Introduction
You have the option of either buying or renting land. You need a Premium Account in order to buy land. In order to rent land, all you need is a Basic Account.
Buying land
You can own up to 512 m2 and not pay anything more than the cost of the land (again, you do need a Premium Account). If you own more than 512 m2, then you will pay a monthly fee called "tier", depending on how much you own. You may also rent land (sometimes with or without houses and furnishings) from land owners. In all cases, prices vary so shop around. However, I highly suggest exploring SL for at least one month before committing to buying land, but do rent if so inclined as most rentals are weekly.
You can buy mainland or an Island. You can buy mainland either privately from an individual or by way of auction (see below). You can (usually) only buy an Island with complete ownership from Linden Lab (http://secure-web7.secondlife.com/community/land-islands.php). If you "buy" an Island from a private individual, they can revoke land ownership rights. There are cases where an Island purchase can be transferred to you via purchase. Know the difference.
Regardless, when you own land of more than 512 m2, no matter what kind of land, you WILL pay monthly tier fees to Linden Lab. Leasing or renting land from a private individual means you only pay the landlord/lady (owner).
You can search for private land to buy via the [Search] button on the bottom of your screen and the [Land Sales] tab.
You can also buy an entire sim on auction: http://secondlife.com/auctions/ But this can be pricey and the monthly tier fees likewise expensive.
The real commodity is not land, but prims. All items (houses, furnishings, toys etc.) require prims and the more prims at your disposal, the more items you can set up. Buyer beware when shopping -- you'll quickly value high quality and low prim items. Budget about 100 prims for each room in a house (easily). Unfortunately, running out of prims also leads to impulse buying and often a raise in tier fees ;-)
Renting land
For most individuals, renting land that personally appeals is the most cost effective option. There are many benfits to renting including: (1) often cheaper than buying and paying tier, (2) the flexibility of moving if the region no longer appeals, (3) a furnished rental residence precludes the need for you to spend money on furnishings.
Unfortunately there are also some negatives that involve con artists. Ensure the person you are renting from has been in SL for some time and that they are dedicated to providing rentals. Check their profile, ask for references, speak with other residents who rent from them.
Be very careful about "buying" Island property. Unlike mainland, you do not own the Island property you purchase (unless you buy an entire Island). The owner of the Island can set you out on the street, so to speak, and this happens all too often with Island rentals where you are asked to "buy" property and then pay a rental fee.
Making money with land
And finally, a word on making money with your land. You possibly won't. There are dozens of malls, hundreds of rentals, numerous clubs and so forth. Buy land for your enjoyment and have your own money to support it. If you do wish to try and make money with land ownership, do your research and provide something unique and top quality. Themed malls and quality rentals will attract more persons.
Additional Resources (directly from the Second Life Forums)
Radio / Audio Streams
Introduction
So you have rented a place or bought some land and wish to change the audio stream. Click on World> About Land> Media. Under Music URL: use any of the following, plus whatever you may find elsewhere (i.e. shoutcast). Audio streams can disappear, so be prepared for this possibility.
The List
This list is provided courtesy of Lindal Kidd.
Angel Fire Radio WDDT Rock & Roll
Beatles Radio - Fab Four & More
BIGUPRADIO.COM Slamming Dancehall Reggae
SLBR-R & B/Hip Hop-R&B Favorites
SLCR-Classic Rock-Classic Rock
stream/radioio_country_free_hi,Radio Country
RL Streams:
unknown. Was in Highlands property.
Kamillah Hauptman suggested for Primverness
SL Streams:
Other (possibly off-line)
Radio Bijeljina, Republika Srpska
80s music (listed in knowledgebase)
Live music in Second Life
Live music is alive and kicking in Second Life. There are many ways to add music to your Second Life, but the first thing to do is getting it to play.
Look at the bottom of your screen ..do you have a music control box? If you DO and don't hear music ...try turning it on by pressing the play button. You may have to press stop and play a few times for it to start. Also, you have to be on a property where the owner has chosen to have music playing.
If you DON'T have the music control box at the bottom of your screen, go to EDIT at top of your screen, then down to preferences at the bottom of the menu. Find the tab that says audio and video and check the "play streaming music". This will make the music control box appear, at least if you are on land where streaming music is being played.
Now you’re ready to explore LIVE music in SL, which is also a fun way to meet new people!
The live music scene is thriving and still growing rapidly, with more and more performers finding their way to the numerous venues and stages. They range from DJs to singers, instrumentalists, singer-songwriters, even whole bands. There have even been performances by an entire orchestra.
How does this work? Put simply, the performers sit at home or in their studio and play their music. This is then broadcast into a venue in SL via a so-called music stream, often provided by the venue.
So if you are at a live music event in SL, you are indeed listening to somebody playing live!
But how to find live music? ….. Simply open “Search”, click the “Events” tab, select “Live Music” in the drop-down menu and press “search”. You will find a long list, with sometimes as many as 30 performances going on at the same time! If you click on a particular event you will often see a description of the kind of music or event you can expect. If you see something interesting on right now simply click “Teleport”. Or check back to the list later. All listings are in SLtime.
Once you arrive at your destination, it makes sense to wait for your surroundings to appear. These events can be quite busy and you could be walking into people you can’t see yet.
Then press play on your music controls box and enjoy! And don’t be afraid to say hello, music events are social events as well! If you have problems hearing the music remember to press stop and play a few times, or ask the host for help.
There are a few things you can do to make the experience even greater for everyone. First of all you can disable the clicking sound when you type so it doesn’t interfere with the music. This can be done in two ways …… first of all by typing a / before everything you say in open chat.
You can also disable the typing sound in the “Client” menu at the top of your screen. If you don’t see that menu, you can pull it up by typing Ctrl-Alt-D. Once you see the menu, open it and click on “debug settings". In the pull-down menu that you see, select “PlayTypingAnim” and set it to “False”.
And last but not least, try paying the performer(s) and venue/host a tip. Most performers will have a tip jar on stage with them and many venues will also have a tip jar or poster. The owners of live music venues spend a lot of money to provide the stages and streams and often also pay the musicians to play. They deserve our support as members of the audience for providing us with huge amounts of fun and entertainment.
Enjoy!!!
Sally Silvera
Lucrezia Lamont