About (virtual) money...

Unlike my RL, in SL I am pretty well to do... I never have to scramble to pay my rent and buy 500/1000 L$ outfits on a whim. If I did that in the real world, well lets just say I'd be walking everywhere... As long as I have a good internet connection, I can run a pretty successful business playing music (some call that DJ-ing) and it actually pays my bills. Now, mind you, even the biggest house in SL costs less than a case of beer RL.

I just teleported away from a very dissatisfying negotiation about a fee for doing a two hour gig. Mostly I play music in SL for fun... Having said that, there is cost associated with doing so, not to mention the time involvement. I ask a minimum of 500 L$ for two hours. In the real world, that doesn't even buy me a pack of cigarettes. If Walmart could get away with paying their cashiers like that the American economy would be even worse than it is now!

Still there are club owners in SL not willing to commit to beer money. I just had a conversation with one... Their argument is that they provide me a venue to perform at and access to their "clientele". I am putting the word clientele in quote marks here, because the notion is ludicrous!

Let's face it... What is a club in SL? It's a place for people to talk to other people. So it' a chat room? No wait this chat room has decor! Ah! It's a chat room while staring at a painting? Close, but... They play music in a club! So it's a chat room while staring at a painting amidst listening to the radio? BINGO!! In an SL club you can't even get drunk! Now don't get me wrong, the social aspect of these clubs is priceless. But having me spend two hours out of my day to entertain your guests without compensation, sorry that's not flying with me. Why not you ask? Let me explain!

As I said, your club is nothing but a chat room. A chat room with trees, but still... Are your guests really your guests, or are they there because you are throwing on an event? One that I am at the epicenter of. I can easily argue that most clubs are utterly and completely dead until a performer shows up. Go to any club, do it right now, where no performer is scheduled and tell me what you find... So is the club in business because I am there? Or am I in business because the club is there??

Like George Carlin said "A house is place to put your stuff while you are out looking for more stuff". If you own a club, and you keep paying the rent (or the tier, as the case may be) that club will remain. What you own is a building. A virtual one at that! People will not come to your shack unless you do something special. That something special is me...

Your patrons are there to see/hear the show, not to stand around in a nicely feng shui-ed virtual hangar. So having those patrons pay the performer... NO!!

If you tell me that most performers make 750 (plus) Lindens in tips and I ask you to back that up by a guarantee... Ask you to pay the difference if your "clientele" somehow do not tip me as expected... If you are unwilling to do so, all I can say is... You are bluffing! In other parts of the world we call that "liar liar pants on fire". All you have to do as a club owner is, put me on your calendar and maybe advertise me on the SL event list, a time investment of all but 15 minutes. On the other hand I am expected to entertain your chat room buddies for 2 (plus) hours.

Bottom line: You don't pay, I don't play!