[FA Worldmusic] SXSW musings

[Dmitri Vietze]

Just a quick note to say, Marco, it is SO great that you have been working
on the SXSW infiltration mission for the past few years! It's been a couple
of years since I went, but I think you are right on target with trying to
"grow the market" there.

In response to your questions: One of the things about breaking out of the
"world music ghetto" is not using that name. Now if we could get every SXSW
showcase to be called All Music is World Music, then it would be
ghetto-busting. Since that is not likely to happen, maybe an effort to get
all cross-cultural bands to hand out pins or literature or somehow unite and
brand the global influence at SXSW would have a bigger impact than a single
showcase that is in one venue one night, and possibly not even attended by
as many SXSW attendees, but by locals (as you say). I believe the intent of
what you are doing is to have "world music" rub off on the hipster attendees
and vice versa. We know that there is a lot of overlap, but when I was at
SXSW a couple of years ago, MIA was just breaking, and I could not get
within a block of her showcase due to the long line. And I think 95% of the
audience probably could care less if "we" call her "world music." But if
they did hear us say it they might sneer.

So I think it is an issue of branding this type of listening we all do,
enjoying global music with a global ear. With the shifts in music discovery
and consumption, the term world music--though still fine for shorthand among
the choir here--is not going to earn us any new friends. Unless somehow the
term "world music" becomes cool, and I doubt that.

Much respect,

Dmitri Vietze
rock paper scissors, inc.
216 W. Allen St., Suite 137
Bloomington, IN 47403
TEL +1-812-339-1195
FAX +1-801-729-4911
music at rockpaperscissors.biz
www.rockpaperscissors.biz

{{music of global significance}}

p u b l i c i t y   f o r   t h e   w o r l d

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Marco Werman" <marco.werman at bbc.co.uk>
To: "FAworld music list" <fa-worldmusic at folk.org>
Sent: Monday, March 19, 2007 12:05 PM
Subject: [FA Worldmusic] SXSW musings


> 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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