Motown: LL's Partnership with Capital Music, and the New User Experience

[Luna Bliss]

13 minutes ago, Rowan Amore said:

Wasn't really responding to anything else you said.  I just wanted to save that particular part for posterity.

I'm not sure why you're laughing at all my posts and making rude comments on them at times too, but it seems you consider me an enemy now.

Please IM me and let's take it up there -- this is what we're supposed to do on the forum now.

[Dana Enyo]

1 hour ago, Quartz Mole said:

Whether or not the the Motown radio HUD or the Motown Styngs* are available in a particular country is determined not by Linden Lab but by Styngr, the company which licences the Styngs and which has agreements and licencing with Motown that determine the countries to which the tracks may be streamed.

The music is streamed from Styngr's servers, not those of Linden Lab (which is why we have to use shared media).  Styngr's servers will not stream the tracks unless the IP address to which they're being streamed is on a list of countries to which Styngr is licenced to stream them.

Linden Lab is not involved in this.

 *Styngs are gesture-like sound clips, licenced by Motown, delivered by shared media, with custom animations.

Hi Quartz!  Yes, I understand.  But LL decided that's OK, a tradeoff to get the whole contract with Styngr.  I just think that's really unfortunate.

[Love Zhaoying]

14 minutes ago, Dana Enyo said:

1 hour ago, Love Zhaoying said:

This is interesting! Were the "Styngs" available in-world? I missed it!

 

Yes, L$1250 in the Motown Store, but ONLY if you're in the US or Canada (it says on the vendors but not on the signs out in the parking lot.)

Quartz Mole posted photos. It was nice to see from the photo, that "Styng" purchase proceeds go to the Artists.  (The "Artists" are much more important than "Motown". In my not humble opinion.)

[Love Zhaoying]

23 minutes ago, Dana Enyo said:

To be clear, I'm a HUGE fan of Linden Labs and SL!  This whole thread is about this project being the best it can be!

That's good, I see so many complaints from different people, it's hard to tell 🙂

[Rolig Loon]

12 minutes ago, Dana Enyo said:

But LL decided that's OK, a tradeoff to get the whole contract with Styngr. 

That's the way of the world, compromise.  "Do you want a piece of the pie or no pie at all?"  The answer depends on what kind of pie it is and how badly you want it, or so I learned as a child.

[Love Zhaoying]

1 minute ago, Rolig Loon said:

That's the way of the world, compromise.  "Do you want a piece of the pie or no pie at all?"  The answer depends on what kind of pie it is and how badly you want it, or so I learned as a child.

It depends on the pie, if you know this meme!

 

[Dana Enyo]

By the way, assuming for the moment that this build did have to happen in a hurry and that it's not cast in stone, I'd be happy to help if I can. I'm NOT a builder but I can do research, find photos, adapt them to textures, and in general help make that entry portal say "Welcome to Motown! " (Not just the label, the CITY.)  For free of course, it would be a pleasure and an honor. (And I'm sure I'm not alone.)

[Love Zhaoying]

Weighing in on the "controversy":

- If the company "Motown" is a sponsor (or whatever we call it), of COURSE they have a right to make sure their IP and image are presented the way they want.

- However, I think it is a shame if possibly the "better / existing / homage to" Motown SL presence was "scrubbed" before the SLB20.  This IP "review" was probably done by some "third party" (not Motown). It would have made more sense, if the Motown company were given a chance to see the "homage" ahead of time.  

- Even if the Motown company LOVED the "homage", keeping it could have caused confusion without certain notices, etc. being added to the homage builds.  

- If the Motown company had chosen to "include the homage" in their SLB20 presence, that would have been ideal.  Yep! Wonderful. Too bad. (But again, I strongly assume the decisions weren't made by people who care about such things. Such is life.)

- Sure, it's "too bad" but, IP is IP. Don't protect your IP rights, and good luck if something should come up where you wish you did.

The fact some people (SORRY) seem to be justly or unjustly upset about it is also, a shame.  I certainly hope we don't see a lot more posts about it.  Or separate threads about it.

There, I feel better. 

Have a nice day.

 

[Dana Enyo]

19 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

Weighing in on the "controversy":

- If the company "Motown" is a sponsor (or whatever we call it), of COURSE they have a right to make sure their IP and image are presented the way they want.

