Wait 'til flatfinger sees THIS!

[richardmac]

Can't wait to see his reaction!

 

You can't make this stuff up.

 

For those too lazy to click, it is about "GagaVille," which is Lady Gaga's virtual farm in FarmVille. Selling VIRTUAL goods is the next big idea that will "save" the music biz. No, I am not sh*tting you. Andy Warhol must be laughing in his grave.

 

I will say this, though... these businesses that sell "virtual" products are flat out amazing... they're getting real actual money from people who are buying nonexistent products.

[daddymack]

you mean I can't pay for virtual goods with virtual money? Damn!

 

[flatfinger]

I haven't seen this thread , cause I'm not really here.........

 

 

 

 

 

But ,

If folks want to spend all their time on line , and think it's even better to do it at her site ; More power to them i guess . It's a free country ( supposedly )

[3shiftgtr]

I once ran a red light in a town 50 miles from where i live, and a camera took a pic of me doing it. They sent me a ticket for $125 with the picture.

 

So I wrote them a check for $125 and took a picture of it and sent it to them.

Never heard back.

 

Our Gov't has been doing this for years....it is not farmville, it's a Municipality.

[flatfinger]

By the way;

 

 

A post by PITAR toward the the end of the doomed "Why Don't I hear the Genius in these new bands?." thread ( post #142 ) has a very interesting point :

 

 

Music is following society's example and as people become further and further splintered and isolated from each other - friends, neighbors, families, communities - the old emotional commitments and their open displays of expressing them begin to ebb. This latest generation, the wobble butts, are happy to sit all day long texting, gaming, web surfing and generally anything that can be done on their butts rather than their feet . Meaning, if you aren't with people anymore, you won't have the opportunity to express emotion face-to-face or observe it. Sitting all day reading or typing text is almost wholly isolated from that kind of emotion and when you're raised on a keyboard you become adrift of person-to-person emotional contact, and even prefer it.

 

 

 

 

I've stated before that I'm no Luddite , and have an affinity for technology ; But If everything becomes "virtualized " than I must choose to part ways with technology at that point . Dennis Miller ( stand up comic with a brain ) once said that If technology every got to the point where every Joe six pack could make love ,in a virtual reality device , To the likes of the Claudia Schaeffer's of the world , Then such a technology would, by comparison, make Crack look like Sanka !!!!

 

I like the real world , and real people ( for the most part !!) so I will have to pass on trying to live a "virtual " musicians life , ( although I reserve the right to still play an occasional air guitar !!)

 

 

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_good

 

 

Most valuable virtual goodThe Entropia Universe, an on line game created by Swedish company Mindark, entered the Guinness World Records Book in both 2004 and 2008 for the most expensive virtual good ever sold,[12] and in 2010 a virtual space station, a popular destination in this game, sold for $330,000 .

 

 

I guess there is , as P.T. Barnum once stated , a sucker born every minute!!!!!

[MrKnobs]

 

I will say this, though... these businesses that sell "virtual" products are flat out amazing... they're getting real actual money from people who are buying nonexistent products.

 

 

The MMORPG Second Life has produced several millionaires, most notably Anshe Chung who amassed her millions selling virtual sex, virtual clothes, and virtual real estate. You can see her website at www.anshechung.com

 

On a smaller level, I know an older lady who makes more than $50k/year from home as a singer in Second Life, and a guy in Romania who quit his English teacher job that only paid $500 Euro / month because he makes much more as a virtual escort.

 

I personally perform on SL and find the pay is often more than I can make as a duo in real life - minus the shlepping equipment and driving downtown.

 

Terry D.

[richardmac]

Yes - I have flirted many times with the idea of performing in SL. I think one thing that prevents me is the time I'd need to invest to do it correctly. You first need to understand SL itself, be very familiar with it, then learn all about the music scene, then determine how to succeed in it, then find places to play, then work yourself up to better and better gigs... it's definitely an investment in time. On one hand, I'd love to do it because as you say it's easier than doing a real gig because you don't have to move your stuff. On the other hand, I prefer to put my very limited resources into performing in the real world. However, I am still very interested in SL.

 

I am not, however, interested in buying a cyber t-shirt from Lady Gaga. Or listening to her music.

[Poker99]

[daddymack]

 

Yes - I have flirted many times with the idea of performing in SL. I think one thing that prevents me is the time I'd need to invest to do it correctly. You first need to understand SL itself, be very familiar with it, then learn all about the music scene, then determine how to succeed in it, then find places to play, then work yourself up to better and better gigs... it's definitely an investment in time. On one hand, I'd love to do it because as you say it's easier than doing a real gig because you don't have to move your stuff. On the other hand, I prefer to put my very limited resources into performing in the real world. However, I am still very interested in SL. I am not, however, interested in buying a cyber t-shirt from Lady Gaga. Or listening to her music.

 

 

My only issue with SL is that after four decades performing to live audiences, it would seem 'sterile'...like doing a recording session or a rehearsal, rather than a public performance...that's just, me, I know, and maybe I need to let that go and give it a shot, but the audience's reaction has always been how I gauge my performance...absent that, how can you tell if the show is going over?

