The Significance of Music in Second Life

The Significance of Music in Second Life. Music is a binding factor in Second Life – if you want to know where large groups of people gather and interact, follow your ears. Venues providing audio streams and (usually) event-scheduled parties attract a lot of the traffic in SL, much like the recreated cities discussed here.

But, whereas venues themed as real life places attract residents due to being ‘familiar’ to them, music venues are popular for different reasons. The Evolving Web blog has a great post about the importance of shared music experiences in Second Life.

The article charts the evolution of music online leading to more private experiences (based on the iPod generation) and the emerging shift to enjoying music with others online – Second Life being a great example of this.

Extract:

Most recently, virtual world environments such as Second Life have introduced a significant new development, creating a virtual 3d space in which groups of fans can listen to and experience music together in real-time. Of course virtual reality tech like this has been around since the early 90s, but the last couple years mark the first time that they have been easily accessible by a large simultaneous user base.

We anticipate that virtual world technologies are likely to have a major impact on the world of music in the near future. We will focus on Second Life here as it currently has the most sophisticated in-world music scene.

Full article here.