The Bigger picture

On the 27th of August, a bold and stupid experiment was preformed. Somebody implemented a “Cover charge” system. Of course the boldness of this experiment is somewhat diminished by the fact the cover charge was only one linden.

A journalist friend of mine asked me what I think about this, and I'm pretty sure if you have ever read this blog you already know my feeling on this matter. It's a stupid idea. She did attend the show because the... profiteer/musician running it was going to talk about his bold new plan. When she came back I asked her for any salient details and she said, “He really didn't address the big picture”.

Of course he didn't address the bigger picture. He can see the bigger picture because his head is up his ass. I of course am more then willing to address the grand issues of this matter, but who listens to me? I'm just some eccentric nut job with a blog.... or am I?

Let put the first stone on the table here. Established fact one. Popular does not mean good.

Any Popular artist in Second life is only actually popular with the uber tiny demographic that gives a shit about the music scene in Second Life. The vast majority of residents have already written live music off as a whole. They went to an event and saw some Bozo singing a Karaoke version of butterfly kisses, or some Gee-tar wanker, or some dude who's band was going nowhere so he thought he would give Second life a shot (Hey I know why your band is going nowhere buddy) and said to themselves,”Why bother”.

Why indeed?

Most people don't give a rats ass about the personalities that are held near and dear by the mavens of the Second life music scene.

Second stone on the table, the really good artist don't need a mechanism to separate music lovers from their money.

Maximillion Kleen is SUPER POPULAR. He's a sweetheart of a guy and he's actually good at playing music. Max doesn't mind playing tips only shows. I'm sure he could hold out for fee paying shows but the fact is, Max's fan base is more the willing to tip him. I'm not anywhere near as popular was Max, but my fans do right by me too. I have some fans that are broke and I don't mind that a bit. Enjoy the music and tip me when you can.

Stone three, considering the small slice of the pie the music supporters make up, it's unwise to limit their ability to see you.

Consider also the “Metallica vs Napster” effect. If you appear to be a money grubbing bastard out to squeeze your fans for every penny you can get, you'll lose fans. Nobody in Second Life is as wicked cool as Metallica so I can only see dire consequences.

Now lets count the stones on the table..... three stones... now throw them on the floor because they mean nothing. Instead of stones lets talk about the Bigger Picture.

The real path to actually growth and financial viability is attracting more residents to the music scene. This is something every mad scheme to pry a few Lindens from the faithful over looks. Music is a part of almost every human beings life. Why is it so marginal in Second Life?

Because most people go to a music event and it sucks ass.

The worse thing you could do is put impediment between potential listeners and good quality music. A Fee or cover charge is exactly the kind of roadblock major growth doesn't need. People don't come when it's free what in the world makes you think they are going to check it out if they have to pay?

Every performer with a fan base big enough to think they warrant a cover charge should consider this. Where would you be without the support of the people that came to your shows and tipped you generously? You are basically saying to them “Thanks for the support, I would not be here without you, now PAY UP MOTHER FUCKERS!!!!!”

The real hub of interest for this topic is based around people that feel they deserve more money for what they do. It's not about music,and not about what is good for music in Second Life. It's all about some whiny prick that finds it's so hard to sit in front of their computer a play some music.

This whole thing is magical thinking. If you want something bad enough it's going to happen. Some people need to grow up.

Starting over and continuing

A while back my personal life was reduced to ash. I'll spare you the details as they are not relevant to the theme of this blog.

I have a new life in a new place and more time to devote to musical matter then I can ever recall before in my life. However I've been spending a lot of time in a mental haze. Adjusting to such a sudden and drastic change can disorient the best of us.

While I might not have my feet under me just yet, I recognize the need to move in that direction. It's time to employ a bit of discipline and work toward furthering my music goal. Perhaps even redefine them.

I plan to start woodsheding on the other instruments I play. Keyboard, Banjo, Dobro, and (Gasp)the electric guitar. While I don't intend to alter the nature of my show to include these instruments, it's good to keep yourself immersed in musical thinking.

I'm also considering a bold experiment in broadcasting a live video show. More information of that as I come up with a reasonable way to go about it.

I'm plotting some wild musical collaborations, but that is tip top secret until the details are hammered out.

The new music collection (remember fall is coming) is already percolating in the back of my mind. The title of the next MP3 collection will be “Ashes and Dreams”.

There has even been talk of an official “Zorch the band” release.

Lots of good ideas and perhaps even time to make some of them happen. All I need to do is settle down a focus. My first step toward getting more done is being more disciplined about updating the blog. So make a habit of checking back.

Signal to Noise

I'm not referring to a technical specification here,but rather expanding upon a concept in the last entry I made (Tale of Two Quitters).

Perhaps a better tag for this phenomena would be "The Talent to trash ratio".

I'm personally very invested in the Second Life Music scene. While I would never refer to myself as a member of the (Mythical) all inclusive music community, I am one of the performers available to book.

People often sit around and talk about the music scene exploding, and how to go about lighting the fuse. The sad fact of the matter is the majority of people refused to acknowledge the major impediment to significant growth.

The problem really is not a lack of talent as many would suggest. The problem is the glut of questionable talent that swell the ranks of the talent pool. Add to this a never ending cavalcade of clueless venue owners that will book anybody, and you have the musical equivalent of the Special Olympics.

Of course there are people that support the Special Olympics, but you never see updates about it on ESPN.

The only real area of growth is to make inroads toward the general population of residents in Second Life. Just about every human being on earth has an interest in some kind of music. But you'll find there is only a very tiny demographic that loves Crap music. People want something of value even if all they are investing is there time. When you start talking about "Real money money", the value must be greater.

There is incredible talent in Second Life. People that bring to much to every performance. However if you look in the "Live Music Events" section of search, you find a litany of musical turds mixed in with the diamonds.

The path to significant growth is more talent less trash, more signal less noise.

The Tale of Two Quitters

Once upon a time there were two quitters in the Second life music scene. I'm sure there are more then two, but this is the tale of just two.

Rather then bring personalities into this, let's just call one "Psychotic Genius Quitter" and the other "Psychotic Joe Average Quitter".

They both have so much in common. Both are Psychotic, both bail the moment their itty bitty feelings get hurt and both are such drama Queens they may actually be drama Empresses.

When they come out of retirement... and they always come back, the only difference is you realize you wished the "Psychotic Genius Quitter" could get his shit together because the music is actually good.

When Psychotic Joe Average Quitter make his comeback, and then quits again, outside of the few friends he's managed to embroil in his own personal drama, nobody cares. There is plenty of average to go around.

I wish both quitters, instead of staring at their guitar on it's stand and pondering if the resident of Second life deserve a second, third or fourteenth chance to bask in their musical gifts, would just hone their quitting skills to the point where when they go they stay gone.

While this might sound harsh, and it probably is, I only say it because it's best for the people that actually try and accomplish something interesting in the Second Life Music Scene.

These in and out and then back in again types only ad static to the signal. People that wasted time at either one of the quitters comeback performances would be better served attending the concert of somebody with the balls to keep at it.