Singin' in Second Life

There are so many different types of music and entertainment in Second Life. I think this is very beneficial in order to expand audience interest and reach fans or new listeners via the Internet. There are obviously many benefits to having this type of entertainment online. Fans are able to enjoy concerts from the comfort of their own home and performers are able to be both live and online at the same time. RL artists are able to expand their business and talents into SL and play in different venues for diverse audiences. In their presentation, Kelsey and John highlighted the changes that have occurred in the music industry such as online file sharing and performances in virtual communities. I agreed with the comment made by a classmate that it allows new artists to gain exposure and older artists to expand their audience. Artists fate are now not determined by a record company because they can share their music without being signed by a label. This also benefits the fans, since as Ebare stated, audiences can have few choices with music - so this gives them more exposure to a larger variety of music and allows them to chose from a variety of different artists. Overall I believe that the online distribution is positive although it appears to benefit fans the most, followed by artists and then the actual music companies.
I have visited a few music locations in Second Life. One was a bubblegum music place where you could do different dances (picture on the side). I also went to some music stores but did not want to spend the money to buy the music. I went to what appeared to be a German bar where they played poka-ish music – I also got stuck in the rafters, as is pictured above! I was able to listen to music and dance, although no one else was there. This experience is relatable to issues discussed in class, since in real life I would likely never go into a bar like this, especially since the cards i received was in a different language and also this doesn’t seem like the type of music i would choose to listen to. I was also able to observe the different ways music was advertised – through sales, posters, clubs, concerts etc. There are many different types of music available on Second Life in very welcoming communities. That’s one thing I noticed in my experiences, apart from the friendly, generic welcome message, people in the Bubblegum music place were very friendly and tried to start conversations with me. Obviously, the growing trend of online music has penetrated Second Life. Music itself has an ability to unite people to despite differences, and different types of music are able to do just that online and increase its borders even further. It is also a helpful way to purchase music, since you don’t have to leave your house to purchase a song or cd – this could be very helpful to certain people. I would be very interested in experiencing a concert in second life to interact with fans and see what it would be like to listen to a concert in virtual world. That is hopefully another element of the VW music scene I will experience. Overall, my experiences in various music stores highlighted arguments that were brought up in lecture and in the seminar presentation about the online distribution of music, the variety of music, the easy purchasing methods of music, and the online marketing of music.