Sponsors for Second Life Live Music Venues

For those who don't know, Second Life Live Music Venue owners typically carry all the costs of running the venues. They pay tier for land to have the venue on, some venues pay the performers and some are tips only and some pay a staff.  Most rely on venue tips to help recoup just a small fraction of those costs, however, it rarely comes close to covering even the costs of paying performers. So it is very important that people do tip the venues when they can. Tipping is a kind gesture to thank venues for providing free entertainment.

To further help alleviate some of the costs, I recommend venues try to find sponsors. I have had success in the past with finding sponsors for the performers I manage for their individual shows. Also, I have had success with sponsors covering costs for big events.

Here are a few ways to get started finding sponsors.....

1. Figure out your venues numbers. How many shows a week for how many hours. Then keep track of your average draw per hour. This can be done simply by looking at how many people are at the show at the mid way point which is typically the peak time. Keep track of those numbers for a few weeks and then you have something to approach sponsors with.

In real life events are sponsored all the time.

2. Know how much of your costs you are trying to cover. If you spend L$XXXXX a week, what % would you like to get sponsors to help with?

3. Put together a note card that outlines the data from your venue numbers to show the sponsors how many people they can reach by sponsoring your shows. Also, include how long the sponsorship would last.... weekly? monthly?

4. Reach out to content creators that are suitable for your venue and explain to them that you can offer to place their Logo on a clickable prim or adboard with a LM to their location near your stage for X amount of time for X amount of L$. Also, it will help to explain that the sponsors will be mentioned by you or your staff through out the shows X number of times.

Don't fear rejection, this is after all a sales pitch to the content creators. You have to go through some no's before you get to yes's but if you can point out the benefit to the creators, then eventually you will find some willing to give it a chance.

Start with creators from stores where you shop, then you can tell them that you are a regular customer and you will feel good about promoting their brand at your venue.

This is just a quick blog post with ideas, its up to you to put in the time and effort to make it happen. I'm happy to consult with venue owners if you need more information or tips on how to go about finding sponsors. Just drop me a notecard in Second Life, Kalli Birman is my legacy name.

Quality Vs. Quantity: Performing In Second Life

Something I’ve noticed about myself when considering going to a concert in Second Life is that I look at who is playing at a certain time, say 7 pm slt/pdt, and if there is a performer that I enjoy but performs multiple shows a day many days a week, I will pass over their show for someone who does not play as much. I will basically say to myself “Oh X will have more shows tomorrow or later tonight, I will maybe catch them then.”

I’ve known performers in SL that are doing multiple shows a day, sometimes with only an hour between shows. I really feel like they are doing a disservice to both their career and the venues that are booking them. Second Life.

Playing multiple shows close together will affect your potential draw. People will have more possible times where they can come see you, so instead of having one really well attended show, you end up with several less attended. The exception for this in SL is if you put 6 hours between your shows, which will be targeting different time zones. If you have a show at 5pm, 7pm and 9pm, you are essentially targeting the same basic audience but if you have a 2pm show and 8pm show, there are different people on for each time period.

As a venue owner and longtime venue manager, I have also seen how overbooking negatively impacts the venue. The owner pays for a performer to come play, often the venue has stores or something that helps them generate income to pay for the performers. If you are losing draw because you are booking a lot of shows close together, you devalue yourself to the venue since your draw suffers and consequently, the venue traffic. Then venue owners will be less likely to rebook you and even want to pay less because you are not bringing in the traffic to justify  paying the full price. There are venues who book and pay for shows for the love of music and do not have an expectation of draw. However, since many venues have stores that pay rent - as their main source of revenue - they will simply will not pay performers if traffic is not repeatedly maintained.

Potentially, in performing fewer shows, you can actually generate more money. You can charge a little more per show and expect higher attendance. This means better tips for you and better donations to a happier venue (who is more likely to have you back).