- However, I think it is a shame if possibly the "better / existing / homage to" Motown SL presence was "scrubbed" before the SLB20.  This IP "review" was probably done by some "third party" (not Motown). It would have made more sense, if the Motown company were given a chance to see the "homage" ahead of time.  

- Even if the Motown company LOVED the "homage", keeping it could have caused confusion without certain notices, etc. being added to the homage builds.  

- If the Motown company had chosen to "include the homage" in their SLB20 presence, that would have been ideal.  Yep! Wonderful. Too bad. (But again, I strongly assume the decisions weren't made by people who care about such things. Such is life.)

- Sure, it's "too bad" but, IP is IP. Don't protect your IP rights, and good luck if something should come up where you wish you did.

The fact some people (SORRY) seem to be justly or unjustly upset about it is also, a shame.  I certainly hope we don't see a lot more posts about it.  Or separate threads about it.

There, I feel better. 

Have a nice day.

 

Just to be clear: the "homage" had nothing to do with SL20B; the Hitsville USA (original Motown studio) reproduction/museum is the Detroit City! sim that's been around for 10 years.  The "remove the objects" letter happened the day (or day after) the Motown sim opened.  

[Abnor Mole]

I suppose I could have made it more authentic if I'd made the pizzas on the "Generic Pizza" signs square.

[Love Zhaoying]

9 minutes ago, Abnor Mole said:

I suppose I could have made it more authentic if I'd made the pizzas on the "Generic Pizza" signs square.

Pineapple and ham on mine, please!

[Luna Bliss]

I heard of a New York Pizza style but was always afraid to try it. Is there a Detroit style as well?  ;0

[Abnor Mole]

1 minute ago, Luna Bliss said:

I heard of a New York Pizza style but was always afraid to try it. Is there a Detroit style as well?  ;0

Yes, yes there is. Detroit style pizza is square, baked in a pan. The legend is it started when autoworkers would make pizza in square pans meant for holding parts they'd nicked from work.

[Dana Enyo]

6 minutes ago, Luna Bliss said:

I heard of a New York Pizza style but was always afraid to try it. Is there a Detroit style 

Darn good answer, that!

Edited June 27, 2023 by Dana Enyo

[Luna Bliss]

I'm glad everyone knows so much about pizza on this thread.  Hare in the wheat fields an cattle cuntry whare I currently live we just eat beef N taters!!!     

[Dana Enyo]

12 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

Pineapple and ham on mine, please!

Although I don't think I ever had a square pizza in Detroit until Little Ceasars started making them much later.  Sounds like the idea spread!  (You get a lot more pizza in the same size box.)

[Dana Enyo]

21 minutes ago, Dana Enyo said:

Darn good answer, that!

Go to the source of all knowledge:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detroit-style_pizza

[Jaylinbridges]

8 hours ago, Abnor Mole said:

I suppose I could have made it more authentic if I'd made the pizzas on the "Generic Pizza" signs square.

That storefront is just a sham.  I looked inside and its empty!  I assume all the real action is in the basement. (Hillary?)

I could not even order a pizza.  What's their phone number?

Edited June 28, 2023 by Jaylinbridges

[Jaylinbridges]

19 hours ago, Love Zhaoying said:

- However, I think it is a shame if possibly the "better / existing / homage to" Motown SL presence was "scrubbed" before the SLB20.  This IP "review" was probably done by some "third party" (not Motown). It would have made more sense, if the Motown company were given a chance to see the "homage" ahead of time.  

MoTown is a record label.  Motown is a customer of Styngr, who is a company that makes money by offering owners of music (like a record label) a chance to monetize their music in online GAMES.  

The original artists or their family and relatives still get paid royalties when their music is played by one of the games where Styngr has entered, like the game, Second Life.   

But Motown and Styngr take much of the cut. Not sure how SL monetizes this other than hoping MoTown region will convince more newbies to stay. 

And here is the Styngr business plan to online games, from their own website:

Quote

Getting music for your game with STYNGR is easy. Fill out our site request form and a member of our gaming music integration team will contact you. STYNGR lets your producers and game designers make the in-game playstation of their dreams by letting you pick your own tracks. Our service handles the royalty management, music security, and integrates directly with your game technology to make music importing simple. If you want to know more than just how to make video game music our integration team can also show you ways to leverage music to make money and drive retention within your game. If you want music customization, we are the only service with fully licensed music emotes, from today’s top artists, that your players can use to customize their experience. STYNGR turns music from a cost center into a profit center for your game.

