SXSW Observations, Tips, and Highlights

Now that I have had some time to process what happened over the last week in Austin, I'd like to supplement the other posts with more thorough descriptions.

General Observations:

The conference was pretty much what I expected it to be: extremely crowded, full of big names in the music industry, exhausting and exciting. There were a few surprises, however.

The conference is very indie-centric. There seems to be an attitude, especially among the fans attending the showcases, and among some of the music industry professionals, that the only legitimate music is indie rock music that is not currently on the radio or (preferably) will never be on the radio. I found this attitude a bit unwelcoming, since I am a fan of accessible singer/songwriters and pop-rock music. This phenomenon can be best summarized by a t-shirt that I saw on Sixth Street: "Oh yeah, the band that I like doesn't even exist yet." (Having said that, there were a few excellent singer/songwriters, particularly at the BMI Showcase and the Hotel Cafe Showcase.)

I was also surprised that there were so many concerts and showcases during the day. Most of these parties allowed people with badges to receive free food and drinks. I only attended one party (to see an Ohio band that I know), but most people seem to split their time between the parties and the panels.

TIPS:

1) Bring very comfortable shoes to SXSW! The venues are spread over approximately 1.5 miles. I expected to do a lot of walking, but not nearly as much as I actually did.

2) Stay downtown if you can. I stayed with a friend's mom in Central Austin and took the bus in to town every morning. The Austin bus system is reliable and safe. However, the busses do not run very late at night. Many of my fellow conference-goers attended the panels during the day and went to dinner until about 7:00. Then, went back to their hotels and rested until about 10:00, when they would go out to see showcases until 2 A.M. I did not have the luxury of resting because I would not be able to get back downtown in time by taking the bus. This forced me to be downtown from 11 A.M until 2:30 A.M. on most nights. Also, catching a cab after the showcases end can take up to an hour. Downtown hotels are costly, but are worth it if you can afford them.

3) Prioritize your reasons for attending the conference. During the day, this is a big issue. There will certainly be times when there are conflicting panels and parties that you would like to attend. Decide what the purpose of your trip to SXSW is before you arrive. This was especially problematic for me because I had multiple goals (learning, networking, seeing new bands, seeing bands that I already like, etc.) I am happy with the way that I balanced my time, but I didn't realize how much of an issue it would be.

4) Join twitter and follow SXSW Sched. The schedules change all the time during SXSW. There are also surprise guests. For example, this year Kanye West and Metallica both played unannounced! However, SXSW Sched will provide you with updated artist listings and, potentially, with gossip about added surprise shows.

5) Bring a lot of business cards.

6) Play in the softball tournament, or at least attend it. This will give a chance to meet people whom you otherwise would not have met and to bond in a way that can only be done through sports. Also, there is free beer and bbq.

HIGHLIGHTS:

I like to rank things. (High Fidelity is one of my top five favorite movies. (The people at SXSW would say "film".)) Accordingly, here are my 2009 SXSW top fives:

Conference Panels:

5) The Risks And Rewards of Festivals. The creators of Bonnaroo and a number of European festivals spoke about details for festival planning. Most festivals take three years to make a profit! That was shocking news, but is good to know. Also, Bonnaroo does not spend a dime promoting the festival. Instead, they book bands with loyal followings and rely on word of mouth. This is a very smart business model. It is no surprise that Bonnaroo is so successful.

4) Music Licensing For Unsigned Artists. The moral of this story, as told by the music supervisors for film and television, is that, other than having an appropriate song, all that matters is knowing the right person. Ultimately, you most likely must go through a song plugger (or similar service) or have a stroke of luck to get a placement. Those are the only options for an unsigned artist.

3) Demo Listening (with A&R). This was a golden ticket opportunity! A&R people (I've heard them called A&R "people" or "reps". I use both terms interchangeably.) from two major labels, along with music critics, selected demo cds from a box, played the first verse and chorus of one song on each selected cd (for the entire room), and gave their thoughts on the music. This provided a unique situation to see how high the bar is to be signed to a major record label. I heard 25 songs or so. Out of those, according to the panel, 10 were terrible, 12 were average, but not good enough, and 3 were excellent and "worthy of listening to the entire track." Those artists who the A&R reps liked were asked to follow up with the A&R reps after the panel - a rare and amazing opportunity! Listening with objective ears, I agreed with the A&R people. I left the panel comforted with the knowledge that I have similar taste as the A&R people.

2) A&R 3.0. An A&R person from every major label answered questions from artists about the mindset of an A&R representative. While they did not accept any records after the panel, the A&R reps did provide helpful information about where the music industry is headed. Hint: It has to do with computers.

1) Issues facing major label attorneys. This panel featured general counsel from Interscope and Sony, along with a major artist attorney. It was fascinating to hear the issues that the big labels are concerned about. Perhaps even more interesting were the ones that they did not talk about (copyright termination).


Artist Performances:

5) Meiko. She had great songs, very funny banter, and an excellent performance. My favorite was "Reasons To Love You."

4) Alice Russell. This neo-soul singer from the U.K. sounds like a mix of Duffy and Amy Winehouse. The songs were not always great, but the backing band was outstanding, particularly the offensive lineman sized violinist. Having a violin in a british soul band with organ doesn't seem like a good idea. But it is for them.

3) Brother Trouble. These guys were like Big & Rich, except they are actual brothers. Their harmonies were tight and the songs were catchy. I expect to hear them on country radio sometime soon.

2) Five Times August. I caught the end of their set at the Driscoll. Brad and the and, particularly the cellist, were a step above almost every other comparable act at SXSW. If you have not heard of the band yet, trust me, you will.

1) Ten out of Tenn. The performance was great. But the concept is even cooler. This is a group of 10 songwriter friends from Nashville who rotate singing their own songs and playing an instrument in the other songwriters' back up band. Seeing Erin McCarley, Griffin House, Jeremy Lister, Katie Herzig, and Andy Davis on the same stage was all that I thought it would be - indescribably good!

Experiences (ranked in order of memorability):

5) Watching Third Eye Blind Play Their New Record. I made some nice "single serving friends" before the show who were fans from the 3eb message board. I have always been a Third Eye Blind fan and have all of their records. This is why I was shocked at how bad the lyrics are to every new song. But, the music still sounded great and we were about 20 feet away on a 68 degree cloudless night in Texas.

4) Walking down Sixth Street on Saturday Night. Chaos! Crowded streets with guys in very tight jeans with ironic hipster mustaches. Standing in the middle of the Sixth and Trinity intersection, I could hear about 10 different venues melding into one awful noise. It was pretty cool.

3) Interviewing Griffin House. As I will explain in the future, I am working on a music industry book. Griffin graciously agreed to be my first interviewee. He went out of his way to make time for me and was truly a class act and all-around good guy (even though he went to Miami (Oh)) (Go Bobcats!).

2) Watching Rocco DeLuca perform from 30 feet away while standing next to Matthew McConaughey. (Speaks for itself.)

1) Sitting next to Leonard Cohen during the Webb Sisters set (though I did not realize it until the next day). I sat next to an older gentleman and made some small talk. During our chat, someone came up to him and said that they admire all of his work and thanked him. I assumed he was some sort of British producer or something. I had no idea he was one of the most prolific songwriters of our time (and behind one of my favorite Matt Mackey cover songs).