The Pirate DJ Treaty of Bellisseria

[Devin Heartsong]

So far all known DJs in Bellisseria are signed on to this treaty, and we're all happy to welcome new DJs and moar music to our beautiful Bellisseria. Woot!

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First, the current list of Pirate DJs and their regular and on-going weekly timeslots! 

These event times are also in the Events Calendar at bellisseriahappenings.com and also in The Bellisserian newspaper. Check these locations and also watch for group notices in the Bellisseria Events group to learn where, exactly their show takes place each time. Many of us pop around to different parcels or public locations each week!

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Doc Rast - Sundays from 10am-2pm SLT
Sophia Day - Thursdays from noon-1:30 SLT
FAR Dharma - Thursdays from 1:30pm-3pm SLT
Scottish Sarah - Saturdays from 10am-noon SLT
Baphy - Saturdays from noon-2pm SLT
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DJ Usagi - Random days and times
North Crannock - Random days and times
Claw D'Arcy Streeter - Random days and times
Keland - Random days and times
ElissaStar - Random days and times

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If you're a new Bellisseria resident and you want to be a Pirate DJ, reach out to Baphy (fushchou.mfume)  or Kaos (kitten.kaos) and we'll help you get added to the event calendar!

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Next, the treaty itself!

Ahoy ye Bellisseria community residents who also be DJs! Here be a loose "treaty" and honor code that has arisen to help stave off the bloodthirsty duels and fierce broadside fusilades that can occur in a club-free land of freedom and party-hungry residents such as our fair Bellisseria! 

We pirate DJs are a free-spirited lot, but we are not without honor, and we abide the spirit of voluntary cooperation that permates all of Bellisseria! We be hoping that all Pirate DJs will abide a few simple points of honor for sharing the love and attention of our fellow Bellisserians! And also for abiding the strange covenant of the land, so that the Royal Navy does not decide we are pests that must be removed from these fair seas and shores.

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"The Pirate DJ Treaty of Bellisseria"
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Be it known that Bellisseria is a land apart from the rest of SL. The community spirit is strong, and there are no commercial clubs or commercial endeavors allowed by the Linden Covenant. The incentive to DJ in Bellisseria is akin to throwing a block party for one's neighborhood. Some people bring food dishes. Some people bring drinks. Some people set up the picnic tables and the barbeque pits. And there's always that one person in the neighborhood who brings the speakers and the turntables and provides the music. For FREE. Just to entertain friends and neighbors and help the community spirit thrive.

The "Pirate DJs of Bellisseria" are a cooperative "guild" of resident DJs who operate in this community spirit. We don't ask for tips nor put out tip jars. Not even on our own private parcels. We play only to bring joy and to liven up a party or event--or to create a spontaneous party out of thin air! We play because we are citizens of Bellisseria and want to help make Bellisseria a fun and friendly place for everyone.

When throwing a party or casually spinning on your own parcel or playing at a large vent, guild members also work to promote awareness of the Guild and of the other DJs in the guild. We do so by mentioning the guild's name and the names of all the member DJs at least once during a show. We also mention our commitment to "no tips; just love" at least once per show. And when approached by event organizers, we mention that other great DJs in the guild are potentially available too, and would the event like for several of us to provide music over a longer total duration? 

We recognize that Bellisseria is an ever-growing land, with new residents appearing every week. Among these new residents will constantly appear NEW DJs who want to join in the local community-oriented DJ scene. Who will want the existing DJs to fairly share both specific community areas such as the Pickle beaches and Fairgrounds, and also to fairly share the more desirable time slots. Because we are driven by a spirit of sharing and cooperation, we do not believe in an "I was here first, so this is MY spot" mindset. Instead, we believe in a fair and equitable sharing of the more desirable time slots for local DJ parties and events around Bellisseria. Such sharing is managed in an extremely simple way as follows:

1. A publicly-posted schedule of regular, on-going timeslots and locations is available in several places: A) The Bellisseria discord server, in a pinned post in the #pirate-djs-of-bellisseria channel. B) In a static page of the bellisserahappenings.com site. C) In every single issue of The Daily Bellisserian newspaper, in the Events section. And D) In a running forum post in the Land section of the Second Life forums. All four of these locations will be managed by Baphy and Kaos and the schedule is identical in all four places.

2. The posted schedule comprises ONLY the regular, ongoing timeslots for each active Pirate DJ in the guild.

3. If any guild member wants to throw a spontaneous last-minute party or spin session OUTSIDE of these scheduled timeslots, they may do so with no notice to the rest of the guild members.

