Confederation vs. organization

The world is full of delusional people. People that assume if they want something to be a certain way, it is that way. They are only interested in facts that indicate their way of looking at things is correct and ignore anything the might be suggesting they are failing miserably. The really sad part is, if you don’t recognize your mistakes you don’t learn from them.

Delusional people are not interested in learning, succeeding or progressing. They are interested in maintaining their worldview, and that seems to be all they are interested in.

How does music scene actually work in Second Life?

Somebody opens a venue, books a performer or performers, they hold and event, people in various numbers and mindsets come and listen. Tips are collected, perhaps fees are paid and when all is said and done… that is all she wrote.

Frankly it’s a very organic and anarchistic system of getting things done, the fact it works at all indicates the devotion people on all levels have for this three-legged stool system.

The Venue operators
The performers
The listeners

So just where does organization fit in with all of this?

It doesn’t.

Yes there are all kinds of “Agencies” and “Management organizations”, but frankly they seem to be the fleas and ticks of the Second Life music scene. The purest of the “Hangers on”. They have no actual value, and only feed on the insecurities, and or delusional dreams of others. The management types are also feeding their own delusions, and masking their own insecurities, but my point is not to underline what doesn’t work, but rather what might.

I saw something quite remarkable today.

A three-hour event that was simply packed out from beginning to end. This was not due to some brilliant feat of organization, but rather a simple homogeny of the artist involved. If you liked one of the artist chances are you would like the other two as well, and from all indications it worked flawlessly.

I’ve actually seen this several times, but today it really clicked for me. This simple arrangement works better then all the elaborate plans of the delusional schemers, and when all was said and done, more was affected then the norm. Yes, tips were collected and fees were paid, but in the end, there was a different feel. When the smoke cleared, the “Axis of Ego” was born. While it may all seem like an elaborate joke (and just between you and I it is), it really did resonate with people.

I know this because somebody sent me an “Axis of Ego” emote.

An operator of a venue talked to me about booking “the Axis of Ego” line up for her space.

In essence people where saying, “this works”. And you know what? It did work.

Nobody planned “The Axis of Ego”. I just coined the phrase and it caught on. It gave people a handy brand to associate with this rag tag collection of musical geniuses.

Organization had nothing to do with it, but it is, by nature, an informal confederation. This informal confederation benefits the venue operator, the musicians and the listeners.

I don’t have a clue what will happen with “The Axis of Ego”. Frankly all the primaries involved are more the willing to embrace the chaos that is the Second Life Musician Lifestyle. But for a brief moment, people could see something bigger then the show, the tips the fee and the audience. For a fleeting moment original live music seemed the most vital thing in Second Life, and because of that impression, suddenly music in general seemed more viable as well.

Now I’m sure the “Experts” are clicking their tongues right now and saying in a smug voice, “who is delusional now Zorch”? But anybody that was at the show, and was not a MNP spy will tell you… it was wicked cool.

Management is a joke.

Organization is ignoring the nature of the music scene in Second Life.

But an organic confederations of musicians, venues and listeners works.