Business Communicators of Second Life®

Sony BMG Jumping into Second Life

As part of its search for new revenue streams in an industry that has frequently failed to keep pace with its customers, Sony BMG has purchased an island in Second Life.  Sony plans to hold concerts in Second Life, and presumably to facilitate shared music experiences.

Financial Times Deutschland reports that Sony BMG Europe is getting serious in its search for new market strategies and Second Life is just one in a series of moves into new venues and perhaps toward new models.

The addition of the capability to stream music in Second Life was largely responsible for the explosion in its now-robust social scene, but the number of avatars able to occupy a simulation is a technical hurdle that currently limits SL as a mass experience medium.

However, the possibilities of new licensing/purchasing models is intriguing. Music attached to our in-world objects and islands and animations and events.  Indeed, your very presence (avatar) in Second Life may be music. We use it as a device already in movies and radio to communicate “presence” – why not in SL?  The ringtones we attach to our RL cell phones act as a form of self-expression.

Our music – whether we create it or experience it - is an expression of ourselves   It is logical that we take it into our virtual spaces, as well, and shape it to ourselves.  It will be interesting to see if Sony, EMI and the others that will follow them into Second Life will let us play with the music there.

Photo credit: Argus Collingwood 

October 2, 2006

BBC’s Breakfast Looks at the Future of the Internet – Available Online

BBC’s early morning show, Breakfast, did a three-part report last week, Where for the web?, looking at the future of media – specifically, the web, music, and television. 

They profile Second Life in the first report as a representation of the future of the web – which they predict will become an immersive, “3-D” environment.  The fragmentation of television audiences and the “socialization” of music are themes from the other reports.

Catch these short reports on the BBC website.  The video reports range from 1.5 minutes to 4.5 minutes.

Popular Science and Creative Commons in Concert with Second Life

Popular Science is sponsoring the Creative Commons Concert in Second Life on September 14 at 5:00 p.m. (SLT/PDT).  Actually Popular Science Magazine is teaming up with Creative Commons on a series of tech-oriented cultural events designed to promote the Creative Commons mission.  There are several interesting things about this – not the least of which is that they are “walking the CC walk” with this event.

According to the event announcement on the Creative Commons wiki,

“PopSci.com editor Megan Miller says, 'We're in the midst of an information revolution, and the editors of PopSci are excited about the possibilities for digitally sharing ideas through open-source software, wikis, and alternatively licensed creative works—that's why we're proud to support Creative Commons.' "

If you are not familiar with the Creative Commons license, it allows for a “some rights reserved” copyright.  In other words, it allows you to keep your copyright, while still allowing others to share your work.  It’s the modern approach to the copyrighting of intellectual property.

True to the CC form, anyone has the right to record, copy, distribute, and play audio and video of the concert.  The concert will feature popular in-world musicians and will be simulcast in 4 in-world sims; available via Internet radio; will be streamed on the web, and is available for anyone to stream into their own SL land.  Sometime after the event, there will be a Second Life show of the best Creative Commons licensed photos, recordings and machinima of the event (prizes will be awarded).  To participate in the contest you just upload to Flickr and tag them appropriately, or add them to the Second Life group – and of course add your CC license. 

By the way, Jonathan Coulter, who is a featured performer at this event, is also the host of the Now Hear This Popular Science podcast, so I’m guessing a podcast of the Second Life event may be available as well.

Another  “interesting” aspect of this is that Popular Science has roots in the print tradition – which holds tightly onto the “all rights reserved” mentality – indeed it is printed right there on their web site for all to see.

But, the PopSci online tag line is “delivering the future every day” so could that mean a print publication publishing under a Creative Commons license is in our future??

Wired has sponsored this event in the past but their web site and blogs still bear the standard “all rights reserved” copyright.

The concert will be held in-world on Menorca.

Photo credit:  Zenigma Suntzu's Flickr photos

Duran Duran Band Goes One-Up on Social Networks - Marketing in Second Life

The BBC reported this morning – and according to the press release on their site - Duran Duran announced today they will be creating a “virtual universe” in Second Life.  The band members have commissioned Rivers Run Red to build the space and custom avatars and “in a few weeks” the band will be holding a live in-world concert.

Not coincidently, Duran Duran is also in the middle of recording their newest album. 

Justin Bovington, the creative director at Rivers Run Red is quoted in the press release as saying:

“This heralds a new era in how branded content is being developed. For the first time a major international band is using a virtual world as a branded, immersive experience. We're working directly with the band members to ensure fans get the ultimate Duran Duran experience.”

This is a logical step from marketing in social networks, in which bands are very active.  In fact, this type of marketing may leapfrog the more “traditional” social networks (can I even say that yet??) for many organizations.  It seems communicators and marketers have a hard time getting their heads around how to engage in social networking – but a virtual world - that is one they grasp immediately.  Learning the culture of Second Life (and other virtual worlds) and living by it is going to be the harder part. 

More on this in an upcoming post – but I'd say we have much to discuss in our mid-August SL Business Communicators meeting. Join our group in Second Life, and/or stay tuned to this blog and join in.

Any thoughts on this?