The great Dot Com Boom… and Crash remembered

Gather round children and let me tell you of times of old, when nerds were bold and the new fangled interweb would bleed rivers of money for any one daring enough to wade in.

Now once upon a time, the king of the really excitable people proclaimed, “hey, this interweb is going to be a freaking marketing bonanza. Better step up… or be left lifeless in a heap at the side of the road of 20th century commerce”.

Many reputable businesses headed the words of the King of the really excitable people and dumped tons of money into start up web site. Secure in the knowledge that that people seeking information about a panorama of pop culture piffle would soon be charging there way, brain washed by a constant barrage of banner ads, money in hand.

Now in order to start this brave new anon, start up web sites needed “Writers” to contribute “Content” so people would have a reason to come under the ultra persuasive spell of the banner ads. A few real writers jumped in, but the nature of the new fangled interweb was more directed towards niche markets. Comic books, Role playing games, Movies, Anime, and of course computer games were more likely targets of searches then a over arching architectural review.

This meant a lot of nerds that weren’t really writers got jobs. I was one of those nerds. Times where good for those of the nerdish way, and thanks to the connectivity of the interweb, we didn’t even have to leave Mom’s basement to go to work. The nefarious plans of the great fiery ball in the sky to reduce us to ash were foiled.

About 18 months after the boom started, reputable businesses suddenly remembered why the king of the excitable people was the King of the excitable people.

They considered the viability of investing some 22k$ a month into a site that, as far as they could tell, might have generated 4.27$ in sales. The great interweb raging river of money was quickly damned up and thousands of nerds were out of work.

For the record, this nerd went to work for an actual newspaper. Well… it was kind of like a newspaper. But I continued to get paid for typing up my witty Bonn Motts and observations.

There was a great influx of unemployed nerds flocking to interweb forums to brainstorm ideas on how to actually get paid for writing about their own personal fetishes. Some suggested Subscriptions, or a reworking of the banner ad idea. But really all that happened was a bunch of masturbatory scheming. Whine, whine, whine, “I’m a professional writer, I should be getting paid for my content”.

Putting things in historical perspective, while they might have been “Writers” in practice, they never were professionals in any sense of the word. They may have made professional money doing job professionals do, but they never crossed that transcendent line to true professionalism.

Professional writers write things people want to read… even when it’s not free. Professional writers generate money for their employers. Cha-ching bitches.

Now you may be wonder why I’m writing about the Dot Com crash in a blog about the Second Life music scene.

In the last few days I’ve been informed some malcontents are trying to start a musicians union to wrest more money from those wicked venue owners. Then I got another copy and paste of a diatribe by more mullet heads in another music group’s group IM box.

The same shopworn arguments were made; the same lame ass solutions were suggested. It’s so amazingly self serving I’m astounded people call me arrogant. It honestly makes me sick to my stomach to read this shit. But I read it anyway.

But then I think, hey, this is just a twist on the elaborate schemes of the unemployed nerd writers of the Dot Com crash.

Those that whine about fees are not really professional musicians. Remember that transcendent line? Professional musicians play music people want to hear and make money for their employers. Those that whine loudest and scheme the most abstractly should see how much money they can get from the local bar owner. Go sell some beer hotshot.

There is money to be made making music; however, Second Life is not a reasonable career path at all. Real money, professional money is made in the real world where the “Artist” is just a cog in the wheel of commerce.

Putting things in further historical context, it’s far more likely venue owner will stop paying fees then be bullied in to paying them. There is no reason to pay fees because I’ll play for tips and I’m actually vastly superior to most charging fees anyway. A goodly number of very talented musicians will play for tips (yes most the time they get a fee, but they don’t seem to make an issue of it). Maybe when venue operators think about it, they’ll stop adding to the financial burden of their monthly expenses by taking money out of their own pocket to stroke the massive ego of some sub-standard musical functionary.

Every time I play for tips, every L$ in the venue tip jar goes toward covering the cost or operating the venue. I’m playing music people want to hear, and making money for my employer. I’ve crossed that transcendent line and am…professional. Hell I even make a little money while being professional.

I no longer see myself at odds with the Second life music community. I’m good with venue owners, I adore the people kind enough to attend my shows, and I get along just fine with some musicians. But these whiny scheming self serving bastards actually sicken me.

I hope you all get what you deserve, and that is nothing.