Molaskey's Pub, the popular Second Life music venue that recently faced imminent closure, has been saved at the last moment by Dreams Riler of Higher Ground Music, described as a Second Life music community. This bit of good news comes to me straight from current co-owner Katydid Something. The Pub will be closed to the public for the first couple weeks of May as ownership changes hands, then re-open soon after, with Ms. Something staying on to help Higher Ground with the ownership transition."
"The Pub was sold for a modest fee," Katydid tells me. "[T]he new owner offered more than the asking price when she found out there were others bidding... The land is being sold at the going rate of L$10/square meters at a total of about 33,000 sq/m -- she is buying the land directly around the pub first and then wants to add other lands as she can."
To be sure, the new owner will still face the primary conundrum for hosting live music in Second Life:
Patrons typically don't tip the venue or artist well enough to cover the land costs (and aren't accustomed to paying door fees), a problem exacerbated by Second Life's fundamental architecture, which doesn't allow for more than a few dozen avatars into a single location. But this will now be a challenge for Higher Ground Music, with Ms. Katydid Something taking a long-need break from live metaverse music management:
"I've spent 4 years of Sunday afternoons in front of the computer missing only a few for vacations," as she puts it to me, "so probably around 98% of Sundays for that time. My husband now has Sundays off (he didn't used to) and we need to spend time with each other. That was the biggest motivation to sell. The expense was also there but time with my family was first." Still, she adds, "I am pleased that Molaskey's will live on. We all worked hard to develop it into what it is now. There's a lot of love that went into it."
That said, she's not leaving Second Life in the slightest: "[I] will still be very much involved in the music community, writing for Music Matters Magazine. And I am now on the board of AvaCon, Inc and am working with Rhiannon Chatnoir, Misty Rhodes and Fleep Tuque to produce the next Second Life Community Convention. I have a full SL plate!"
Photo courtesy Ms. Something.
Excellent news, Katy<3333
Posted by: Argus Collingwood | Tuesday, April 19, 2011 at 10:42 AM
This is nice news for a change in a sad time when so many lovely places are disappearing.
One point: I hardly think L$10 is the going rate for a square meter of land. More like L$2 to L$3, I would say.
Posted by: Stone Semyorka | Wednesday, April 20, 2011 at 04:19 AM
The problem isn't "patrons don't tip".
The problem is an outdated tier system that forces venue owners to beg for handouts to keep their doors open.
Posted by: Arcadia Codesmith | Wednesday, April 20, 2011 at 07:13 AM