Capsule at SXSW / Capsule guide to SXSW


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Capsule were commissioned by Digital Central to write a guide to SXSW

 

What is South By South West (SXSW)? / What can you expect to see?
SXSW is a series of Festivals and Conferences for film, interactive and Music hosted the City of Austin in Texas. SXSW takes place every year in March and originated from the Austin Battle of the Bands event. It is from this beginning that the festival gets its reputation of breaking new bands and whilst this is still true of the festival, over the past 20 years of its official existence as SXSW (since 1987) it has changed in stature and nature beyond recognition.

The Music Festival
In 2007 60 venues hosted events as part of the official showcase over 1400 acts played in those showcases. The majority of the 60 venues are densely located within the downtown area, centred around the Convention Centre (imagine Birmingham's Broad Street but filled with live music venues and gigs in each one for 4 nights).


Capsule display their wares at this year's conference.

The music festival is attended by both music fans and music industry types alike, many people can and do just attend SXSW as music fans and are probably blissfully unaware of the conference and industry side of the festival. Whilst the festival is situated near to the Convention Centre that hosts the conferences, it is possible to not enter the Conference Centre at all.

Alongside the fans are the registered delegates. In 2007 there were over 5000 companies registered made up of Labels / Promoters / A&R people / Radio / Distribution companies / studios / Industry bodies (such as some of the UK bodies - BPI / UKTI / AIM)

Official Showcase programme
The official showcase take place in the evening from 8pm – 1am each night Wednesday to Sunday, although there are only a few venues involved on the Sunday. As mentioned over 1400 acts play in 60 venues covering every music genre possible. Bands that want to play or labels wanting to present a showcase have to apply in advance via the SXSW website. Bands are allowed to play one show as part of the official showcase.

Official Parties
During the daytime of the festival there are a programme of official parties such as the British Music BBQ’s of which there were three this year presented with BBC Radio2 / Six Music / DrownedinSound.com and Mojo Magazine. These parties are a mixture of registrant and invite only events; many are set up as ‘informal industry networking’ events.

Fringe Programme
Alongside the official programme is a healthy helping of fringe events and in fact these make up a large part of the daytime activities that most people attend. It’s mainly magazines that hold these events. Vice Magazine hold an annual showcasing event that is usually spread over 2 days of the festival. You can generally find out about these from flyers at SXSW or by scouring the web beforehand. All of these events take place at venues outside of the official showcase venues.

The Conference
The Conference programme can be classed as an event in itself and it would be entirely possible to spend the entire week of the festival in the conference centre. Set inside the Austin Convention Centre the music conference hosts over 70 panels, interviews workshops and presentations with over 250 high profile speakers. Last year’s speakers included: Pete Townshend, Emmylou Harris and co-founder & president of Myspace Tom Anderson. The Conference is made up of:

Panels / Interviews / Keynote speakers
The conference centre hosts a series of panels discussing a range of issues such as ‘a field guide to indie labels’, ‘Touring on a shoe string budget’, ‘crash course in recording’ etc. Interviews are held with some of the panellists and there are also talks from keynote speakers, high profile artists and music industry experts.

Demo Listening Sessions
These are an opportunity for registered musicians to get feedback from music professionals, producers / A&R reps / Publicists. Not all bands get to have their music listened to but are able to gain an insight into how best to present your music and how not to.

Music Mentor Program
Registrants are able to sign up for 15 minute mentors sessions. Sign up can only be done on the day of the session and begins 30mins before the first session of the day. A member of staff will match you with the most appropriate mentor.

Music Trade Show
The Music Trade Show is what is says essentially, this is the space that music professionals hold stalls in order to promote their activity / products etc. This is where the British Music Stand is held, usually co-ordinated and hosted by BPI / UKTI / AIM. Within the Music Trade show you will also find the following:

  • Indie Village / Indie Village has taken place the last 4 years of SXSW and offers a chance for independent labels to get in on the action and show off their wares within the trade show.
  • BookStore /  A space where SXSW music conference speakers and showcase artists participate in signings.
  • Day Stage / day venue featuring performances from some of the festival showcase artists.
  • Showcasing Artists Lounge / Greenroom for all registered showcasing artists.
  • SonicBids Email / Webcentre /  free internet access.

Who goes to SXSW?
At SXSW you with find Music industry representatives from Major to Independent labels showcasing their artists with current or new releases; A&R people looking for the new acts; bands wishing to showcase their new releases and of course music fans. A large proportion of the UK music industry attend SXSW and there is an official UK presence co-ordinated by British Underground / BPI / UKTI / AIM. Details of 2007 UK presence can be found at: http://www.britishmusic.biz

 
Should you do a showcase?

