News:

Second Life's thriving music scene (3)

Since Second Life's launch, a handful of major acts, including Duran Duran, Suzanne Vega and Ben Folds, have performed or held events in the virtual platform, but none has made a broad impact. "Over the years, Second Life didn't match the hype," says Nelson Gayton, executive director of the Center for Management of Enterprise in Media, Entertainment and Sports at UCLA. "The technology wasn't quite caught up with what people envisioned it to be."

But now, he says, "There's no reason to believe that this isn't a viable platform to experience or promote music. Why not perform in a virtual space instead of going through the challenges of performing in a live space? It's another platform to promote your talent and whatever it is you want to express so people can experience what you have to say."

Missouri indie rockers the Follow, who also perform regularly in Second Life, recognize the convenience these virtual gigs offer fans, and see it as the next logical step in the evolution of social networking. "It's so easy in Second Life - you can teleport your friends immediately, and you don't have to get dolled up," says bassist Amy Rickertsen.

Drummer Mat Matlack adds: "Once people experience Second Life, it will drive people there. The music scene will give them something to do and create an environment for social mixing. It's Facebook on steroids."

Lyons, a self-professed environmentalist, points out another beneficial aspect of this type of virtual gigging. "I legitimately think that it's the most sustainable method of performing for an artist these days, both environmentally — because you can reach the entire globe without burning gas - and financially." Lyons streams most of his Second Life gigs from his Santa Monica home studio using a basic Web cam and a microphone.

He also created an entire music video in Second Life for his ambitious, strings-laden cover of the Beatles' "Across the Universe." The 6-minute video features the avatars of friends, fans and musicians who volunteered their time and talents to create the video.

"Right now, 'performing in Second Life' is kind of like the Wild West, but I don't think that will be the case soon," says Lyons. "I think it will be widely accepted and possibly even necessary for any kind of artist in the near future."

[Origin:Original] [Author:Admin] [2010-07-13]   BACK