South By South What?

Have you heard of SXSW (South By Southwest)? When I first heard about it I thought it was just another typical music festival, but I was wrong. I just recently found out what it's all about, and I think I'm still wrapping my head around it all. Check out a quote I found, it explains it all:

"Every March, thousands of young, jeans-wearing techies, filmmakers and musicians descend uptown Austin, Texas, harboring dreams of getting noticed and hitting it big. They come not just for the balmy weather or the Tex-Mex food but for South By Southwest, a collection of conferences and festivals that's considered one of the most influential happenings on that annual cultural calendar." - CNN

How awesome is that? A music festival plus a conference with all of the music industry's major players. I couldn't even imagine. As I read more on their website, I learned that SXSW has become the leading music industry event in the past 25 years and that this year is to be the best yet. This March, so many people will attend SXSW, to be more exact over 16,000 music industry professionals will attend and over 2,000 acts will perform at over 90 music venues. I started to wonder who specifically got to go to such an event and I found these demographics from last year.

I spent hours playing on their site, learning everything I could about this event. I found this marketing guide to be very interesting, as well. I even checked to see if my spring break was the same week, because having the opportunity to go would open so many doors for me. The networking alone would be unreal, not to mention seeing some of my favorite indie bands perform in such a cool music city, all the while doing business and learning from the best, maybe even finding a band to manage. Another quote that stood out to me so much that I got goosebumps was this one from the New York Times: 

"While the Internet has made it easier for people to discover music from a distance, SXSW long ago acquired the critical mass that keeps people returning. Among the people with name tags are those who might sign musicians, book a tour date, do an interview, offer a management deal or pick a song for a commercial or soundtrack"

I really would love to be able to attend SXSW someday. I've been to a few conferences before, and they are the most fun you can have while learning/absorbing so much important information at a fast rate. But a music conference? Sign me up!