensual performances on the Lyra and silks.
The gifted dancer has performed thrilling aerial burlesque and surreal stripteases in front of crowds from New York to Thailand—and she has live streamed from over a dozen different countries.
No stranger to building websites, she spent much of the first decade of her career fine-tuning JoeyKim.tv, which grew to become one of adult’s most advanced streaming destinations.
Kim launched the first version of JoeyKim.tv in 2013, staying on the cutting edge of live streaming technology from wherever she was in the world. The enterprising model innovated with features such as camera switching that allowed viewers to choose their angle, real-time translation, a virtual wallet, a tips/goal meter that triggered flashing lights and unique overlays. In 2020, Joey added slow-motion replays to her streaming options on JKTV.
“JoeyKim.tv is going to be like an extension of MuseLink,” she says. “I feel like I no longer need the original site because I have all the tools I need here. I had a lot of tools there, but I didn't have messenger, I didn't have subscription timelines. It’s mostly clips and live streaming. Those were the two things at the time that I was the most interested in.”
Now a resident of the Canary Islands in Spain, where she’s been based for the past five years, Kim says the live-streaming interface on MuseLink is nothing short of state-of-the-art.
Among the tools MuseLink offers to streamers are multiple camera angles; personalized tip menus and stickers; song requests; pay-per-minute group streams, private streams and ticketed shows; stream overlays that allow models to customize their streams with dynamic alerts, widgets and graphics; and goal setting that allows them to set multiple goals and save them.
“I really think there's space for innovating and also introducing new tools for working smarter, not harder,” Kim, who was featured on the cover of the March 2021 issue of AVN magazine, tells AVN. “And I think that also comes back to my experience of being the top-ranked performer on multiple platforms.”
The four-time Miss MFC winner—who also was a leading model on the former AVN Stars platform—points to a realization she had while using AVN Stars in 2021.
“I realized how valuable it was to be listened to because I would give feedback to the team and they would implement my ideas the next day, like it would be there,” Joey says. “Like, ‘Oh, you wanted this? Here it is.’ Or if you find a bug or something, they were so responsive.”
Kim’s venture already has received strong support from the live-streaming community as several seasoned models have signed up as muses.
One of them is the reigning AVN Favorite Cam Girl Emma Starseed, the creator of the annual Camp Emma who was the September 2023 AVN CAMStar.
“I'm truly honored to have Emma Starseed as one of the first muses on MuseLink,” Joey says.
“Emma is a phenomenal artist whose creativity is endlessly inspiring. Her work exemplifies innovation and artistry, perfectly aligning with MuseLink's vision to celebrate and nurture creative expression.”
Kim also cherishes the support from October 2020 CAMStar Goldie Fawn, who has been taking her fans to the “The Gold Side” on a full-time basis since 2016.
“I love Goldie!” Joey says. “As a fellow aerialist dancer, I deeply admire Goldie's artistry and the graceful power she brings to her performances.
“Her creativity and passion resonate perfectly with MuseLink's mission to celebrate inspiring artists. It's an honor to host her work on the platform and share her incredible talent.”
Kim continues, “MuseLink truly showcases an incredible diversity of talent! From burlesque dancers like Ms. Amanda to dominatrixes like Harley Bee, and OG cam girls such as Scout, TillyKush, and Pluto. It's been so fulfilling to see such an eclectic community coming together.”
While the advanced streaming technology is a major element of MuseLink, Kim notes that creators can find tools to grow their brands even if they don’t want to use the platform to stream.
“When I started building it out I really didn't want to only think about one tool and building that out and making it really good,” Joey explains. “I wanted to make everything easy to use, intuitive, extremely lucrative and with a lot of automation so that you know you don't have to experience any burnout.
“So it allows you to highlight any strength you have, whether it's in clips, whether it's in timeline subscriptions like OnlyFans, or whether it's in live streaming. And I think every tool is actually far superior than anything existing and a lot of thought and consideration was put into each tool.”
For starters, she says one of the key features of MuseLink is customization—it was important to her to give muses the ability to create profiles with a design that fits their personalities.
And the muse doesn’t need coding or design skills in order to deck out her profile. The platform provides an intuitive experience with a variety of templates to facilitate the creation of a professional profile that matches the muse’s individual aesthetic.
Kim says ensuring the most seamless workflow frees up the muses’ time and energy to focus on their content and engaging with their audience.
“I think a lot of what inspired MuseLink is my own experience, my own background in theater, burlesque and camming—with all the things that I always wished could be a feature or something that could exist to help my workflow,” Joey says.
She designed the MuseLink messaging feature as a way for creators to stay linked with their audience with what she calls advanced customer relationship management features. Those include the ability to set prices for pay-per-view messages, access to detailed statistics and scheduling messages.
There are no middlemen involved, says Kim, who doesn’t charge muses to use the site.
“Being a performer myself for so many years, I really feel like the performer deserves the most and I'm always thinking about how to optimize costs and put more money into the performers’ pockets and just share something that I wish had always existed,” Kim says.
“Members will buy tokens and muses will get 70 percent and then 30 percent will essentially run all the servers, house all the content and host all the live streams. I am trying to be as smart as I can with the expenses and I hope that in time to be able to optimize costs even more, especially with live streaming and the bigger costs—to try to optimize them better and then give models a bigger payout. That's my plan.
“And with my team, we’re already building out our own live-stream servers. So now it's really paying attention to that and optimizing costs. I see in the future lowering that rate for the platform even further and giving more of the payout to muses."
Fans who join MuseLink may purchase tokens to spend on whichever model or content they want.
“I think there's also a lot of customization in the members' end, where they can really explore how they want to interact with the platform and they still get to enjoy this feed of muses,” Kim says. “They have free timelines as well. So you can technically spend no money and still be a member and still be a part of this. But I want to give a lot of flexibility and freedom for the user to decide what kind of content they're interested in.”
She says the biggest challenge with building MuseLink came at the idea stage over five years ago.
“I think probably the most difficult time was actually the moment of realizing that if I wanted something to change that I had to create the change,” Kim says. “I didn't really see any platform that felt like I could be there and have everything I need.
“I felt like it could be better and I felt like the only way that was going to happen was if someone who was like me went and made it happen. But the universe has a weird way of kind of guiding you where you need to be.
“I really think it's not just a platform, it's a movement."
