So I went over to see a Electric Sheep organised event today for Shockwaves. They have set up some kind of gridwide treature hunt, all tied in with waterballoon throwing – a direct experiential link to the TV advertising I presume. It was a fun event and the crowd of avatars seemed to be interacting well with it.

However when I was there I had an enlightening but short discussion with a resident called Legend Davis :

[11:41] Dizzy Banjo: is there supposed to be a musical element to this event ?
[11:44] Legend Davis: I have my own music on
[11:45] Dizzy Banjo: interesting you have your own on legend..
[11:45] You: do you often just ignore the landstream music and play your own legend ? [11:46] legend Davis: Yes, lol have a problem with that?
[11:46] You: no I’m interested
[11:46] legend Davis: xD

Just like websites with music, the ability to turn music on and off has obvious benefits and drawbacks for people attempting to communicate brand messages through audio. Later I spoke to the event producer Jane Calvert from Electric Sheep Company briefly about the possibilities of using music in virtual worlds as part of this communication of message. She said “Yes, there have been many developments with music and voice for SL in the past year. It is exciting.”

I’d like to get some figures on how many users actually engage the landstream apart from for specific events / concerts etc.. I wonder if metrics for that are available ?