Also, by performing less, you can help reduce the 6pm to 8pm slt “event congestion”. On any given day there could be 50+ concerts happening at 7pm slt. Having so many possible concerts at one time also can hurt attendance. If you eliminate a few shows a week during those “prime times” it can help the community over all.

Second Life "Tribute" Shows

Today I ran across a group notice in Second Life that said:


Sat10th Nov =DURAN DURAN LIVE= 11.00 AM
.☺/ .: ★Ѡℍ◎:  ♫ DURAN DURAN in CONCERT ♫
./▌ .: ★ѠℍΔT: ♫Show ♪ by XXXXXXXX
./ \ .: ★Ѡℍ∈ᴙ∈: ✩XXXXX✩ 11.00 AM
THE POP ROCK GODS OF THE 80'S!  DURAN DURAN
WILL PERFORM LIVE THEIR BEST TUNES in THE DESERT!
AMAZING STAGE, INCREDIBLE LOOK ALIKE AVATARS!
BEST DURAN DURAN IN SL!

(names removed)

I have seen these sort of notices countless times. No where on this notice says that it is a recording being streamed into SL or that it is a "tribute" show. The way this notice is written is made to look like Duran Duran is actually performing live, when in actuality, it is a recording of a live Duran Duran show and there is nothing connecting this to the real Duran Duran.

I'm not a newb in SL, I get what it is and what they are doing and my question is... do they have the licensing to use the real Duran Duran's music and likeness? When I inquired to the owner of the company I was told that it was none of my concern.

I'm sure these people put a lot of time and effort into making avatars, doing lighting and putting on instruments. I've noticed that these shows do get people there and I think there is an entertainment value to them. However, they still need to be held accountable for their advertising and licensing.

This is not a live music performance, they should not be listed in Live Music in SL Events because there is nothing LIVE about the music, they should be stating that it is a "tribute" show.... saying "Duran Duran WILL perform live their best tunes" is false advertising because Duran Duran is not performing, it is only a recording of a Duran Duran performance.

I'm by no means saying these people should not do these "tribute" shows. What I am saying is advertise them as what they really are, make sure you can use the music, name and likeness legally and don't list them as Live Music when they are not.

I do encourage everyone to check out real live performers. There is a huge live music scene in Second Life and they need your support. Some of my favorites include Seth Regan (naturally), Maximillion Kleene, Tamra Hayden, The Follow (a 3 person live band) and many others. Just search the live music category in SL Events and you will find a wide variety of live performers of many genres and skill level. Check out several so you can get a feel for what is available.

My business partner, Seth Regan, also wrote on the subject of "tribute" shows: Seth's Blog

Musicians and Venues Working Together

In an effort to assist live music venues, many of which pay for their overhead out of their own pockets to provide live entertainment, Seth Regan (Mankind Tracer in SL) and I have recently started offering venues something which we believe to be a reasonable solution.

The first idea Seth had was to only have one tip jar for venue and musician. Since the majority of audiences tip the artists considerably more than the venues, Seth offered to automatically split the tips he receives with the venue and remove the venue tip jar completely. This could work to the venues benefit in several ways.

The first benefit of splitting the tips, using only Seth's tip jar, is that at a concert with 60 people or more in attendance (Seth's average draw) it can get very laggy. This way, people only have to find one tip jar.

Another benefit is that there will be less "tip that, tip this" in local chat. This allows people to socialize more with less interruption.

During the week, we approached the venue, Ground Zero, owned by our friends Thea and GMetal, about this idea. They were both very open to trying a something new. We decided to try it out that coming Saturday.

After the concert, we all got together on Skype, discussed the outcome and worked out the numbers. We found that the venue saw a 33% increase in tips. Also, Thea and GMetal reported that several people expressed to them how they enjoyed the lack of "tip reminders" in local chat and it was a much more fun and relaxed show with greater audience interaction.

With this success, Seth and I didn't want to rest on our laurels, so we decided to revisit something we had discussed in the past: Sponsorship.