[richardmac]

Here's another question - Couldn't you just film your show and then stream the video of your show instead of playing live, and how would anyone know the difference?

 

I do sorta like the idea of doing a gig without leaving home. No moving heavy gear around, no booze or smoking...

[daddymack]

what do you mean no booze?

 

 

[kurdy]

My only issue with SL is that after four decades performing to live audiences, it would seem 'sterile'...like doing a recording session or a rehearsal, rather than a public performance...that's just, me, I know, and maybe I need to let that go and give it a shot, but the audience's reaction has always been how I gauge my performance...absent that, how can you tell if the show is going over?

 

I'm guessing it triggers little audience-like applause sound effects.

[MrKnobs]

I'm guessing it triggers little audience-like applause sound effects.

 

Yeah, there are gestures of all sorts. People can trigger applause, whoops, whistles, complex visual effects, type out requests or comments, or speak with their actual voices. It's very obvious if people are liking you or not.

 

Terry D.

[kurdy]

Second Life does sound enticing, but what’s kept me from doing all these years is that it seems like it would be quite the challenge to set up, which is intimidating for someone who isn’t particularly computer-savvy, at least compared to some of the other members of these forums.. Not to discourage others from trying it...I’m sure there are those will have no trouble.

 

But I’m wondering if something similar couldn’t be achieved with YouTube, which is much easier to get involved with. All you really need is a digital camcorder, a USB connection, and some video editing and conversion software. There are a lot of musicians who seem to have made quite a name for themselves on there. It does take effort to maintain that connection with viewers, though—replying to comments and stuff. It's also hard to say to what degree a YouTube presence will result in paying customers. I haven’t really been able to do as much as I’d envisioned with it, because I haven’t posted a new video since ’09. I would like to get into it again, but ever since YouTube switched to the wide-screen format, my videos look outdated. I would need to invest in updating my software (which is already a couple years old) to a program that can support it, but I never got around to it. It’s all too easy to just get lazy and let your presence languish on there if you aren’t careful.

 

The majority of comments I got on my videos were positive (of course, you’ll always get some haters). One viewer even said they would buy my CD if I had one out. Alas, I didn’t. But one of my major goals for next year is to finish recording enough tracks for an album. At least if I have the material ready, I can decide what the next step will be from there.

[MrKnobs]

Second Life does sound enticing, but what’s kept me from doing all these years is that it seems like it would be quite the challenge to set up, which is intimidating for someone who isn’t particularly computer-savvy, at least compared to some of the other members of these forums.. Not to discourage others from trying it...I’m sure there are those will have no trouble. But I’m wondering if something similar couldn’t be achieved with YouTube, which is much easier to get involved with.

 

Not knocking YouTube, but video recording and editing is more complicated than performing in SL. All the latter requires is clicking on www.secondlife.com to set up an account, and the ability to get sound into your computer by any means. Here are some options ranging from simple and cheap to complex and more costly:

 

(1) Use the $5 microphone that may have come with your computer. Simply plug it in to the mic input in the back, pick up a guitar (or keyboard) and start singing and playing. Log on to SL with your "voice" function turned on, pick any street corner that allows voice and perform for tips. This is busking and it works in SL better than it does in real life, i.e. people are more generous with tipping.

 

(2) Busking like option 1, but with a little better sound quality. Use any USB or Firewire interface to get your voice and instrument into your computer, then use SL's built in voice function as you did in option (1) above.

 

(3) Perform at a venue. This is good because you'll have a built in crowd, and much better audio. The only work required is to install WinAmp onto your computer and get the shoutcast plug in for it at www.shoutcast.com Both are free. Use the same audio interface you were using in options (1) or (2) above, but using winamp will let you stream up your audio to Second Life at much better quality. The venue owner is paying for and providing the stream you'll use, he or she will give you the address and password to plug into shoutcast and you're good to go. (streaming is just breaking up audio data into packets to transmit over the internet. The audio quality is much higher as the voice function is bandwidth limited and optimized for speaking, like a telephone)

 

(4) Create your own venue. Buy a parcel of land, rent a stream, and perform your music there. Invite some other SL bands to be on the bill with you, hopefully some that play similar music to yours and have already established a following. Streams are about $2/month, and a small parcel of land will set you back about $4/month. You'll easily recoup that and more from tips the first show.

 

(5) Connect SL to real life. Give out the link to buy your CD or downloads from CD Baby or your website. Also sell MP3 downloads directly in Second Life using an MP3 vending machine. People tend to spend "Lindens" freely because they don't feel like real money, and because they don't have to give their credit card info out, they're totally anonymous.

 

I hope you can see how each step, 1-5 builds on the previous step. If it sounds difficult, it's only because I didn't explain it well, not because it is. I have a notecard that explains the entire process in step by step detail. In fact, every musician in SL has that same notecard. It's easy, fun, and it pays real money from the convenience of your own home.

 

Terry D.