RIK LISTENS

On his own blog, New World Note's indispensable Master of Events recently
published his long-awaited white paper on the state of live music in Second Life, with a broad analysis of genres and styles.  For anyone with any interesting in SL-based music, this is mandatory reading.  "My hypothesis," he writes, "is that Second Life music broadcast provides greater exposure to certain niche music styles that are under-represented within more traditional music broadcast media, while also subject to its own internal imbalances in musical diversity."  For example, what's the most popular genre across the grid, after Techno?  The answer, as they say, may surprise you.  (And depending on your experience, a recent declaration by an aggravated Astrin Few, one of SL's first live musicians, may surprise you-- or not.)