[FA Worldmusic] Second Life

[Angel Romero]

I've been to Second Life many times and created three different 
characters. It's a controversial place because despite having millions 
of registered users, there are very few thousands online at the same 
time so exposure and interaction is very limited. What that means is 
that you ran into numerous places that are empty. And you have to pay in 
order to access a lot of the cool features.

If you have the time, it's fun to explore. I stumbled upon a house that 
had large drums that you could play. I found places where they play 
reggae, Flamenco and other stuff, but, again, many times they are empty 
when I visit them.

Lately, I got bored of it. I think there is potential in something like 
this, but it will time for it to truly blossom.

Angel Romero

Dmitri Vietze wrote:
> Have any of you explored Second Life, the online virtual reality environment?
> You get an "avatar" (that is, a virtual being) and then interact with others.
> The reason I ask is because my brother in law is an artist who started the
> first SL artists colony where they actually show art exhibits. He showed me
> how they have concerts there with live musicians playing in some remote part
> of the world to virtual people who are sitting all over the world but
> listening via their avatars. From what I could see there was a lot of
> singer-songwriter type of stuff, not any specifically global genres, but it
> sure seems like a ripe medium for global connections. There are theaters and
> clubs who have built replicas of their real venues in SL and then they have a
> combination of live theater audiences and virtual audiences; sometimes they
> even project the SL interactions on a big screen so you get this real
> world/virtual world melding/interactivity. The only major "world music"
> presence I could find easily were these DJed reggae clubs, which I think ad as
> much to do with pick up lines as music. But maybe some of you have seen
> something else there?
>
> You may be wondering if there is money to be made on SL... I know my brother
> in law artist gets a ton of work from his presence there. Like major
> corporations hiring him for creating art thematically tied to their mission
> statements, etc. As for musicians, it may be more for promotion, though
> technically you can charge admission or use a donation box. I am sure for
> major artists it would be a way to tap fans who could not otherwise go to your
> concerts. But for smaller names, it might be too hard to attract enough people
> to actually charge something. But you might turn someone on to your music for
> the first time.
>
> Much respect,
>
> ===> Dmitri!
> music at rockpaperscissors.biz
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>   

-- 

Angel Romero
World Music Central
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Durham, NC 27704-4406
USA
E-mail: angel at worldmusiccentral.org <mailto:angel at worldmusiccentral.org>
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