Paramore outperforms both on and off the stage.

Why do I like Paramore? They are kick-ass live performers. But I’ve never seen them in person. Hulu delivered them to me last year when I saw them perform Ignorance on Conan O’Brien. I knew of them before via Andrew Kendall’s photos, but seeing them on Conan is what engaged me to find out more. I searched “paramore live” on YouTube. I was impressed with their energetic live show and fan-driven website, which I wrote about highlighting their fan community and presence in the social web. Paramore fans go the distance because Paramore does the same for them.

Live music trumps studio recordings.

The best music is live music. Right now I think live video footage is the next best thing—whether it’s live-as-in-streaming or recorded live events. I don’t have a cable television. But if I’m looking for home entertainment I go straight to Hulu. As far as TV goes, if it’s not on Hulu, then I don’t watch it. In today’s music industry putting out video content is a must, especially live video content. In fact I think that’s where über-commercial Vevo has it wrong—lacking rawness and intimacy. I’d rather watch bands on Hulu. The concert videos already on Paramore’s channel come from their live album The Final Riot! In my opinion, Paramore’s best videos are the live ones, and on top of the stellar performances the videos have stellar production. But even bands without access to top production can still produce video content by being creative, sourcing their fans to record or produce live videos, and distributing them with free tools like YouTube and Ustream.

Paramore tells a story.

In addition to music videos, Paramore’s Hulu channel contains a 30-min documentary on the making of their latest album Brand New Eyes. They attract fans not only because of their music, but also because they have a story to tell that their fans can relate too. Their story is about growing up—as a band, but also as people, and their fans can relate to that. The album’s theme is seeing people through brand new eyes—you have to accept the past to move on. Paramore has an intimate connection with the Internet Generation. The new channel enriches their existing fan community and exposes them to a wider audience—brand new eyes—on Hulu.

Timeline: Bands on Hulu.

In November 2009 Hulu partnered with EMI and launched a Norah Jones channel. The next month Hulu partnered with Warner Music Group launching the Muse channel in December, the Jason Mraz channel in January, and the Paramore channel yesterday. Hulu’s music content is hi-fidelity and free. Now what more can you ask for besides, well, more Hulu artist channels and frequent content, right?

All three members have major touring and recording credits to their names. Tania played keyboards on tour with Kylie Minogue, and cowrote the title track for Grammy-winning album Lesson of Love. Dan and Luke have toured and recorded with major artists as well. SJ‘s first album—Resident Alien—was recorded while they were all together in the USA and Australia with Grammy-nominated songwriter/producer Rafe Van Hoy. With the band living on different continents in different time zones, SL provided a way to perform simulated concerts and promote the album—available on CDBaby or iTunes.

Shakti discovered Second Life in 2006 when she came back from Tibet, where an oracle there told her SpaceJunky would be heard by many people and the album would be successful. When she came back she was researching an ancient Tibetan symbol and came across a blog called the Flying Monks here in SL who were rebuilding monasteries destroyed in Tibet during the cultural revolution.

SpaceJunky’s music is about cosmic unforeseen forces that connect people through energy and intention. They are a rock/pop band with a positive message of searching for cosmic truth and seeking to lengthen the space between thoughts. The band provides social entertainment by interacting and emulating what a concert by SpaceJunky might be like in RL. SL is about creating your dream, and the ability to creatively visualize a music concert is wonderful, as you can do things here you cannot do in RL. As Shakti says, “SL is a physical manifestation of a non-physical realm”, very Buddhist as the Dali Lama would say.

SpaceJunky Live in SL at JCNY in 2008. Photo by Izzy Cole. All rights reserved by Izzy Cole and SJ.

SpaceJunky have a production crew who help bring the concerts alive: Tommy Parrott (Lighting, Stage, and Pyrotechnics), Izzy Cole (Tour Photographer), and Bella Dutton (Virtual Music Publicist).

The concert performances in Second Life have complex, programmed equipment, such as pyrotechnics, and a custom-made, one-of-a-kind, lighting system by JB LiteSource. The realtime lighting effects for their shows include particle effects and a custom stage which looks like a spaceship. June Dion from Bare Rose also creates custom designs for Shakti to wear on stage—the most recent one being inspired by a Tibetan goddess for their SLB6 performance where they were invited to close the show.

Through the band’s growing popularity SpaceJunky have been featured on CNN International for new technology, and were approached by Sony Creative Software to do an Acid Planet remix contest for their song Gravitational Pull, which was brought into SL and Sony gave away a lot of RL prizes at the concert at SpaceJunky Island. They were also featured on the SL home page for being the first band to ever be featured on SL with audio. They have had RL radio play from the largest radio stations in Italy—including Radio Imago—as well as magazine covers, YouTube fans, and product endorsements.

The band have their own SpaceJunky Island which is featured in Showcase under Music, and designed by Shakti along with Dannon Robbiani, one of SL’s top builders. It is also home to their state-of-the-art Amphitheater built by Tommy Parrot. SpaceJunky’s popularity continues to grow. The strength of the band continues to change with new technology and new ventures that they are currently working on—including possible upcoming RL concerts. Stay tuned at alphacrew.ning.com.