We then approached long time live music venue owner Liz Harley at Key West, where Seth's next show was scheduled. We asked if she was open to the idea of not only having paying sponsors to reduce the cost she pays Seth as a booking fee, but to also try the tip split as well. After informing her of the success at Ground Zero, Liz was very receptive to trying a new approach.

Seth and I got to work and found three sponsors for that show.

I'm happy to say that this show was also a success! The venue made good tips from the split. Further, the reduced booking fee kept money in her pocket. Liz was very pleased at the outcome, as were the sponsors and the idea of having sponsors was well received by the people attending the show.

We have decided to continue on with this model of splitting tips and getting businesses to sponsor Seth's shows. We are also continuing our brainstorming to try to come up with new ways to help the venues reduce their out of pocket expenses.

While this model may or may not work for every venue and performer, I felt it was worth mentioning to perhaps encourage more ideas but also to just inform that there are different ways to do things.

If you own a business (SL or RL) and would like to discuss sponsoring Seth's shows, please contact me by email brandy@sethregan.com or message in Second Life (Kalli Birman).

Supporting Independent Musicians Or Big Labels?

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.

SL9B Street Fair And Pub Crawl

Second Life's 9th Birthday Party - Street Fair & Pub Crawl: June 19 - June 24.

Since Linden Lab will not be hosting a SL9B event this year and instead have chosen to promote resident's SL9B events....

The Tracer | Birman Agency is coordinating an SL9B Street Fair & Pub Crawl... a 6 day event from June 19th - June 24th.

Over the course of the 6 days, each participating venue will take one day to be the "Featured Venue". Each venue will host 3 hours of live music on their day with three different Live Performers. See each venue for other events happening that day on their sim beyond the official hours of 6-9pm pst.

PERFORMERS SCHEDULE: (ALL TIMES LISTED IN PDT)

June 19 - Club Graffiti

6. Mankind Tracer/Seth Regan “Live on Video” 7. Damian Carbenell 8. Darkshore

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Good%20Day%20Sunshine/141/73/22

____________________________

June 20 - Gwampas Dance Kamp

6. Mandoaa Dragonash 7. Christopher135 Quan 8. AcousticEnergy Nitely

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Gwampa%20Castle/202/138/3015

_____________________________

June 21 - Boom Pony

6. Alex Mays 7. Noma Falta 8. Andreas "Anj" Gustafson

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Amardon%20East/7/170/26

_______________________________

June 22 - Ground Zero 

6. Dragonfly 7. Vodoo Shilton 8. Mulder Watts

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Atlantizz/28/223/21

________________________________

June 23 - Key West 

6. David Csiszer 7. AMForte 8. Edward Kyomoon

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Key%20West%20Island/48/71/22

_______________________________

June 24 - San Diego 3D

6. August Moons 7. August Moons 8. Max Kleene

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/San%20Diego%20City/240/205/33

Thanks to our sponsors: 

Second Friends, Gizza Creations, Island Dreams Realty, [Cynful] Clothing & Co, Angel Manor, Miss Darcy!, Snowpaws, LYRICA, House Of Dragovar, VelvetRythms, Time Lost Land, The Alice Project.

This event is Produced by the Tracer | Birman Agency in cooperation with all participating venues.

We'll see you at The SL9B Street Fair and Pub Crawl!

Brandy Maltas/ Kalli Birman in SL

Seth Regan/ Mankind Tracer in SL

Know Your Venue's Limits!!!

Mankind Tracer / Seth Regan performing at Club Graffiti

As a venue owner and manager I know how many people can be on the sim where my venues are located. However, many new and old venue owners do not understand this and as someone who does know and has worked in the Second Life land industry with Solace Beach Estates for over 3 years now, I feel the need to get the information out there.

There are several different types of land options in SL, including, Mainland, Private Full Prims Sims and Homesteads.

Each type of land has different limits.

Homesteads:

A homestead sim holds the smallest number of people at 20 and there are also less prims available to use. While this may be a great option for a home, it makes a poor option for a venue. Unless it will be just you and a handful of friends, you are going to want land with a higher limit.

