SXSWorld
Issue link: https://sxsw.uberflip.com/i/81859
The 2010 panel "I Never Travel Far Without a Little Big Star" became a tribute to Alex Chilton. (l to r) Ken Stringfellow, Jon Auer, journalist Bob Mehr, Tommy Keene, Jody Stephens, John Fry by video link from Memphis, Chris Stamey and Andy Hummel. Bill Murray at the premiere of Get Low at SXSW 2010, entertained everywhere he went. eclipsed the SXSW Music numbers for the fi rst time, it became clear that Interactive had become a phenomenon. Th ere had been a notice- able increase in the number of people at its various panels and evening events over the past few years, but in 2010, registrants packed the Austin Convention Center for all nine days of the Interactive, Film and Music conferences. Panels and speaker sessions that once had been held in smaller meeting rooms moved to the large ballrooms. Th e Film Festival continued to earn accolades and prestige, off ering a mix of major studio movies such as Kick-Ass along with critically acclaimed fi lms including Winter's Bone and Marwencol. Pierson pointed to the audiences of fi lm lovers at SXSW as a key drawing point for fi lmmakers, something not always present at Sundance or Cannes. Th e festival also hosted a number of fi lm stars during the course of the week, including the irrepressible Bill Murray, who delighted patrons and staff at Shangri-La by climbing behind the bar and serving drinks. SXSW Music hosted Motown luminary Smokey Robinson as its keynote speaker. Robinson also performed to a packed crowd at the Austin Music Hall, where his warmth and charm were on full display. "Smokey was incredibly kind and gracious, complete with an equally friendly crew, band and dancers who were quick to make friends with everyone involved in the showcase," remembers Stacey Wilhelm, SXSW Music Festival booker. Th e week was colored by tragedy and loss when Alex Chilton, who had been scheduled to appear on a Big Star panel and to perform with his old band, died suddenly at his home in New Orleans just prior to leaving for Austin. Quickly, the panel became a tribute as original Big Star members Jody Stephens and Andy Hummel shared stories about their bandmate. Th e scheduled concert at Antone's on Saturday turned into a poignant all-star tribute event as artists from John Doe to M. Ward to Chris Stamey joined the rest of Big Star to salute Chilton. By the time SXSW Music ended, the festival had hosted nearly 2,000 Price, which discussed how businesses could build customer loyalty and subsequent earnings by giving products away. A new addition to Interactive was SXSW Accelerator, a competition in which entrepre- neurs presented their ideas to a panel of venture capitalists in hope of securing funding. As 2010 arrived and the SXSW Interactive registration numbers artists on 89 stages. SXSW Film had screened more than 270 fi lms, and SXSW Interactive had hosted 300-plus panels and sessions. Combined, the three conferences contributed an estimated $113 million to the local Austin economy. share in the revenue from all the music being downloaded for free, the recording industry will continue to shrink," says Swenson. "Other parts of the music business will adapt and even prosper, but it's all on shifting sand until that piece is in place." With digital media dominating so much of what used to be the tradi- tional ways of doing business in music and fi lm, the clearly defi ned lines between the various conferences have blurred, leading to the application of the term "creative industries" as a catch-all. SXSW has responded by introducing cross-conference events that bring together registrants from diff erent conferences. As barriers are broken even further by new technological innovations, this trend is likely to continue. Th e 2011 introduction of the Exhibition For Creative Industries — an integrated interactive, fi lm and music trade show — pointed to this trend. SXSW has grown from 700 registrants in 1987 to more than 49,000 in 2011. Th e event's profi le has gone from local and regional to global, with Austin's downtown transformed into the center of the creative uni- verse for nine days each March. So what will the future bring? "SXSW will continue to be a platform for creative people to promote and distribute their work to the rest of the world," Swenson says. "What new technology is going to come along that enhances how that's done is what will keep it interesting." ★ As SXSW reached its 25th anniversary in 2011, it had been fi rmly established as a force in Austin's local economy and civic identity, as well as an internationally lauded showplace for innovation and discovery. Th e music industry that SXSW once relied upon has changed dramati- cally, especially in the past decade. Revenues from CD sales decreased by more than 50% between 1999 and 2009 (according to Forrester Research), and the dominance of major labels as incubators of new artists has waned accordingly. However, performing rights organiza- tions such as BMI and ASCAP are reporting record royalty revenue, while smaller independent labels and booking agents are more visible and arguably more infl uential than ever before. And the collision of the digital realm with the music business is on annual display at SXSW. "Until the industry comes to terms with the ISPs, and fi nds a way to This is the fi fth of fi ve excerpts from SXSW Scrapbook: People and Things That Went Before. The book was published by UT Press and is available through UT Press and any online book retailer. Do you have a SXSW memory to share? Or a photo from an important show or event at SXSW? Send it to scrapbook@sxsw.com SXSW ORLD / M AY – J UNE 201 1 19 JESSE KNISH ERIN FOTOS