User:Zakclaxton/Sandbox

The Second Life Music Community (SLMC) is the association of live musicians, DJs, venue owners, and SL residents who help support Second Life's live music performances.

SLMC membership is open free of charge to all people who help create and support the Second Life music scene. Since 2004, when the first live music performances were held in Second Life, the handful of musicians who adopted the cutting-edge audio streaming technologies required for Second Life performance began to congregate as a community, sharing ideas and technical assistance with each other. As the number of Second Life residents grew (from under 100,000 at the beginning of 2006 to over 1,000,000 on October 18 of that year), the number of new musicians and their fans grew accordingly. While a myriad of independent groups in Second Life formed (often founded by the musicians themselves, to act as fan clubs to notify their audiences of upcoming shows), in 2006 two in-world groups grew to encompass the community of musicians and their fans: the Independent Musician Group (IMG) and the Live Music Enthusiasts (LME) group. Combined with other groups that serve specific musicians and genre-based groups, over 3,000 Second Life residents are part of the SL music community.

At the beginning of 2008, 193 musicians were performing in Second Life on a regular basis, with new musicians joining every day. To help facilitate a centralized communication point for Second Life's music community, the SLMC forums were founded in September 2007. The SLMC forums are moderated by a group of experienced Second Life musicians and venue owners. As of early 2008, the SLMC forums are composed of 38 individual forums that cover a wide range of topics related to music in Second Life. Individual forums include support topics (both for Second Life as well as music and audio-related technical issues), event announcements, music venue discussions, and many other categories.

The future of live music performance?
The Second Life Music Community is significant due to the potential impact of Second Life and other Internet-based virtual environments on the future trends in live music performance in general. While audiences have diminished at traditional live music venues, a great interest in Internet-based performance has arisen. It has been identified as a main drawing point for Second Life itself, with live music events being promoted on the main page of the Second Life website. With a myriad of different musical genres, all being performed live and accessible with the relatively high quality of current streamed Internet radio (typically 128 kbps/stereo), Second Life residents are able to enjoy the entertainment of live music performance without leaving the comfort and safety of their homes.