Mainland:

Second Life mainland is the huge original continent that SL started with. Mainland is divided into regions that are all connected. Mainland can hold 40 avatars per region. This option can be acceptable for a small club or venue that plans on booking performers with a more limited draw. Keep in mind, mainland can be very laggy and often you cannot get the region restarted on demand. Also, there is no covenant that states what sort of build can be placed on mainland, so you could buy a parcel of land and the next day have a giant toilet rezzed next to your club.

Private Full Prim Sims:

Often a private full prim sim is the best option for a venue. These sims can hold up to 100 avatars but you would need to check with the person you rent from to see what number they have set. Also, if you rent from a "land baron" you can, often times, have sim restarts scheduled to help with any script lag issues. There is also sometimes a covenant that will keep people from putting up eyesores next to your club.

If you are not sure what the land is that you are looking at, check the region/estate menu and it will tell you what sort and what the avatar limit is (called "agent limit").

When shopping for land please keep in mind the avatar limit. If you want to book popular musicians that have a higher audience draw you need to consider a parcel on privately owned full prim sim. Musicians like Mankind/Seth, The Follow, Max Kleene and others normally will bring in more than 40 people. When you limit yourself to a mainland parcel you limit not only the audience size but also potential venue and musician tips as well. Ask yourself would you book Bon Jovi at the corner pub?

Something else to consider when renting land is parcel size. Even if you rent land on a sim that can hold 100 avatars, you need to think about stuffing all those avatars into a building for the concert. Make sure your land will be big enough to have a venue that will comfortably house 60-70 avatars and not feel like you are packed in a sardine can.

Yes, You HAVE To Provide A Stage!

In real life I wouldn't expect a performer to come over in the afternoon and build the stage they are to perform on in the evening, would you?

There are certain things that as a venue owner is expected to provide, for example, a STAGE!!!! Now a stage can be a simple one prim riser with a texture on it, a frying pan with green eggs and ham, a piece of plywood held up by milk crates or a very elaborate set up with stage lights and fog machine. Just something to put a mic stand on and give the artist a place to perform from. It should NOT have to be listed on the confirmation card or in booking info that a musician NEEDS a stage! This stuff is common sense not rocket science.

Another thing that a venue owner is expected to provide is at least some promotion. Including listing the correct date and time and accurate info in SL Events. Sometimes people make mistakes or SL is being buggy... it happens. If an error is made, either by the venue owner or because SL is being buggy, just fix it as soon as it comes to your attention but definitely FIX IT!!!!

If you want to have live music, then promote it. Join groups in SL that you can send notices to about live music. Post in social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Second Friends, Google+, etc. Send notices to your own group... send early notices... get the word out there. Also, send friends conferences to let your friends that love and support you know what you are doing. Do you really want to pay a performer and not do everything you can to promote what is happening at YOUR venue??

Do not use outdated material about the artist. Make sure you have the most up to date bio and promo pictures.  The musician's manager should have provided you with these things ahead of time, however, if you are not sure that what you have is current then just ask. You don't look stupid for asking but you would look stupid using outdated information.

Have I mentioned yet that owning a venue is a business and should be treated as such? Well, I'm saying it now. When you open a venue in Second Life, tips only or paying, it is a BUSINESS!!! If you want your business to succeed you have to have to have a plan. If you have no clue how to manage, promote, plan or any of the very basics, maybe you should reconsider opening a venue right now. Instead, learn how it's done first. Get a job working for a good venue as a host and learn. Take the time to educate yourself.

When considering whether to open a venue or not, you should take a look at how well run venues like Key West, Boom Pony, Ground Zero, The Source, The Rock Store/Whisky a Go Go, Sweet Whispers or others. They have it together!

I could keep going but I think this is enough of a rant for now because I guess it is plain to see how pissed off I am over the events of last night. I know that Seth, my business partner and musician I manage, is also writing on the topic of venues. You should also go read his blog which has more valuable information in it. Link to Seth's Blog HERE.

