Passes went on sale yesterday. They have downloadable songs available for many on the bands on the music schedule: http://2005.sxsw.com/music/showcases/date/2005-03-16.html Who's there this year?
Weeee! Let the jingle of the record exec expense accounts begin! SXSW is a frigging joke compared to what it was originally intended to be.
Obviously you mean WRT musicians, right? Because it's still pretty awesome for fans (see gifford ... ).
Originally, SXSW was supposed to be a showcase for unsigned artists from all over the globe. Now it is nothing more than a weeklong expense account binge for record execs. Take a look at the performance roster. Less than a third of those bands are unsigned, and the vast majority of those unsigned bands are from Austin. Yes, for the fans, it is wonderful, but SXSW is a joke compared to what it used to be for unsigned musicians.
who actually pays for sxsw? It's all about finding the free shows, free beer, and making friends with folks who can get you into shows.
No such thing. If an Austin band specialized in symphonic new wave goose farts, they would get a gig at SXSW quicker than John Lennon would if he came back from the dead.
i used to go to SXSW back in the day and i went last year for the first time in ages. my, how it has spiraled into a monster. it is a circus that has lost much of its homespun flavor and seeing the "it" bands during evening gigs is near impossible. however, during the day there are tons of free shows starting around 10am. i was on vacation so i just cruised around all day watching band after band for a week. i did a lot of damage to myself but i enjoyed every minute of it, peace.
id say there's alot of pretty good austin bands that dont make it. unfortuanately, austin bands are judged more on noteriety than actual sound. the people who decide who gets in all live in austin and i think it hurts austin bands, in that they tend to only book bands that they know have bigger draws. if you are from another city, but arent a big draw in your town than the sxsw people dont know that. they judge more on actual sound, press kit, ect. austin bands however, can have a great sounding disk and slick-ass press kit, but if the judges know that they arent a big draw and cant headline at room 710 for example, than it will hurt their chances. sxsw got around 7,500 entrys and they only take about 1,000. getting in is a real process. every disk gets listened to by two seperate people and judged by each on a scale of 1 - 10. the best of that lot make it to "round 2" and get listened to again and the best of that lot get listened to by the top dogs at sxsw and they make final decisions on who gets in.
