The Daily Swarm

L.A. Times – Ann Powers:

At times, this year’s South by Southwest Music Conference felt like Rome burning. Sometimes it felt like something being born. And much of the time, it felt like pop music culture as usual—striving artists, supportive or indifferent listeners, and plenty of talk about cash and creativity, everything blurring within the sound bleed of an unabsorbable number of performances.

More than 1,700 acts tried to get noticed over five days—and that’s just what was happening on the 80 participating stages. A whole second festival of unofficial, semiprivate parties gave several of the long weekend’s most anticipated acts a chance to impress crowds several times, ultimately taking much of the buzz out of any one performance. SXSW (as the fest is known) has broken many acts since its inception in 1987, but this year it offered hot new flavors that most attendees had already sampled via the Internet, enhancing young reputations rather than cementing them.

Chicago Tribune – Greg Kot:

One of Peter Jenner’s favorite phrases is “monetize the chaos,” and it was heard several times over the last few days at the 22nd annual South by Southwest Music and Media Conference, which concluded Sunday.

Jenner was Pink Floyd’s first manager, and Billy Bragg’s current one, and he’s figured out how to make a steady living off an industry not known for its steadiness. In a sense, Jenner’s long and illustrious 40-year career is what most of the estimated 12,500 registrants at the conference coveted.

If nothing else, the conference was a window into how drastically the music industry has changed in the era of music file-sharing and shrinking record-sale revenue. Record companies are no longer dominant. In their place, a new power elite has arisen that includes music supervisors (who license songs for placement in ads, TV shows and movies) and booking agents (who line up the tours where bands make most of their money).

The Big 4 major labels were barely a presence at the year’s most prestigious music conference, but corporations with tenuous music connections were throwing money around with impunity.

Digital Music News:

If music is the soundtrack to our lives, then advertisers want a piece of the experience. But how can artists forge powerful and profitable relationships with brands? At South by Southwest on Thursday, entrepreneurs started sharing notes on the elusive branding partnership.

The major label recording contract was once the ultimate prize for many artists, simply because of the financial, distribution, and promotional muscle involved. But artists now have alternative paths towards broader-scale success, including direct relationships with brands.

Superstar artists certainly have their place in the advertising world, and multi-million dollar sponsorships prove it. But brands are usually interested in connecting with targeted demographics, and that opens the door for smaller labels, bands, and scenes. “I would actually rather work with a medium-to-small sized artist,” commented Trey Shelton, chief executive of Music Interactive. “With an up-and-coming act, you are getting a little bit more of a tastemaker crowd.”

Billboard – Cortney Harding:

Started the last day of SXSW emceeing a show for Armed Forces Entertainment, an organization that sends indie bands around the world to play for troops stationed overseas. In between our hungover attempts at stage banter, we watched sets from a handful of bands that are alums of the organization’s tour.

Perez Hilton:

All the juicy SXSW gossip!

1) Which veteran singer, who’s already been banned from one of Austin’s finer hotels, got blacklisted from another during SXSW? St. Patty’s or not, you can’t be throwing a room service tray at the waiter who delivers it, no matter how messed up the order might be.

2) Which British import threw a minor tantrum after being denied entry to the at-capacity R.E.M. show at Stubbs, dumbfounded that big buzz from across the pond doesn’t instantly translate in Texas?

3) Which recently-charted newcomer, whose big pay day came through song placement in a major national TV ad, is already denying autograph seekers?

Who are the culprits?????

Guardian UK:

Anyone who has ever been unfortunate enough to attend Mardi Gras in New Orleans will have an idea of what the centre of Austin has been reduced to as SXSW hits its climactic weekend.

The epicentre of the chaos is 6th Street, the main drag for music venues, which has been cordoned off both to stop cars from passing through and to create the impression that the town is an inebriate’s playpen where whooping, staggering, and the dropping of sauerkraut (an accompaniment to the popular local bratwurst) is encouraged all day and night. Throw in the hottest March weather ever, the prospect St Patrick’s Day celebrations, and you’ve got a recipe for a street scene Hogarth would have trouble getting down on paper.

Fortunately for everyone concerned, the quality – and sheer variety – of music on offer has grown in tandem with the blood alcohol level.

Chromewaves:

It would be nice to think that it was possible to end SxSW on a grand note, with a supremely great experience that defines and crystallized the entire experience in one perfect moment. Unfortunately, my experience has been more along the lines of staggering down 6th St through hordes of drunken college kids back in town from wherever they’d fled earlier in the week and being far more interested in finding somewhere soft to collapse than take in one more band, however great they might be. This year… was no different.

Eskimo Bliss:

SXSW was friggin’ amazing. I’m going to work on posting a day-by-day recap this week, but let’s just say it was extremely inspirational, exhilarating, and very, very exhausting. Over the four days I was there I was overwhelmed with a sense of positivity when it comes to the music “business” (I have such a hard time calling it that). Sure, I heard lots of talk about how mp3s suck and digital technology is ruining the “industry” (again, another term that makes me a little nauseous). But one thing I can take away from my week in Austin is that live music is where it’s at folks. If you just concentrate on playing good music and getting yourselves out there in front of as many different people as possible, and make your number one priority to put on an excellent show, AND IGNORE THE BULLSHIT, then I think you’ll find that there’s a lot of wonderful opportunities to be had in the independent music world.

Bob Lefsetz:

Don’t worry about the short term money. If your music is good, if you play well live, the money will come. But sending me a CD or schlepping your equipment to SXSW isn’t going to make your music any better. If it’s good, put it on the Web, energize your fans, they’ll spread the word. But you probably suck and are looking for the easy way out. And crying that you just can’t make any money. Boofuckinghoo.

ALSO:

South By Southwest 2008: You’re Not There, Pt. 1

South By Southwest 2008: You’re Not There, Pt. 2

South By Southwest 2008: You’re Not There, Pt. 3

South By Southwest 2008: You’re Not There, Pt. 4

South By Southwest 2008: Where’s the Beef?, Pt. 1

South By Southwest 2008: Where’s the Beef?, Pt. 2