Is The Future Of Avatar-Driven Music In Mixed Reality?

Inspired by news that SL bluesman Von Johin signed a deal with an established record label, musician Dizzy Banjo (no slouch himself when it comes to metaverse-based music) fired up his blog to write a wide-ranging and perceptive survey of Second Life performers who are innovating new forms of performing live music in a virtual space-- some of them, most intriguing to me, in a mixed reality context.  He points for example to MzTere Writer (Theresa Orlando IRL), who performed at the popular Muse Isle, "which streamed her Second Life performance out to an audience which included representatives of a major Las Vegas entertainment company." 

That seems like a compelling innovation-- I've been to numerous mixed reality parties where SL is broadcast on a big screen or projected on a wall, and folks just stop in their tracks and gape.  (And not just audiences of SL users, I mean people who might otherwise have no immediate personal interest in having an avatar.) Imagine if live musicians in SL interacted with real world club goers, taking requests and doing shout-outs to various people in the audience.   

The next step?  Dizzy points to the augmented reality technology being developed at Georgia Tech, where avatars seem to be merged with the real world, which could easily be implemented to create what's depicted in this extremely cool video: a "live" concert by Gorillaz, in which the animated characters in the virtual band seem to be performing on an actual stage.  It's simple enough to do a similar thing with SL avatars projected on a big translucent screen.

The question I put to readers is, what Second Life musicians are best primed for breakout success on a Gorillaz level?

Comments

[Ann Otoole]

They will need a lot of animations and special AO huds to pull it off. The choreography will be tough. To break out as big as Gorillaz will require a lot more than standing still with a foot tapping anim, a guitar playing anim, and lip sync.

It has to be a *show*.

Yea I want to see this pretty bad myself. Really wish some good animators would get into making long choreographed sequences. Maybe there are some already. SL is pretty big. Hard to know what all is out there already.

[Matthew Perreault]

As a musician who's recently signed to an independent RL label (Wampus) and is using SL as a prime promotional space, I think SL stands a chance of being a vehicle for building niche audiences, along with podcasts.

For non-RIAA labels, the niche is key. There are enough niches within SL that a savvy label should be able to focus attention there rather than the increasingly non-cost-effective traditional RL channels. That's the plan I and Wampus are giving a shot next month; I'll let you know how it goes...