Oh, what a provocative title for this entry. But if you’ve spent any time in Second Life you are familiar with the terms SL (meaning second life) and RL (meaning real life).Now before you think I’ve gone around the bend I’m aware of the difference between online interaction and real world interaction. But few, if any give any real credence to the fact the two forms of interaction are more similar then people care to admit. When you strip away the insignificant differences of the interface the end goals are identical.
Why do we interact?
To influence others, to promote a personal agenda, to do business, to social network, to feel we belong. The reason are a myriad as there are people, but the simple fact of the matter is the interface, real world or simulated world have no real bearing on the fact flesh and blood people are interacting.
Some would point at the harsh fakery that is Second Life, and pooh pooh the whole experience. But much of what we consider “The Real World” is just as fake, and worse presented as reality. Have you ever watched reality television?
I’ve never treated an avatar any different then I would a real person because at the other end of the Internet is a real person with real problems and real dreams. They deserve nothing less then the respect a real person is entitled to.
The main reason I bring this up is to address a bias I find disturbing. That bias being playing music in “REAL LIFE ™” is more valuable then playing music in “SL”.
I remember starting out as a pink leopard skin print noobie with bad hair, having some self proclaimed expert telling me I was too good to be playing in SL (Oddly being a noobie I didn’t even know what he was talking about). The venue owner showed him the door. When she explained what he was going on about, I must admit to being confused. Where only the bungled and botched of the music world dammed to play the virtual piss holes of Second Life? I had seen some pitiful displays of questionable talent. I wondered, “I could be the gold medal winner in the special Olympics of music”.
But it didn’t take me long to figure out the whole of Second Life’s music scene was not a totally crap fest. Much like in real life, there were a few really talented performers, and if you looked really hard, some truly gifted musicians. Just as in real life, the fact they were playing in Second Life had no bearing on their actual talent.
Now I feel I should point out, I’ve played a cubic butt load of REAL LIFE™ shows. The vast majority of them were played before audiences of less then 40 people. Many of them paying nothing or almost nothing, and actually costing money once you factored in overhead. I’ll admit a lot of those shows were a freaking blast, but at the end of the day the pleasure and pain index where way out of whack.
I’ve played over 116 shows in Second Life this summer. If I gave you an estimate of 15 people per show that would mean I played my music in front of 1,740 people that would never have heard my music if I was not playing in Second Life.
Of course the raw number mean nothing to me. It’s the individual that listen to and love my music. People from all over the world I could not have reached if not for the opportunities Second Life offers.
Playing original music is hard. Getting people to listen to it… I mean really listen to it is very hard indeed.
In the REAL WORLD™ people get music shoved down their throats but evil bastards in suits checking the spreadsheet to see what’s cool this week. If you don’t fit the mold you don’t fit the roster. The sad fact of the matter is the music business exist to support the music business, the artist are nothing more then grist for the mill.
I had some fellow ask me today if I played any in REAL LIFE ™, I played with him a bit and told him, “Yeah it’s all real, just me and my guitar no gimmicks no backing tracks. Just me and my songs”. Of course he missed what I was getting at. He was more interested in telling me about his REAL LIFE ™ band and how cool he was.
But here is my point.
My music is the most important personal aspect of my life. It’s the part of me I can and do share. It reflects my life, my pain, my joy, and every song, every lyric and every note is a part of my soul. You can buy copies of the sound, but the emotional content is given freely. Find your own meaning, draw your own conclusions, and hum a refrain in the dark of night. Real music happens in the space between the performer and the listener.
Real music is where you find it, and I find it in Second Life.
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