For those who do not know how venues work in SL, here is a little break down. Venue owners rent virtual land and purchase a build or build something themselves on the land for concerts. The venues can vary from a traditional rock concert hall or club to very unusual builds like art installations, outer space or anything you can imagine. Venue owners then book musicians to perform. Some venues pay and some are tips only, just like in real life. However, there are no drinks or food to sell and no one in SL has really adopted a cover charge. So when venues have shows, any costs come out of their own pocket. Sometimes there are shops on the land that pay rent and help supplement the costs.
As a venue owner and manager and musician manager, I can see things from both sides. My venue and venues I manage all rely on shops paying rent to help support the live music I book. So when I do book performers, I try to give them some information about the stores and things happening on the sim and the location of the venue tip jar.
I usually make a few bullet points on a note card to give to the performer or manager as some talking points between songs. This is the most basic form or promotion for the venue. I also make sure I or my host are ready to answer any questions that concert goers might have about the venue.
From the musician manager standpoint, I am very appreciative when I book a show at a venue and we always make sure to ask right away for a few lines about the venue for our promotions. Seth discuused this in his last blog post HERE. We also do ask if there is anything the venues want him to mention while performing.
For us it's all about supporting the venue, showing respect and giving back. If it were not for the venues, performers would all have to own their own venue and perform only there and absorb the costs of land rental with out the possibility of collecting a fee for their performance.
Make sure you show the venue respect and help them as much as you can. Another good way to show the venue respect, as a performer, is to show up a little early to make sure they know you are there and prepared. When booking multiple performers, it is nice for venues to know that the next performer is there and ready to jump on stage when it's their time.
Also, being there a bit early shows respect for your fellow performer who should be up there saying "John Doe is up next so please stick around." and promoting you from that perspective. That also goes back on each performer who is not announcing who the next act is, you should be. It's supporting the venue and the next performer.
Very well said. I'm curious though - what are your thoughts on the "one tip jar only - tips split between the performer and the venue" model, which sometimes also includes a flat fee to the performer (usually lower than what performers are now asking for a one-hour show)?
ReplyDeleteI think that is between the venue and the performer. They have to come to terms that are reasonable to them. If that works best for them both, then go for it.
ReplyDeleteI am glad to see that this issue is being discussed. I am hopeful that people who come to listen to the great music in Second Life will also consider how their support can help both the venue owner and the musicians.
ReplyDeleteHaving owned and shut down a venue, while it was not a live performer one, I fully agree. It is not an inexpensive thing that people do to bring those in SL such an awesome variety of live performers, and they are not always being tipped as some may believe. Tipping a performer and the venue is so important, even if it's not that much. You can't go far in RL on a couple of bucks, but you sure can hear some great musicians in SL for a good price.
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