SXSW Music is part conference, part festival, part shitshow, but the whole event is incredibly valuable to Austin’s economy. SXSW 2014 brought $315 million to the city of Austin. It wasn’t all positive though; four people were killed by a drunk driver. The drunk driver was a rapper who was scheduled to perform in Austin. Police chased him into a crowded downtown area and he barrelled through a crowd.
SXSW Music has just announced their first round of programming for 2015, including performing artists and panels.
Artist highlights include Jessie Ware, Angus & Julia Stone, Courtney Barnett, Bishop Nehru, Bomba Estéreo, and The Church.Some panels that stand out include:
Ladies First: How to Be a Woman in Rap Journalism: Sowmya Krishnamurthy (Billboard, Rolling Stone, Vibe, etc.), Kathy Iandoli (Hip Hop DX), Nadeska Alexis (MTV), and Georgette Cline (Townsquare Media).
Show Me the Money, Show Me the Fans!: Michael Rosenthal (OK Go), Ken Umezaki (Digital Daruma), Mike McCready (Music XRay), Jason Hobbs (The Found Group).
Tour Merch: The Most Overlooked Revenue in Music: Ben Brannen (atVenu), Matt Young (Warner Music Group), Karl Hensel (Kings Road Merch), Ryan Chisholm (Nettwerk Music Group).
Viva Album Art!: Nate Auerbach (Tumblr), Brian Schopfel (The Uprising Creative), Megan West (SoundCloud).
Nina Ulloa covers breaking news, tech, and more. Follow her on Twitter: @nine_u
Those panels…call me underwhelmed.
Hi, Underwhelmed
And the cycle of rehashed topics and discussion continues to fulfill egos. No thanks.