Boris - Capsule Showcase
Boris perform at the Capsule showcase in 2007

Showcasing at SXSW for UK artists and Labels is an expensive business and so you have to be careful that you’re doing it for the right reasons. SXSW is based on the reputation of bands being signed after playing at the showcase events. No doubt this probably still happens, with the amount of A&R people about at the festival, however it would seem that the focus and nature of the festival has changed and the opportunities for unknown / unsigned bands are perhaps not as fruitful as they used to be in its original battle of the bands format. These days the event is a lot more focused around bands and labels promoting new releases, and seems more suited to bands that are already signed (whether with a major or indie label) further promoting themselves and their careers.

Case Study: Tunng
For UK bands playing at SXSW it seems to work best when they have a label already behind them and either have or are looking for US distribution or a US label to take them on board. Taking UK act Tunng by way of example:

In 2006 they played at SXSW, they were signed to a UK label and had a license deal for their first album with ACE FU in the US. The US label were also interested in licensing their second album. Tunng played ACE FU’s official showcase event alongside other US acts and played a further 5 shows outside of the programme that were organised for them by their UK Label.

Post-SXSW they were approached by a booking agent in the US meaning that when they returned to SXSW in 2007 they were able to set up a small tour. Due to their profile and Static Caravan's knowledge of the British presence at SXSW they were invited to play at the official UK showcase events in both Texas and New York. In 2007 they have been signed to a reputable US indie label, one member of the label was in the audience at the official Showcase event that they played at in 2006.

The important thing to point out is that in the first place, Tunng were happy to finance these trips themselves, taking the risk to further promote themselves. They were strongly supported by Static Caravan and having links with US labels / distributors and having interest from the US market already played a big part in their success since SXSW.

SXSW is an amazing event and does attract a multitude of influential music professionals, most of whom do use it as a chance to see new acts as well as promoting their own products. It is important though to carefully consider your options when applying. If you’re thinking of doing a showcase how can you get the most out of your investment? With so many bands to see how will you attract the people to your event or your performance and how else can you best utilise your time outside of the official showcase.

Applying for Showcases and support available
To play at SXSW bands have to apply via the website. You have to upload MP3’s, a photo and press kit information to an artist's admin page, details of which are sent to you once you have submitted your interest in applying. The cost of applying is $20 and the deadline for international artists applying for next year’s SXSW is 26th October 2007. Once you are invited to play you are allowed to play only one official showcase. However this doesn’t stop you from playing at the unofficial events, which is what most acts do to make the most of their time at SXSW.

PRS Foundation / British Music Abroad are a charity that was set up by the PRS (performing rights society) to support music. British Music Abroad is a grant set up to support UK bands / musicians that have been invited to showcase at international events. SXSW is one of the events considered for applications. As a band you have to have received an official invitation before you can make an application to the fund. Once you have this you can apply for support towards the costs of travel and accommodation  / promotional and marketing costs.

When should you book and what type of ticket / accommodation?
As the festival encompasses 3 different festivals for Music / Film / Interactive, there are several different tickets available:

  • Platinum Badge: gets you access to all 3 parts of the festival. If you are just going to the music part of the festival then there is no point in purchasing this ticket as the events do not overlap.
  • Gold Badge: is access to the Film and Interactive.
  • You can purchase singular Music / Film and Interactive badges to get access for the individual parts of the festival.
  • Music Badge: The Music Badge gives you access to all events of the official showcase, there are different depending on what time of year you by it. For 2008 it is currently:
    Before 28th September - $500
    Before 16th November - $525
    Before 11th January - $550
    Before 8th February - $600
    Walk up rate - $650

The SXSW Catalogue
When you pick up your festival badge at SXSW you’re given a bag full of promotional items, some useful, some not. The most useful item in the bag is the SXSW catalogue. It details information about all of the events, the music festival and conference, but most importantly it has details for all the people registered for the music festival providing you with a handy directory of the music industry. This list is also available on the registrants part of the SXSW website in advance of the festival so that you can contact people / invite them for meetings in advance of the event.

Accommodation
IMPORTANT!! Accommodation gets booked up very early on, most people book their accommodation when they purchase the early bird tickets, and some people will have even booked their accommodation before leaving 2007’s festival.

There are suggestions of hotels on the SXSW website of places to book, these are in varying price range so will be dependent upon your budget, but these are likely to be the ones to get booked up first. There are plenty of motels near the downtown centre but for most you will need to get a taxi or a bus into the downtown area. It is preferable to get somewhere in walking distance as taxis can prove difficult to get on an evening as the Downtown area is road blocked for the festival.

Renting houses is another option, especially for bands/labels on a tight budget, apparently this is what a lot of labels opt for, getting a house or an apartment to share for the week.

How to get there
From Birmingham there are few flight options. Continental Airlines fly from Birmingham International to Newark New York; from there you can get an internal flight to Austin TX.

All other flights from London: from Gatwick you can fly to Dallas and then get a connecting flight to Austin; this is run by BA. From Heathrow you can fly to New York / Washington or Chicago and get connecting flights to Austin. These are run by Virgin airlines and BA.