The typical experience of music in Second Life is a shoutcast stream in your local club, a bunch of dancing avatars who are actually having private IMs with someone 100 sims away, and then a few brilliant instruments and installations. But just as the changes resulting from P2P file sharing were first felt in music, now work in music is giving more insight into SL as a platform for content mash-ups, mixed reality events, and cross-overs to the “real world” of music.
I’m not much of a follower or expert on music – have friends to direct me to the really brilliant stuff, so this is just my own random round-up of hints at how music is bleeding into and out of virtual worlds, and how new forms are emerging.
Duran Duran Song and Second Life
They were one of the first to fully harness the potential of music videos and conquered MTV in the process. They developed an international following with catchy songs, impeccable dress, and dashing looks. Always ahead of the mainstream musical curve, Duran Duran have written a song on their new album using SL as the focus in both lyrics and video.
Lyricist Simon Le Bon has a knack for phrases that catch a certain time and place, and in this song, he describes SL users in a way they can all relate to by describing them as “all the new insiders.” Though the reviews are mixed, kudos to the band for looking forward into the SL future.
I’m wondering if anyone knows the names of their in world avatars? I suppose they have the right to remain anonymous, though I’m still curious as to what gender or species they might be wandering around as.
Rock Band Journey in Second Life
As if closing out the final scene of The Sopranos with the mega smash “Don’t Stop Believing” wasn’t enough, rock band Journey has released its Virtual Island in Second Life called “Journey Rock Band.”
The island features dedicated 3D historical areas for each album, a Journey jukebox, two live music venues, and a kind of leisure area where Journey fans can play on the island. Fans who will see Journey on tour starting in February of this year with their new lead singer, Arnel Pineda, will also hopefully see them play in SL.
Synaethesia
But past the “traditional” bands bringing themselves to or writing about Second Life, there’s a whole community in world that’s pushing the limits of the media to create new sound experiences. NPIRL recently gave a glowing report on Tokyo’s Komuso Tokugawa’s work putting on music/visual collaborations that take place on the Internet. Thirty test subjects were invited along as Tokugawa and MoShang Zhao, from Taiwan, used the NINJAM music collaboration software for the event.
Elsewhere, NWN writes about the Parsec test project that is using VOIP technology connected to a fairly elaborate visual and audio environment. This enables users to connect their live voices to software that triggers audio samples and visual motion. In Parsec, which is created as a sphere, music and dancing spheres create a community of voices that has great entertainment potential.
VLES
Second Life is all about “Your World, Your Imagination”, which leaves corporations scratching their heads in some cases and wondering how to execute “Our Control, Your Buying Power”. Some will get it right and create controlled brand experiences where there are enough social interaction tools and cool content to keep them coming back for more. Others will be shallow experiences which will end up littering the Internet like so many old brochure-ware Web sites.
NYC’s Lower East Side (LES) is known for its artistic innovation and cultural status. The metaverse’s Virtual Lower East Side is a new way for users around the globe to sample the culture – its clubs, streets and bars – of this vibrant, energetic scene.
The site broadcasts concerts from the area that you can watch using your customized avatar as if you were, in fact, at the concert. You can walk the virtual streets of the LES and converse with other avatars. VLES is also attempting to build a community of bands of all stripes by making a community radio station and linking out to bands and mp3s. There is also a contest called “Kickstart” that propels bands to an appearance on MTV, the company behind the site.
An article in the NY Times speaks to both the successes and failures of the site. On the one hand, a virtual experience of a gritty and traffic-clogged area of New York will necessarily leave out some of the sensual appeal of the area. Real life issues such as exorbitant rents, mean-spirited bouncers and drinking binges are, naturally, left out of the experience. As well, the article rightly points out the cynicism in using the Lower East Side’s cultural value as a conduit to MTV.
However, as an experiment in 3D social networking, VLES is the first step forward in where music will be headed in the future. There’s no doubt that social networks will eventually allow for streaming of live concerts and all types of other artistic ventures in the future. There’s no way this will NOT happen. As a prototype, then, VLES is worth checking out.
It’s a hint not only at bringing the ‘real’ into virtual worlds but allows us to imagine a future in which mixed reality events combine in world light and prim displays with real world performances…with the audience in both spaces being given new ways to socialize and interact with the experience. Sure, sitting back and just watching a band will never go away, but the ability to interact inside an experience is likely to go somewhat beyond holding a lighter up in the air and screaming.
