Independence = Cha-ching!!!!

A fellow blog writer made an entry today about the loneliness of independence. It really got me thinking. Not about what they were writing about (the wonder of a minuscule attention span), but rather about independence as a working musician.

In Second Life independence and the lack of an actual music business give the clever musician a plethora of opportunities the real world lacks.

That being said, the worse thing that could happen to musicians in general is if some kind of music “BUSINESS” managed to actually appear in Second life.

Yes there are schemers, but thank goodness they never really stumbled across an effective way to exploit musicians. If they did, in a very large part the game would be over.

In the so-called real world, the music business on all levels exist to support the growth of the music business. Bar owners hire musicians to sell beer, record companies sign band to generate product. The bottom line, you favorite rock star may have millions of dollars but in order to achieve that, they first had to generate billions of dollars for the music industry.

As long as there is a recording industry, the great emancipator didn’t free all the slaves.

Now I am in no way suggesting you can get rich, or even make anything close to a decent living from your second life earnings.

But…

Things can be quite profitable for you. Speaking for myself, my entire overhead as an operating businessman (kind of creepy when you put it that way) is covered by my earnings in second life.

My earnings in Second Life cover my web site, stream, and any incidental promotional expenses. This may seem like a small thing, but in fact operating capital is a large deal of the leverage used by the music business in the real world. In Second Life, I basically own the store.

This ownership gives me a lot of “Wiggle room”. I’m underwriting my own musical adventure and because of that I can afford to be as wise or reckless as I desire. Either mode of operation can prove to be profitable or disastrous. Nobody really has a grip on what the mechanics of success are yet.

This “Wiggle room” allows me to experiment.

Somebody told me playing too many shows would be a “Very bad thing™”. It would diminish my draw and make myself less attractive to fee paying venues. But I don’t seek fees, and every show I play seems to be well attended (unless I play at night).

Somebody told me releasing too many collections would effectively cause me to be “Competing with myself”. So far that is not the case. Old collections sell as well as the new collections and every now and then somebody runs the board and buys them all at once.

I also remember when somebody told me I was too arrogant to be a vital part of the Second Life Music Scene. Yet I seem to have an affect even thought I’ve been banished.

The bottom line is, the adults are away, and we can be as crazy as we want to be. With any luck we’ll make a few dollars, but far more important then that, perhaps we’ll achieve some powerful emotional gestalt with music.

To sum it up

Music vs. Product… Music

Rich and famous vs. in control and content… in control and content.

Independence vs. servitude… Independence = Cha-ching