Paisley's Tips: Leading SL Musician on the Perils of Performing Worldwide

Is the health of metaverse-based live music being hurt by a fundamental culture clash from the real world?  That's what I take from this very interesting interview with Paisley Beebe in the Metaverse Journal.  Paisley's an accomplished Australian jazz singer (here's her MySpace page) who frequently gigs in Second Life.  Describing the unique challenges of singing professionally in SL, she mentions one I hadn't considered.  Like most live Second Life musicians, she's paid primarily with audience tips. So she generally performs not for fellow Aussie SL Residents, nor for those based in the EU.  Despite the 15+ hour time difference, she mostly plays for American Residents. Here's why:

[T]hey are somewhat more used to tipping in real life, but... the American-based tipping model for other cultures doesn’t really work. Europeans and Aussies don’t tip so much, and that then becomes a disincentive for musicians wanting to play in Australian and European time zones, and no one wants to be the first club to charge entry at this stage, so most musicians play for the Americans who will at least throw some virtual coins in the hat for a musician...

So for Paisley, this means performing sultry nightclub songs at slightly odd hours. And as popular a singer as she is, it means clearing about 5 Australian Dollars in L$ per gig.  (She pays some Australian musicians out of pocket to accompany her on the audio stream.)  Then again, she mainly performs in SL for the sake of international promotion and social networking, and a chance to revive her music career after a long hiatus to take care of family issues.  Still, the economic problem is there for her, and others who'd try to make a career as a metaverse-based performer:

Yes everything in SL costs less than real life, but by comparison to other SL businesses, SL musicians are paid very very low wages… for a product they can’t keep selling copies of in a store. And MP3 sales are very low on the whole due to the low music-going population in SL, and so do not compensate for the fact that most of the in-world audience will see a musician for free if they can and won’t even tip.

But if non-American Residents don't embrace the custom of tipping, and clubs don't break the taboo of not charging entrance fees, what's the alternate revenue model?  Some club owners will pay performers to boost traffic, and of course, metaverse developers regularly pay the top tier SL musicians to perform at real world marketing sites.  The result seems to be a sharp pyramid of success, with a small number able to make a halfway decent side income from their virtual performances, and an even smaller subset able to make something approaching a full-time living. Then again, that's not too different from real world musicians. Second Life currently has an active user base about the size of Portland, Oregon, and I'd guess only a couple dozen local bands and artists are performing on that level there.  Still, isn't SL supposed to offer more opportunities, not less?

Comments

[Matthew Perreault]

SL as a real revenue stream for musicians is still a very open question. But as you pointed out, that makes it no different from the RL music scene.

After a year and a half inworld, I can now charge venues up front for my appearances, but even then, it's lunch money rather than rent. Residual iTunes sales help, but here I am still at my RL dayjob.

For musicians, SL can function much like college radio. Good for promotion of product and name recognition, but not for actual revenue.

This will not change so long as it's so expensive to operate venues. I know of no one who's turning a profit by operating a music venue inworld. In RL, that means the club closes. Thankfully SL venues are cheaper to run than RL clubs, but they aren't free.

All of this connects to the broader cultural issue of music being considered a free commodity. It isn't just an SL problem.

Nonetheless, I remain foolishly optimistic. I reach far more and broader audiences in SL than I ever have in RL, and make better friends, too. To paraphrase Gillian Welch, we really are gonna do it anyway, even if it doesn't pay...

[Jaymin Carthage]

SL as a real revenue stream for _anyone_ is a very open question! The same pyramids exist across all of Second Life. There's really only room for one Anshe Chung.
On the music side, what I think you need is a "Starbucks". Don't laugh. People complain that the plethora of Starbucks on every street corner has made life hard for the "mom and pop" coffee shops. Statistics show the opposite. By popularizing and mainstreaming coffee shops, there is actually increased demand and there are more "mom and pop" coffee shops than ever before.
So, now, if more mainstream bands did live performances in Second Life popularize it as a destination for live music, that will increase demand. The professionals can't do gigs in every 30 person lounge in SL so someone has to fill the gap. There's also the potential to feature local people as the open act for a token performance for mainstream bands. Another avenue to "make it big".
Just a thought...

[Matthew Perreault]

I would certainly welcome more shows by bands with large followings in SL. The more that happens, the more it gets taken seriously as a music destination. It's weird, there were some forays by biggish types like Suzanne Vega, and then it just sort of dropped off.

I myself am trying to bring as many high-quality RL acts into SL as I can, the better to impress upon people that SL is a good place to discover great new music. Invariably, they're dubious, which is exactly why more of them need to come in and see the potential.

[Dizzy Banjo]

I think 2008 may be the year we see more ticketed events in SL and possibly tackling the "entrance fee" taboo. There have already been successful precedents ( Dancoyote's Skydancers series ).

Personally I think its a perfectly reasonable response and will both support the artistic community in SL, but also raise expectations - which is a good thing for the community as a whole. Hopefully it will help provoke an evolution in the creative arts in SL.