4. Every guild member must maintain awareness of the currently posted schedule and must NOT schedule a party, unilaterally agree to perform at a special event, or throw a spontaneous last-minute party during ANY other member's regular, ongoing timeslot. In the case of requests to DJ for a special event (by some Bellisseria event promoter for a special event such as Julyfest, Pride, etc.), you MUST first check with the guild member whose regular, ongoing timeslot would be impacted, and either negotiate to somehow share the special event DJ performance, or else work with the event promoter to find a different timeslot that will not adversely impact the other guild member's regular, ongoing timeslot.

5. Should a NEW DJ appear and want to become known as a community-oriented member of the guild, they can choose to join the guild and observe its honor code in good faith. Doing so enables the newcomer to negotiate with the existing guild members for the newcomer's desired regular, ongoing time slot (and typical locations). If the time slot they desire overlaps with an already-occupied time slot, then the guild meets to agree upon a simple method for SHARING the overlap, and the updated schedule is posted to all the outlets listed in point #1 above.  The two possible ways to SHARE the overlap are simple:

Option One - SPLIT - The current DJ(s) and the new DJ can slice up the timeslot and treat it as a duo (or trio) act. For example, instead of the "DJ Baphy show" from noon to 2pm SLT every Saturday, it can become the "DJ Baphy and DJ Krew show" from noon to 2pm SLT every Saturday, with Baphy taking one of those hours and Krew taking the other hour. (or noon to 3pm, with each taking a 1.5 hour slot, etc.) The two DJs can arrange between themselves how to trade off a parcel stream or just use Doc's technology to swap from Baphy's parcel stream to Krew's URL stream, etc.

Option Two - ALTERNATE - The current DJ(s) and the new DJ can agree to alternate who plays in the timeslot every week. For example, one week it's Baphy's slot, and the next week it's Krew's slot, and they keep alternating like this.

6. A similar type of negotiation occurs when any of the EXISTING DJs desire to change their preferred timeslot, for any reason.

Edited July 6, 2019 by Fushichou Mfume

[Beth Macbain]

Question about this... were all the DJs at Julyfest today part of this group, because I understand one rezzed a tip jar out and collected quite a tidy little sum of money. 

If there was an exception made to the covenant for the event, that's fine... I think. Maybe. Maybe not. Regardless, I think some clarification would be good. 

[Kat Shadow]

Oh Bah. Nope- not one of ours, I don't think. I wasn't there all day, but I know there were DJs from outside the Pirate DJs of Belli  who played. Whether that particular DJ knows about the covenant rules or not, I genuinely do not know. But I know this faux pas is itself a very good reason to try and bring Bellisseria's DJs into this treaty, to set *up front* before we have 30 DJs competing and flaunting the rules,  how instead, we can all reinforce and amplify not just the covenant, but methods for sharing time slots/ spaces fairly without making people have to choose which parties to miss too often; all while building resources, encouraging each other and signal boosting to party goers about our collective DJ scene. Heck- we may even end up doing a Bellisseria Festival - back to back DJs, all playing simply for love of getting people dancing. NOT TIPS.

I've been picking Baphy's brain & encouraging her to write this up for *exactly* this reason. Her having RL grounding in the producer collective she's a member of has really helped in this regard, so let's just try to stay on top of things going forward since we want to show the Lindens that we can self manage community party space without requiring too much policing from them, unless it's absolutely necessary.

Edited July 7, 2019 by Kitten Kaos

[Beth Macbain]

I'm very glad to know this person wasn't part of the group.

My question now would be for the event organizers about why this wasn't discussed when he was booked. 

[Jaylinbridges]

Guess we need some clarification about what sort of money making businesses are allowed on Bellisseria  and where.  Can I set up a lucrative Mesh body shop at the fairgrounds now?  This DJ was still going when I left - not a bad take for a 2 hr set:

 

[Alwin Alcott]

4 minutes ago, Jaylinbridges said:

Guess we need some clarification about what sort of money making businesses are allowed on Bellisseria

none

4 minutes ago, Jaylinbridges said:

 where

nowhere

 

5 minutes ago, Jaylinbridges said:

 Can I set up a lucrative Mesh body shop

no
 

[Jaylinbridges]

Of course I was asking my leading questions in jest, since I know what the rules WERE!  But what are they NOW?  I hope a Linden can respond to this apparent violation of the Belli Covenant, or maybe the fairgrounds is a commercial area now?

 Trap, dubstep, moombathon, and techno mixing is not my kind of "music", but the Belli crowd there must have liked it.

