Second Life - Musicians

A new world is open for musicians, Second Life.

In Second Life (SL) musicians from all over the world can meet and jam together, share ideas, play concerts, make money (well Linden Dollars).

In this report from CNN they talk with the members of Space Junky. Space Junky plays on average 3 times a week at different clubs around SL and to top it all off, they get paid. Why chose to perform in cyberspace on a virtual island you may wonder? Well in Space Junky’s case they have to, one of them lives in the United States, one in Australia, and one in Malaysia.

How do they do it? What’s real? What’s fake? In their case all their music is pre-recorded, they only control their avatar and the light show when performing, which makes you wonder, can they actually play? This is something to keep in mind. Musicians have to stream their music into the different “plots” of land, but once it’s streaming anyone who visits that “plot” instantly hears the music. Just like walking into a venue, if it’s loud you can’t avoid it. People can host their own shows on their own land, or they can chat with club and venue owners and set up a time to stream/perform in their location. To learn more about how they make it work check out the Second Life Music Community.

Ictus Belford playing at Sterling Vineyards in SL

Fans are even setting up look-alike concerts of their favorite artist, like U2, and it’s getting the attention of MTV. Read about it here, and watch a report on one of SL’s biggest stars here.

This may all seem a little weird, but with advancements in music technology and technology in general there may just be room for 2 worlds of music.