MoTown in SL is deserted right now, and I can't imagine anyone paying 1250 $L to STYNGR for a single song gesture from a MoTown artist. That is $5 USD/song! 

We provide free dancing gestures (100's of them) at our club, free request songs, and most patrons are hard pressed to tip 100 lindens for their entire stay there.  I must be missing the money boat here.  Going to start charging 1000 $L per song, per patron. The dances will still be free. Such A Deal !

Edited June 28, 2023 by Jaylinbridges
Removed really irrelevant section, so to not confuse Love even more.

[Abnor Mole]

2 hours ago, Jaylinbridges said:

That storefront is just a sham.  I looked inside and its empty!  I assume all the real action is in the basement. (Hillary?)

I could not even order a pizza.  What's their phone number?

I have some bad news about the Secondhand Shorts Underwear Recycling Center...

[Innula Zenovka]

9 hours ago, Jaylinbridges said:

We provide free dancing gestures (100's of them) at our club, free request songs, and most patrons are hard pressed to tip 100 lindens for their entire stay there. 

Yes, but have you obtained licences to stream them, or to use extracts in gestures, from whoever owns the rights to the songs?

[Jaylinbridges]

1 hour ago, Innula Zenovka said:

Yes, but have you obtained licences to stream them, or to use extracts in gestures, from whoever owns the rights to the songs?

Like most clubs, the patrons can use the dance balls for free, or anyone with a dance HUD, hostesses or DJ's can also add someone to the dance in the HUD.  We don't actually give someone a gesture or a dance to take home.  The dances in the HUDS and Intans are of course paid for by the owner of the HUD or Intan, and have full rights to attach other avatars while they are within range. 

So this is nothing like these individual song plus dance gesture STYNGS that STYNGR is trying sell in SL for 1250 $L per song.  Hopefully a newbie will find a real SL music club before they think the STYNGs are how you listen to music in SL  MoTown is just confusing because there is nothing else like it in SL and could convince a newbie that SL music systems really suck, as they log out forever.

If someone is going to listen to their own STYNG on Media, and use their own dance gesture, they will have no need to go to a club.  And the DJ or performer will have no reason to provide music to someone who is not listening to the club music stream, or joining the other patrons who are on the club dances.

Paying royalties for online streaming is a whole different subject. The royalty system is not set up for small time virtual clubs that are losing money already by playing music to a few patrons, for essentially nothing after expenses.  The only DJ's that might be paying the $1500 USD/yr just for streaming will also have an online 24/7 web radio music station that begs for dollar donations to help defray the costs of the music and streaming fees, and have RL web listeners.   

If the music industry ever figures out how to force SL performers to pay royalties for their music, I will be glad to pay them as a percent of my linden earnings after expenses.  I will send them my check for $3 every quarter.  As it is they assume you are a web broadcaster and have a mininum fee of $1500/yr, paid in advance every January.  SL is off the radar because there is no money to be collected here.  Clubs will simply close down and leave SL along with the performers, if there is any problem.  

Edited June 28, 2023 by Jaylinbridges

[Dana Enyo]

3 hours ago, Innula Zenovka said:

Yes, but have you obtained licences to stream them, or to use extracts in gestures, from whoever owns the rights to the songs?

Remember, although we may be in SL as we listen and dance, the music is not coming thru SL at all. You're given the source server when your viewer asks you for permission. I am NOT a lawyer, but I think those streaming services are the responsible parties, not SL. (The Motown sim is different and unique, so far.)

[Ingrid Ingersoll]

On 6/22/2023 at 6:50 AM, Drayke Newall said:

He did? All I saw was a mole that either made a mistake in posting the wrong link or cant take constructive criticism.

Brett Linden has literally stated that the early release of this Welcome area is for testing and review to see what needs improvement etc for version 2 and when it is fully opened to new users, yet when that feedback is offered and suggestions made they get their knickers in a knot.

I think the moles and the Lindens aren't on the same page. 

[Ingrid Ingersoll]

On 6/22/2023 at 2:59 PM, Persephone Emerald said:

In short, Great job, Moles!

Go moles!