 

 

Edited July 7, 2019 by Jaylinbridges
Changed TOS to Covenant, to satisfy nitpickers :)

[Wanda6]

Very ugly. Thank God i overslept it.

[Alwin Alcott]

37 minutes ago, Jaylinbridges said:

I hope a Linden can respond to this apparent violation of the Belli TOS.

you did not ask a linden but putted it on the forum, so everybody can answer to it.
If you think it's a violation of TOS, ( Belliseria only has a covenant) AR the person.

[s2Pandora]

I hope the Lindens take from him what is shown as his earnings at least in that screenshot, as he did break covenant.

Him not knowing is one thing, but you know darn well there were plenty of people there who knew.. also if he was part of a booking, he should of been told.

Which makes me wonder if he indeed wasn't and now knows where to go for quick tips.

 

Do. not. tip. jars. in. Bellisseria. people. If somebody has one out, IGNORE IT. They are not allowed.

[SerraWeckerly]

I don't believe he was the only one...someone check me on this please?

[Kat Shadow]

Did anyone reach out to the DJs apparently violating covenant and point them at @Patch Linden 's clarifications here on the forums?

Edited July 7, 2019 by Kitten Kaos

[Devin Heartsong]

I'll point out that the two early DJs who are part of the treaty in the OP above did not put out tip jars. I had to leave after Scottish Sarah's set, so I have no idea what happened after that. Being a very long day, it's entirely possible that key organizers who understand the DJ situation in Belli simply weren't there when this happened to prevent this.

This whole situation with tips, plus a couple other (very tiny) frictions I've seen over the past two months, is EXACTLY what prompted the treaty. There are no private clubs in Bellisseria, and therefore no private club owners who can make and enforce any decisions about scheduling, tips, conduct, etc. Everyone in Second Life is used to 15 years of club culture on mainland and estates, and might still be uncertain whether guest DJs from outside Belli must obey covenant rules or not. So I'd counsel cutting everyone involved some slack and not brigading them. Let's use this as an example to move forward in positive community spirit with all of us having a better understanding of DJ behavior that agrees with covenant guidelines (and with the "community spirit" that has burgeoned in Bellisseria).

The treaty above is an example of community self-organization, so that we resident DJs can stay out in front of issues like this and be one less headache that the Lindens have to worry about. The treaty is designed to prevent a "tragedy of the commons" situation here in Belli.

Of course, even resident DJs are free to NOT join the "Pirate DJs" guild, and to instead go it alone and make their own decisions. And to NOT try to work with other resident DJs to avoid schedule overlaps that needlessly cause Belli residents to choose favorites.

The more the broad Bellisseria community supports this treaty, the fewer frictions and factions (and violations of covenant) will arise. But the advantage of being in the "Pirate DJ" guild is a multiplier effect of supporting each other, spreading word of each other, and being a community together. As someone who is part of a producer cooperative in RL, I've seen how beneficial this type of mutual coordination and support can be. A cooperative has a larger footprint and reach than a lone individual.

Edited July 7, 2019 by Fushichou Mfume

[Kat Shadow]

20 minutes ago, Fushichou Mfume said:

There are no private clubs in Bellisseria, and therefore no private club owners who can make and enforce any decisions about scheduling, tips, conduct, etc. Everyone in Second Life is used to 15 years of club culture on mainland and estates, and might still be uncertain whether guest DJs from outside Belli must obey covenant rules or not. So I'd counsel cutting everyone involved some slack and not brigading them. Let's use this as an example to move forward in positive community spirit with all of us having a better understanding of DJ behavior that agrees with covenant guidelines.

Great point, this should be less about punishing the "bads" and way more about establishing our own social covenants now before the flood of new residents to preserve the "one big community that shares & supports each other" spirit that has made us all glad we came down from our skyboxes.  Keeping the gemutlichkeit going thru establishing mores and norms rather than calling on Lindens to break up fights (except as a last resort) is the way to go.

Edited July 7, 2019 by Kitten Kaos

[Kat Shadow]

And I want to be clear that I don't think tipping & clubs are a bad scene (heck, Baphy & I even used to be club owners, back in the day); they are just better suited to mainland & estates. Bellisseria is for parties- different rules & roles here.

[Sylvia Tamalyn]

It seems to me that the question would be for the person(s) who booked the DJs for the event: did they make the DJs aware about the "no tipping" rule? If not, then the DJs did nothing wrong IMO. Going forward, more care should be taken when bringing in DJs to make sure that they know and agree not to rez a tip jar. 

