Not-So-Live Music in Second Life
Thursday, November 19th, 2009The Second Life blog scene is full of positive reviews about live musicians in Second Life.
I have myself, over on Avatar Writes reviewed live musicians favourably. You see someone like Phemie Alcott perform in world and are truly won over by her talent.
But what about the other side of ‘music’ in world? The artists who don’t play live, but just stand their avatar up on stage? I was particularly disappointed when I attended an Aerosmith tribute gig in world. The set up was amazing. The huge stage, great (but laggy as hell) lights and a good crowd. The band got on stage, all dressed up and good to go and it looked as though it was promising to be a great event.
And then it began.
All they were doing was standing on a virtual stage while streaming in an MP3 of an Aerosmith gig.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I appreciate that live music is particularly challenging. I would have been more impressed had they even prerecorded the songs themselves. But no, they just streamed in the actual Aerosmith.
There is no denying that it was entertaining in the way it had been set up, but there were a number of very dissatisfied grumbles from people who had been expecting, as was billed on the marketing materials, a live performance.
What skill is there to planting your avatar on stage and streaming in someone else’s gig, after all?
