The best way to experience SXSW is with a platinum badge, as I discovered last year. There’s nothing more satisfying than strolling past an 800-person line, checking out the band for five minutes, deciding they suck, and moving on to the next venue.
For the billions of people on the planet who won’t be filling Austinites’ coffers by traveling there to see the bands in person this year, there are a number of ways to listen to the artists performing at the festival from the comfort of your own home.
Slacker’s Free SXSW Stream You can hone this interactive SXSW-bands-only radio station featuring by clicking Heart or Ban as the songs play.
sxsw.imeem.com Imeem leverages its ability to stream full-length songs for free by offering a massive amount of on-demand SXSW music sliced and diced by label, showcase, and date of performance, allowing it to double as a planning aide for those lucky enough to attend. The site even has a special playlist dedicated to the "10 awesomest band names" scheduled to play this year (Ringo Deathstarr anyone?) and a time machine-like playlist of the best bands who "played" at SXSW in 2008.
SXSW’s audio stream Click the link for "SXSW Player" at the lower left of the above-linked page for SXSW’s own searchable music stream.
Update: The Unofficial Torrent File As commenters pointed out below, I should have included the torrent file containing music from 964 bands playing SXSW.
Any other suggestions? What’s the best way to experience SXSW from afar?
