A while back I was playing a show at some venue and after I mentioned my MP3 collections are for sale, some fellow, in an attempt to be witty remarked, “Why do I need Second Life on my I-pod”?His attempt at wit was of course a dismal failure, but attempting wit when you actually have none is a fool's errand. Wit is something you have in real life and express in Second Life.
Wit is real, and music, at least LIVE music is real as well.
Why should you BUY an MP3 from a Second Life artist (ummmm.... me actually)?
Because unlike everything else you could spend money on in Second Life, the music is a REAL LIFE™ commodity. While you buy it in Second Life (or my web page), you don't have to be doing the Second Life thing to enjoy your purchase.
Your Second Life house, car, yacht, clothes, and yes, even you genitalia of of no use to you outside of Second Life. But recorded music goes with you anywhere recorded music can go, and at this time that is just about anywhere.
So in effect, recorded music is probably the most actually useful purchase you could make in Second Life.
But... there is more, much more.
If people were inclined to BUY recordings, it could be the answer to the age old question of “How do we make money with music in Second Life without exploiting anybody”?
I have mentioned before the vast majority of my shows are for tips. I actually have two shows a month that regularly pay a fee, but I should mention the fee involved is less then what most ask for as a minimum. Yet I make enough to pay my bills.
This is due to the generosity of the good people that do tip, my even more generous core fan base, and MP3 sales. Simply stated, the money earned from MP3 sales offsets any short fall due to my lack of fee collecting.
Can you dig it?
I should point out, my motivation for playing live is different from most people. As far as I can tell, the majority of performers develop a fan-base, and then limit their performance schedules in order to to maximize the turn out at their shows. If you like Bob and Bob only plays Thursday at 3 PM, you have to be where Bob is at that time and date to see him, or suffer the rest of the week Bob-less.
When Bob contacts a Venue owner he suggest his shows are packed, and if the venue owner checks it out they will find this to be true. Bob ask for a fee, and the venue owner see's it as reasonable because Bob can pack his or her Venue... Thursday at 3 PM.
Bob isn't selling music, he's selling a packed venue. The venue owner isn't buying music, he's buying a packed venue. While this is all good and fine for the primaries involved (Bob and the Venue operator), but it is the main reason music sucks so often in Second Life.
When I play music, I'm building a fans base as well. But not in order to pack a venue on some limited time table. I'm not trying to convince a venue operator my performance will pack their venue and because of that I'm worth paying a hefty fee for. I'm simply trying to expose my music to people that have not heard it yet. I'm sure if they are paying attention they will like it, and perhaps want more.
Yes, I love tips, and I love really generous tips even more. But the real fans are the ones that buy my recordings. They do attend the shows, thank you very much, and most of them tip as well as they can. But the real connection is their familiarity with my music. They know the old stuff, they know the new stuff and often prompt me to get on with recording the next collection.
So buying music is good for you, good for the music scene, and good for... well my pocket book.
In summation, why do you need Second Life on your I-pod?
Well... you don't need Second Life on your I-pod at all, but if you discover great music while wondering the grid, why would you not want to drag it in to your real life?
1 comment:
Why do I need Second Life on my IPod?
Well simple, many times I follow a few Artists in Second Life, and I do mean Artists in the pure sense.
To mention a few Zorch, Lexie Luan, DeadEye, TerryLynn , and a few others as well. I have hosted them at Agora Damari. Granted rarely , but if they have an mp3 collection that I feel is worthy to buy, I will. Yes, an Artist must be worthy. Recently I had to placed my Mother in the hospital and needed music to calm my worries, but also music to help me make difficult decisions. One such artist I felt was appropriate to calm my thoughts was the work of Zorch. His music, I find, is very thought provoking. I wish I had his music when my father departed from this life as I had many thoughts of my past as I looked down upon my father and remembered the struggles that he and I had in looking each other eye to eye. During the time I was visiting my mother I took my laptop and fired up Second life during their performances, I was rather surprised when people in real life gathered around me and enjoyed the experience, I myself enjoy and found that it uplifted many of those people spirits as they listened and asked about Second life.
I take my IPod to work as I cannot access Second Life with many of these Artists are playing, but also when people do come into my work area they compliment me on my selections and as where they can get these recordings. Also when I have friends over or many times I go on group hikes I use my IPod to provide entertainment during those rest periods or when we are sitting around the campfire. Many times they ask where they can purchase the works that I have collected, I do give them the links and hopefully they feel my choices are worthy of their collections as well. A few of those people have come in world, and in time they enrich the Second Life experience.
I am grateful that Artist such as Zorch, that make their work available to the public, especially their originals. I don't do it just to enrich these Artists, I do because Music is the Soul of our species and it should be shared.
GarGraVarr Rau
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