SL isn’t just a place for fun, there are jobs available to those who want earn an extra bit of lindens to spend on more expensive clothes or even to get a place to call their very own. Many jobs in SL are hobbies that residents have found to be very profitable, such as being a business owner, a builder and even a writer. This article gives you an insight into one of these residents.
Name: Rock and Roll Michigan
Rezday: 06/18/2008
SL Age: 2 years and 6 months (Senior)
When did you know you wanted to be DJ? Or is it just a side job?
Well, that’s a long story, really. In real life it kinda even goes back to the summer when I was 11 years old, although I didn’t know it at the time (do we ever when we’re that young?) I saw a neighbor girl who I thought looked cute, so I started putting my tape player in my open bedroom window when I played songs on it. The idea really was that she’d hear them when she was out on their deck. In hindsight I doubt she heard a note of it, but in my mind she heard every last song I played on the thing. How naive, but it illustrates a point: Even then I was doing what I do now. I was DJ’ing.
Flash-forward to 2006. I was a brand new avatar in SL (on a different account, different name), and taking classes at Teazer University. One day I was dancing in the lobby of the school with some gal and talking about music. Two hours we were dancing and talking before she said she owned an online radio station and wanted me to work for them. That’s really how my SL DJ career got started, they trained me, put me on the air, and I had a blast, so I stuck with it.
How much does being a DJ pay you?
It varies. Some gigs I get paid a lot, like an art gallery opening where I was paid 2500 L$ plus 650 in tips. Other gigs I may make L$1000, or even nothing. It’s all over the map these days, I’ve found over the years tthe availability of jobs and the pay rates have changed a lot. There seems to be a lot of club saturation going on in the DJ market, every street corner has yet another club or two.
How long did it take you to get a job as a DJ?
No time at all, since I was asked to start, I didn’t go seeking out DJ gigs at first.
Do you have any specific requirements to be a DJ in SL?
Personally I think the #1 requirement to be a DJ is a passion for the music. I don’t care if you’re playing rap, opera, country, classic rock, death metal, or polkas, if you don’t have the passion and love for the genre it’s not going to communicate well with your audience and the experience isn’t going to be satisfying for anybody.
Have you got any tips to give newbies out there who are interested in being DJs?
Find your passion, and pour yourself into it. Your audience will thank you. Don’t expect to make a lot of money, you’d make more money standing at a cash register saying “Would you like fries with that?” but you wouldn’t be nearly as happy.
More information on Rock and Roll’s gigs coming soon…
Izzie Morgan
Image provided by Rock and Roll Michigan.
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