Starting around 7 minutes in, here's audio from my Twitter Spaces chat last week on the Metaverse and music with Water & Music, a music business research DAO collective, spinning off on this huge research paper they just published on the topic (and that I was interviewed for). After the group's intro, our conversation starts at about 15 minutes in.
Some highlights by time code:
17:15 -- What's essential to the Metaverse. And also, when do we actually start talking about the Metaverse on an actual metaverse platform as opposed to on Twitter?
18:55 -- What's the current state of the Metaverse? How much was the pandemic an influence on its growth? Also, I get into my definition of the Metaverse based directly on Snow Crash.
20:05 -- Where's the most meaning in the Metaverse?
22:55 -- Is the Metaverse inherently a game and have game mechanics? I discuss that in relation to Second Life not defining itself as a game.
25:25 -- What's the state of decentralized, blockchain-based metaverse platforms Decentraland and The Sandbox, and why do they have such small user bases? I compare that with the walled garden approach of Fortnite etc.
29:00 -- How to cultivate a metaverse community, and the importance of community management -- and humanities majors to lead them.
31:00 -- Examples of metaverse platform music experiences, especially in Second Life. I talk about stumbling across Mr. Charles Bristol (above), performing in Second Life at the age of 87.
33:45 -- The technical requirements and improvements affecting metaverse platforms -- and how much of a crowd you actually need for an effective experience. We get into that versus the pre-recorded major concert approach seen in Travis Scott's performance in Fortnite -- and what insiders tell me about why nothing of that scale has happened since 2020.
40:15 -- What prompts the "salty" reaction among many music industry folks around music in the Metaverse? We go from there to my forecast that the addressable market now is around 25% of Internet users.
43:30 -- Where do musicians get started on experimenting with metaverse platforms? I get into VRChat and music performer TFMJonny, along with Second Life and rising star Aufwie.
47:10 -- What do we say to musicians to inspire them, especially the skeptics? I talk about the frustrations of trying to put on a metaverse platform show with a platinum-level artist, and discuss the opportunity for real life studio owners to create a metaverse platform setup for rotating artists.
51:35 -- The importance of giving agency to user creators, and how that encourages an evolution of creativity. As an example of that, I mention this live improv performance in the middle of the virtual desert.
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