"Artists Visit Virtual Second Life for Real-World Cash"

Female avatar playing guitar at night club venue

With the economy seeming to be in the pits, people are beginning to turn to Second Life for their source of income. Grace Buford is a musician in the virtual world and earns about $10,000 in tips and CD sales each year (Sutter). She sings and plays the guitar and piano. Even that is not nearly enough money for her and her son to live in, she says that it helps pay the bills. Who knew that Second Life could earn a person that much money?

Mike Lawson is another great example. After doing a couple shows in Second Life, he has now booked so many shows in the virtual world that he barely has time to perform in actual venues. "You've got professional musicians from all genres coming into Second Life now and playing," he said. "The Internet is a great equalizer. You have people who have never played in front of anybody in their life getting a shot" (Sutter). Second Life gives the little guy a change to compete with the big name stars and some actually become pretty successful.