Through our company, Tracer|Birman Agency,  we also offer training for venue owners and managers. If you get through all the advice written in our blogs and want more advanced information from people who have a combined experience in the SL music industry of over 9 years, please feel free to email us at : results@tracerbirman.com

Can I Make Money Performing In Second Life?

Mankind Tracer/Seth Regan @ The Rose Theatre

I was looking at the stats on my blog and it tells me where the traffic comes from. One thing I noticed was was a key word search about "do live musicians get paid in Second Life". I thought this would make for a good blog post.

The truthful answer to that question is... it depends on a lot of factors.

If you are just coming in to perform to have fun and not worried about money, then this post is not about you.

There are musicians who make money in Second Life (SL)... should you quit your day job and start performing exclusively in SL? ... no, absolutely not. If you are a talented musician, and I will emphasis IF, then you could make some supplemental income by performing in Second Life and expand your fan base to a global audience.

There are some key questions you should ask yourself before considering performing in Second Life as a money making venture:

• Are you talented?

Be realistic, do not listen to your mother, she will likely love anything you do and do not listen to your close friends because they will not always be the most honest either. 

• How much money do you expect to spend and make in SL performing?

There are some costs to getting started performing in SL. You will need clothes, skin, hair, an instrument or hand mic of you don't play an instrument. You will need to rent a stream to broadcast your performance. You will need real life equipment like a good performance grade mic, a mixer and a monitor or headset to be able to hear yourself. 

When you are first starting out performing in SL, you will likely need to play at some tips only venues until you build up a fan base. Just like in real life, no one will pay you unless you can bring an audience with you. So plan to make only tips for the first several months.

• How much time do you plan on spending just learning the ropes?

When you are new to SL you will need to learn things like where to get a tip jar, how to get dressed, how to adjust your equipment, how to create landmarks, how to talk to people locally and privately. If you are lucky you can find a friend or a mentor that will give you a crash course in these things and other basics.

• Do you need management in SL?

Unless you plan to put in hours of leg work getting to know the various ways of promoting yourself with in SL and networking with venue owners, then you need a manager who already knows people and how to promote you. You need someone you can trust with your reputation and someone who is willing to commit to developing your SL career.

What this all boils down to is expect to invest in a Second Life music career like you would a real life music career. There is time and money to consider and if you do and are talented then you can make some supplemental income. Second Life is not a game, it is a 3D social network and you can use it to help build a fan base globally and help sell some CDs as long as you are realistic about it.

If you are interested in performing in Second Life and need some guidance, please feel free to email me. When you email, please include you tube links so I can get a feel for your music, a phone number or skype name and any other info you wish to include: brandy@maltasmanagement.com

Ladies of SL Music: CoMa & SweetLilly

"Spirit"

This weekend I had the pleasure of listening to two great ladies perform. Each one with their own distinct style and appeal.

The first show I saw was Saturday at Claudia222 Jewell's Art Screamer sim for her new immersive exhibit "Spirit" was CoMa, also known in SL as ColeMarie Soleil. I highly recommend taking a walk around this sim!

CoMa in SL

CoMa sat on a platform and delighted us with an hour of haunting melody and hypnotic voice on this amazing art installation.

Her voice will take you to an etherial place where fairies play and you get lost in the moment. You can check out some of her music on Facebook HERE.

SweetLilly Pinelli

This morning I went to see SweetLilly Pinelli performing at the San Diego 3D sim owned by Solace Beach Estates. She was following Max Kleene, whom I have previous written about. Unfortunately there were so many people there that the sim crashed, but the show was quickly moved to the main Solace Beach stage.

Lilly performed acoustic guitar and performs originals and popular covers. The thing that always comes across about Lilly is that she really is a genuinely sweet person. Her southern charm and charisma will draw you in and take hold, captivating you and bringing you back time after time. Check out Lilly on You Tube HERE.