The Role South by Southwest (SXSW) in Entertainment

The SXSW Role in Entertainment

The first South by Southwest Music Conference and Festival (SXSW) was held in 1987 in Austin, Texas. At the time no one know the impact SXSW would have but from it first festival in 1994 it was clear that they would be around for a long time.

South by Southwest is one of the leading connects in the entertainment industry with its brand spread across the globe SXSW has offices in Ireland, Germany, Australia and Japan.

Since 1987 it has grow from 700 music registrants to over 16,000 in 2010.

This shows the importance of SXSW and what it offers to the local artists around the world. In March SXSW hosts a week festival where it brings up to 32,000 people a year in the industries of film media and music.

Providing the platform for thousands of local independent artist to showcase their talents in front of the A&R Label executives and other national recording artists. SXSW offers multiple promotion alleys through live shows and net radio.

SXSW offers the best networking that an independent artist can ask for. During the festival and its other showcases across the globe, these artist have full access to producers and engineers from all areas and with the right approach they can go from unknown to well-known overnight.

Like anything else knowing the right person will get you ahead of the crowd. Using SXSW as a vessel for career enhancement in the entertainment field is the smartest thing and local artist or filmmaker can do. There are other associations such as the Recording Industry Association of America, Motion Picture Association of America, American Music Center and several others that deliver very good information on industry trends and news on specific topics that only apply to certain industries.

I personally have yet to make it out to the SXSW week in March but it’s on my top three things to do for next year. Promotion through networking and by joining such a powerful association is something that in the end has a value that you cannot place a price on. Being able to show your membership to these types of associations shows how serious a person takes their craft, rather it is in music or film. One cannot go wrong by joining the SXSW family but they can benefit from all they have to offer from promotion, exposer, information and opportunity SXSW is an extremely valued commodity in the entertainment industry.

Sources for information 

www.sxsw.com
www.riaa.com
www.mpaa.com
www.amc.com