[hawksea80]

Hi Scottish Sarah here,

I absolutely did not rezz a tip jar. I viewed DJing yesterday as a priviledge and honour. Every single Linden which was tipped to me was then donated to a mental health sim. I do DJ in SL and do make Lindens from it but yesterday was absolutely in no way about me making money. It was about being part of a warm, lovely, welcoming, open community. I am part of the Belli Djs and again will never be rezzing a tip jar there . I DJ in Belli as part of the community. My DJ "job" is completely separate.

Also the mental health discussions and events I will be running in Belli will not be there to make lindens and are simply a way to give back to a community which has been wonderful and made me cry happy tears all weekend.

Sarah

[Mollymews]

13 minutes ago, Sylvia Tamalyn said:

It seems to me that the question would be for the person(s) who booked the DJs for the event: did they make the DJs aware about the "no tipping" rule? If not, then the DJs did nothing wrong IMO. Going forward, more care should be taken when bringing in DJs to make sure that they know and agree not to rez a tip jar. 

it is definitely on the organisers, yes

the organisers must have someone present at all times to ensure that these events are run according to the rules.  If they can't do this then Linden will have no option but to not allow resident organised events

[kiramanell]

I'm just going to put my unpopular opinion here, and say that I don't find tipping very offensive. I'm not even sure it truly constitutes 'commercial activity' -- at least not in the spirit of the law. Tipping a Dj, to me, is just one notch above right-clicking on a profile, and selecting 'Pay Resident.'

Also, tips aren't mandatory, so, like I said, I'm not even sure it's really commerce (in the sense of paying for services rendered, and NOT getting the service if you didn't pay). I see tips more as a token of appreciation, rather than a business transaction. But that's just me.

If tipping is truly verboten, then far be it from me to encourage ppl to go against the Covenant. In that case, though, I still reserve the right to right-click on a Profile, and pay a Dj some, when I wish to express my gratitude.

[hawksea80]

• Just to be fair to the organisers they worked their absolute socks off as volunteers so I dont think its fair to blame them. It is good this happened though so future events can absolutely be clarified.

[Mollymews]

5 minutes ago, kiramanell said:

I still reserve the right to right-click on a Profile, and pay a Dj some, when I wish to express my gratitude.

this is perfectly fine to do

is just that tip jars are specifically not allowed in Bellaserria. A DJ or a member of their crew would also probably get in trouble if texting for tips directly

[s2Pandora]

9 minutes ago, kiramanell said:

I'm just going to put my unpopular opinion here, and say that I don't find tipping very offensive. I'm not even sure it truly constitutes 'commercial activity' -- at least not in the spirit of the law. Tipping a Dj, to me, is just one notch above right-clicking on a profile, and selecting 'Pay Resident.'

Also, tips aren't mandatory, so, like I said, I'm not even sure it's really commerce (in the sense of paying for services rendered, and NOT getting the service if you didn't pay). I see tips more as a token of appreciation, rather than a business transaction. But that's just me.

If tipping is truly verboten, then far be it from me to encourage ppl to go against the Covenant. In that case, though, I still reserve the right to right-click on a Profile, and pay a Dj some, when I wish to express my gratitude.

The difference in a private tip and a tip jar is the tip jar advertises "hey, give me money". I have heard of people being privately tipped for things around Bellisseria and it doesn't bother me. Tip jars there bother me.

[Mollymews]

1 minute ago, hawksea80 said:

• Just to be fair to the organisers they worked their absolute socks off as volunteers so I dont think its fair to blame them. It is good this happened though so future events can absolutely be clarified.

we had a chat a few days ago on here about Patch Linden musing at SL16B bout some kinda new resident Mentor role for Bellissaria to help manage these things. Residents who should get paid in my opinion . Probably be a good idea to remind him about the need for this. Given that whenever things like this go sideways then we go: but but we just volunteers!

 

[kiramanell]

9 minutes ago, Mollymews said:

this is perfectly fine to do

is just that tip jars are specifically not allowed in Bellaserria. A DJ or a member of their crew would also probably get in trouble if texting for tips directly

 

You're right about that: a tip-jar is advertising. And 'texting for tips' is something I never like anyway.  And it's really asking for money.

[hawksea80]

Molly mentors have always been unpaid. Way way way back in the day I was a mentor and I did it because I love the community, like we all did. I've been around SL for 12 years plus and I do agree mentors would be great to come back just not sure if we should be paid for volunteering. But lessons are always learned and i'll just continue to do what I love to do. Play music and make friends!