I saw this quote today on Facebook in one of my friend's feed. I did share it on my page as well and it really got me thinking.
Do I want to support a big label musician buying a new Mercedes or would I rather put my money back into the independent music community?
As someone who manages and works with indie musicians, I would rather support the struggling indie musicians.
If it is a Second Life indie artist or a real life indie artist, the chances are that my dollar will be going to help feed and house them, not buy their next line of coke or pay for their big house and the BMW in the drive.
When I go to see a Second Life performer, I always tip them. On average I tip 200L$ - 300L$ or more if they are a close friend or someone I particularly enjoy. In SL 250L$ equals approximately ONE DOLLAR. It is absolutely worth $1 to get an hour of live music streamed to the comfort of my home. I also will always tip the venue about the same amount because the venue is paying the performer and usually relies on venue tips to recoup at least part of that expense. They cannot sell booze and the only way a cover charge will work is for most venues to get on board. There are tips only venues in Second Life, a plethora of them actually, those venues I might tip a little less because I know their expenses do not include paying the performer but mostly I do frequent the venues I know are paying the musicians at least something.
Another way to support indie musicians is to buy their music. Sometimes musicians in Second Life will have SL CD's you can purchase and often those CD's can be listened to in SL or downloaded to your computer as MP3s and typically it is less expensive than purchasing them on the web. However, if your favorite musician doesn't have a SL CD, go buy the music online.
Just because a musician is popular or books for a higher fee does not mean they are wealthy. They may be struggling financially, like most are these days. Forgetting everything else, what they are offering you is their heart and soul in the music they have worked long and hard to write and perform and that deserves respect. Musicians do like to hear nice things about their music but they also have to put food on the table, clothing on their children and make repairs to their homes. Unless a musician shares their financial situation, we don't know what's going on in their lives.
I understand that it is hard sometimes to tip because you might be struggling as well in real life and cannot afford to buy L$. One possible and fun solution might be to get an enjoyable job in Second Life which will also help you make some tip money. Especially for live music fans. There are more venues in SL than you can shake a stick at. Maybe apply for a venue hosting job, then you get to listen to and support the musicians and make some extra money as well. I know that if I went out in real life to the local pub to listen to my favorite local band, I will have to take time to get dressed up, do my hair, maybe grab a bite to eat, buy expensive gas, pay a cover of $5- $20, depending on the pub and performer, buy a couple drinks, tip the bartender, pay a babysitter.... we are talking an easy $100 for one night out.
Going to live music in Second Life saves a LOT of money. I can sit here in my PJ's while my kids are sleeping and go see a couple musicians, grab a snack from my fridge and enjoy myself and at the same time, support an indie musician and venue with just a few dollars of tip money.
I can almost guarantee you that all the musicians in Second Life are not getting rich by performing. What they are getting is a way to help them make more music to share with you.
beautiful<3
ReplyDeleteWell said, Mandy! For some reason the second half of your post's text is grayed out and hard to read, in fact I almost didn't. The only thing I would add to this excellent post is to not exclude the tip only venues.
ReplyDeleteMany of the artists that are all about creativity but can't draw a crowd have trouble getting a gig at a paying venue, myself included. The paying places often rate the value of the musician by how many venue-tipping avatars they can bring in, and that leaves a lot of us, some very creative and talented, out of the picture.
Also, if a club does or doesn't pay the musician is not necessarily an indicator of how hard or passionately that venue owner works at providing an audience and a good experience for listener and musician. The tier and the amenities and art of a venue, and all that time..the many many hours of work that I for one put into my tips venue every week (FSB, when I ran it), was worth money too. The idea that the venue must pay for EVERYTHING, put countless hours into it,and feel lucky to get a "thanks, nice venue" out of it is really not more fair than expecting the musician to put all that energy into it for little to no return.
If given a choice between playing for 5 people that tip, and 40 people that cheer and click on my subscriber, I would probably go for the second one. If given the choice between playing for a venue owner that could not pay but who's vision for the venue space is wonderful/creative/a good fit for my sound, they are passionate music lovers, they love and believe in what I do, and they take the time to make sure it is a pleasure to play on their stage..AND they make a real effort to promote their venue and my show...I would go for that one in a heartbeat over one that pays big, but is clueless about running a venue and then makes me feel bad for "failing them" by not bringing in enough people. I had one venue owner, who I filled in for what was 3 am for me..as a last minute fill-in....I jumped on stage. But because I didn't bring in people, she actually said she didn't feel like she should have to pay me the 7K she had offered to get me on her stage at that hour to bail her out of a situation (after I played the full hour, mind you). I wouldn't play for that woman again even if I found out she was booking for Madison Square Garden.
Respect, Freestar Tammas
Hi Freestar,
DeleteIt's Brandy not Mandy. I did correct the issue of the text being greyed out. For some reason blogger did that on it's own. Thank you for your feedback. I did mention that I do go to tips only venues sometimes and do still tip them, just a little less than a paying venue because a paying venue does have a higher cost.
I do think it was unfair of the venue owner to guarantee you a certain amount for performing and then try to wiggle out of it because you didn't draw well. If you read some of my other blog postings I do write about people holding up to their end of the contract in SL.
Great conversation! and so important to both performers and venue owners. As an owner, I know how difficult it is to draw any income from SL these days. I've seen performers cancel just because a struggling venue wanted to charge a very very reasonable cover charge. This is an issue that has to be worked on from both sides. No one wins once performers and owners stop talking and working together.
ReplyDeleteYou bring up some good issues - being a fan, I look for the venue's Tip Jar most times as well as tipping Talent - though it depends on how well the place is run. I can't 'Follow' every artist on Twitter (vDesigns), but I do retweet, share on Facebook and Linkedin when posible : )
ReplyDelete