[FA Worldmusic] SXSW musings

[evangelinekim at att.net]

Marco,
Have no doubts.  Keep on keeping on.
Best,
Evangeline

-------------- Original message from "Marco Werman" <marco.werman at bbc.co.uk>: -------------- 


> Musings on World Music at SXSW: A Minority Report 
> 
> 
> I've been curating the All Music Is World Music showcase now for three 
> years at SXSW. A few years ago, I had the idea of roping off an evening 
> with a few international acts that fell under the "world music" banner, 
> along with a few that didn't, but which were global in spirit. After 
> seeing all the international artists who showed up at SXSW, I felt that 
> many of the rock and pop acts shared a similar guerilla/DIY ethos of 
> many world music artists. Despite the genre heading and language they 
> sing in, all these musicians have something to say and what they all 
> make is, after all, music. And the enormous fringe benefit for the 
> audience would be discovery. 
> 
> This year's showcase featured Ana Laan, Eliza Carthy, NOMO, Tita Lima, 
> and Mexican Institute of Sound. The turnout was not huge, but probably 
> above average for a SXSW showcase, with the room at its fullest for 
> NOMO, a crowd intent on dancing. Ana Laan seemed to attract the most 
> professional attention, and from what I hear, she enjoyed her SXSW 
> experience. 
> 
> The day after the showcase, I was pestered by doubt. I come to this 
> showcase production thing not as a booker or music programmer, but as a 
> journalist who wants to extend the musical experience I aim to create on 
> the radio to a live setting. I also believe that SXSW and Austin offer 
> a unique and receptive setting for performance of world music. And 
> infiltration into these unexpected locales seems like a good way to 
> acquire new converts to music in foreign languages with groovy rhythms 
> (think Bonnaroo and Coachella -- esp this year). 
> 
> The All Music Is World Music showcase is co-sponsored by Austin's 
> beloved public radio station KUT. They have a lot of world music in 
> rotation, and PRI's The World has the city's highest market share in its 
> 7pm time slot. KUT did a lot of promotion this year with all the 
> artists in the showcase (with the exception of MIS). And not 
> surprisingly (like last year), many of those in attendance at the venue 
> were locals. They did not have badges or wristbands. They bought 
> tickets to the show. That's a good thing. 
> 
> But how much does this showcase do for the artists? I don't know the 
> faces, but I didn't get a sense that any labels (major or minor) were in 
> the room trolling for unsigned talent. 
> 
> Then again, according to many I spoke with at SXSW, that may not really 
> be the MO of SXSW any more. This is a time when the music business is 
> working over numerous scenarios over where the industry is headed. So 
> the notion of going to Austin to find the next unknown big thing and 
> putting them on a CD is looking quaint at best. For artists who have to 
> play for what amounts to nothing, it's an even more pointed question. 
> That's what bounced around in my head: what's the point of coaxing an 
> Eliza Carthy to shell out a bunch of her own money to make a stop in 
> Austin? Is the proper venue for this kind of thing GlobalFest or 
> Bonnaroo? Does it make sense to continue this kind of event at SXSW? 
> 
> These questions are linked to a discussion that happened at Saturday's 
> "World Music Roundtable" panel session. Leigh Ann Hahn rightly asked 
> whether we in the room represented the choir preaching to the choir. 
> There were no major players in the room. And the panel did not have a 
> David Byrne for example who could fill the room and bring in a bunch of 
> non-believers and/or people from outside the world music community. The 
> lesson the room concluded is that we all need to be more clever in how 
> we bring those people to this music. 
> 
> My conundrum that I'm still dealing with: is getting world music 
> artists to SXSW a clever thing, or a waste of time? 
> 
> 
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