The geeks won.
As the mainstream got hip to Web 2.0 in
2006, SXSW Interactive was already becoming a bigger draw in Austin, Texas, than the festival's music segment.
Sure SXSW Music performances are awesome. It's not that the bands are being upstaged by Diggnation. It's just that the Music panels don't ever top the ones featured at SXSWi. Does anyone even care about the Music panels?
Exhibit A (at right, originally published by the Austin Chronicle and enhanced for effect).
Still don't agree?
Exhibit B: 2008's Twitter-dominated, keynote (trainwreck) featuring Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg got more press (and is far more memorable) than any SXSW music keynote, ever.
But SXSW Music's panels don't have to be so lame. We cooked up nine hypothetical SXSW Music panels/keynotes we'd actually line up and pay good money to see. (Also be sure to check out our list of must-see bands and actual SXSW panels if you're on the ground in Austin and looking for a real tip rather than a laugh.)
- Pop Star Courtship, Copulation and Conception: A Pete Wentz PowerPoint
- Retirement Threats and Publicity 101: Jay-Z, 50 Cent, John Mayer, Ryan Adams and Joaquin Phoenix
- Kanye West Self-Liveblog! (Plus Post-Rant Meltdown)
- How to Lampoon Mainstream Poptards: "Weird Al" Yankovic and Andy Samberg
- Boy Were We Wrong! with Doug Morris, Edgar Bronfman Jr. and The RIAA
- How Rich Musician$ U$e Free to Get Filthy(ier) Rich: Trent Reznor and Thom Yorke
- Keynote: Sarah Lacy in Conversation, Flirtation with Rupert Murdoch
- Is Hip-Hop Dead? Full-Contact Cage Match Featuring Ice-T vs. Soulja Boy
- "Genius" Takes Time, Money and a Studio in Your Mansion, with Brian Wilson and Axl Rose
See also:
