[Dixielandjazz] Where is the Music Going? SXSW?

[tcashwigg at aol.com]

and to show you how and why the industry is in such turmoil:

This guy is a bit misinformed, if he thinks the Rock Band Boston came 
from BOSTON, MASS.

it originated in San Francisco in my offices in the early 70's as a 
Power Rock trio named "FOX"
The kid who was managing them was an intern for me and is now a 
Professor at Berkelee College of Music in Boston, living well off all 
the money he made with the band in their hey day.   By the way their 
Lead singer just died last week at 55.   Heck in those days guys we 
were lucky to get them $150.00 a gig.

You see how things get twisted a bit in history, as time goes by and 
younger generations of journalist get jobs writing about what they 
really have no clue but it shows up in the New York Times because 
obviously the editor does not know any better either.

I will not comment upon the accuracy of the origin of the other bands 
he speaks of, but I am sure Boston loves to claim them as their own 
especially after so many years of the Red Sox losing  :))


Cheers,

Tom

-----Original Message-----
From: barbonestreet at earthlink.net
To: dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com
Sent: Thu, 15 Mar 2007 8:06 AM
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Where is the Music Going?  SXSW?

   Here's the ultimate in "free music" showcases.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone

MAR. 14 - By JON PARELES - NY TIMES
South by Southwest Festival: March 14 - 18

The South by Southwest Festival is being held this year in venues around
Austin, Texas. The lineup includes the Rapture, the Bravery, Lily 
Allen, Ben
Jelen and Alejandro Escovedo. Check back for frequent updates 
throughout the
days and nights of the festival.

Maybe there was a time when being a music talent scout had a louche 
glamor.
A rare cassette or demo disc, or maybe an ephemeral radio broadcast, 
would
reach a sympathetic ear, to be followed by a visit to some obscure club 
and
a make-or-break audition. Now, with mp3 songs stashed in every recess 
of the
internet, being an A&R guy (it stands for artist and repertoire) is more
about mouse clicks than road trips.

For a good chunk of the past week, I've been doing 21st-century A&R
myself--attempting to plan for South by Southwest by listening to the 
mp3s
posted by most of the bands playing here over the next four days and 
nights.
You can do it too, at http://www.sxsw.com under "bands."

At the moment, my potential schedule holds three to five bands per 
hourly
segment, most of them now a vague memory and an mp3 on my player. I'm
skipping some of the sure things I've already heard in New York -- like 
the
Pipettes, a cheerfully retro girl group, and Peter, Bjorn and John, who 
are
beloved by so many music blogs there's already a backlash.

My list includes a band from China, some Canadian eccentrics, my annual 
SxSW
dose of cute Japanese noise bands and dozens of peppy, sullen, 
computerized,
hands-on, earnest, ironic, intricate, rudimentary, literary-minded,
foul-mouthed and (mostly intentionally) funny bands and songwriters.

One irrelevant observation: the days of full geographical disclosure are
over. Boston was from Boston, Chicago was from Chicago, but at SxSW,
geography is perjury: Tulsa is not from Tulsa, Illinois is not from
Illinois, and there are a dozen other imposters.

All my planning is bound to evaporate in the rush of club sets, day 
parties
and perhaps even a panel or two. In between, I'll be jotting some 
reactions
here. And just to get it out of the way now, here is my obligatory SxSW
mention of barbecue.




MAR. 14 | 1:40 PM 'South By' Kicks Off By JEFF LEEDS

CD sales are falling off a cliff. Pink slips are replacing platinum 
records
in record-label suites. In fact, the very financial structure of the 
music
business is verging on collapse. What better time, then, for executives 
to
skip out of the office for a few days, chew on some Texas barbecue, and
party into the wee hours while watching unproven rock bands? Well, the
industry does treasure its traditions ­ and South by Southwest, the 
Austin
music festival that marks its 20th anniversary this week, qualifies.

Regarded once as a talent bazaar where labels vacuumed up new artists 
to add
to their rosters, SXSW (that¹s the abbreviation, but the clubbiest of 
the
clubby refer to it as ³South By²) has morphed into something else. 
Nowadays,
and for the past several years, it has become a place where labels come 
to
showcase talent they¹ve already discovered to the assembled hordes of 
music
critics, booking agents, music-publishers, sponsors and anyone else they
might be able to enlist in their drive for sales.

And if the showcase doesn¹t sell you on a band, they¹ll invite you over 
to
the Four Seasons bar for a few shots of persuasion. But even as the 
festival
has become a schmooze-athon, it is seen by many as a beacon of 
credibility
amid a wasteland of overexposed acts and broken marketing machinery. 
(It is,
of course, brought to you by Verizon, Miller Lite, the IFC channel, and
Yaris). So break out the BBQ bibs and fire up the echo chamber, SXSW is
under way.

Jeff Leeds, a staff reporter based in Los Angeles, writes about the 
business
and culture of music for The New York Times.




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