The Devaluation of Real

A while back I was playing a show and the act before me was one of those Karaoke acts. As Karaoke acts goes... this guy was absolutely horrible. Not only was pitch a much hoped for dream, his song selection left much be desired. Lots of people were there, he drew an impressive audience. But after a while, I noticed a trend.

This talentless hack had a huge support staff. A Management team.

During the course of the show, several “Staff members” left. As each Staff member poofed out, a sizable chunk of the audience would vanish. By the end of the show, just Karaoke dude, his girl friend (is girl friend a staff position?) and her friend were the audience. By this time, they were dancing on stage behind the misguided crooner to an audience that comprised of... well me.

I wasn't a bit entertained. But then I actually like music.

While this whole experience was unpleasant to say the least, it was informative.

I've learned if you have a support/management team of say.... six people at your show, and they invite a few friends to hang out with them, you can put a bunch of green dots on the map. I'm inclined to believe the “Invited friends” don't have the stream on long, and spend most of their time at the event IM-ing other friends on site, or even off site.

There are those that insist Second Life is not a game, and they are right. From a design stand point it's not a game at all. But a good deal of the “Second Life Music Scene ™ “ is a game, and for those of you out there wondering how it's played, let me give you the rules.

Labor is cheap

Back in my short lived MNP days, they use to send a MNP Host to every show I played. Moody would pay them, I think about L$ 300 per-show, to hang out, spam, invite their friends to hang out with them while they worked, and to keep the chat screen moving.

Now I think I should point out, L$ 300 breaks down to little more then one dollar American per-hour. Labor is cheap.

Labor is sometimes Free

Some people will show up and work towards your goal for a title. Most people are bored and if you make them part of the entertainment industry they are “Living the Dream”. Most people with a management tag don't get paid anything. In most cases it's somebody's Girlfriend.

Venue operators are sometimes just as clueless as you suspect they might be

I'm not picking on Venue operators, I appreciate the fact they pay the bill on the whole music scene. But many will book any act that plays for tips just to keep things hopping all day long. Consider for a moment a venue featuring Six acts a day, five days a week. Of those 30 acts a week, how many are worth listening to?

While many venues close due to lack of funds, most close due to simple burn out.

It's a lot of work, a lot of money, and more to the point, a lot of time.

Because there are so many venue, there are sometimes as many at 70 live music events going on at the same time. Perhaps five of those events are worth attending, so why are the other 65 even happening? Because it's all part of the game.

People are pretending to be rock stars.

People are pretending to be rock star managers.

People are pretending to be part of the rock star managers staff.

People are supporting their friends.

People are filling the schedule at their venue.

People are working for a little more then a dollar an hour.

People are working for a title.

People are plotting.

People are being.... polite.

The game thrives, and while the game thrives, talent languishes.

I've commented before, the Management types are a cancer on the music scene in Second Life. But while they are a blight for real music, they are the back bone of the Game. They work day and night to make sure, the insecure dreamers they represent color your impressions of what Live Music is in Second Life.

The management types make sure the music sucks.

All honor to venues that book talent. All honor to those that listen and decide. All honor to those that have the stream on. All honor to those who's politeness is manifested in not saying anything rude, rather then puffy meaningless compliments.


There is good music in Second Life, however it seems to operate in the margins. The stuff that is most aggressively marketed is done so to support “The Game”.

Now I wish I could say something profound like “DEATH TO THE GAME”, but remember when I commented good music operates in the margin? Well the page on which that margin exist is the page the game is written on. The basic bottom line is each listener decides their level of participation in the game aspect of the music scene.

So in conclusion..... I'll take Original music for 1600 $ Alex.

He claims to be the Pope of Rock and Roll, and the future of Music on the Grid.

BUZZZZZZ

Who is Zorch Boomhauer?