sxsw

The Orchard adds iPhone apps to its arsenal

A couple weeks ago, I wrote about how Seattle company Melodeo had created an iPhone application for the band Presidents of the United States of America, which delivers the band's music in a direct stream, rather than forcing users to download (and pay for) each song individually.

On Thursday at South by Southwest (SXSW), digital-marketing and distribution specialist The Orchard announced that it's adding iPhone applications to its arsenal of tools.

The Orchard handles songs from more than 14,000 acts, focusing on musicians on independent labels such as Amphetamine Reptile, Ipecac, and Lookout (just to name three … Read more

Artist as Enterpreneur panel: A follow-up

AUSTIN, Texas--Thanks to everybody who came out to hear the Artist as Entrepreneur panel on Wednesday at South by Southwest. I had a great time doing it, and I enjoyed my (too short) interactions with the other panelists and with the audience after the show.

We were pressed for time at the end, so I wanted to share some random thoughts and reactions to some questions that I didn't have time to address.

Touring.Here, I tend to agree with Adam Lewis from Planetary: if you're still opening up on a Tuesday night in your home town, you … Read more

Real's Rhapsody: Streaming to change the music biz

AUSTIN, Texas--At South by Southwest here, I had a short but interesting conversation Wednesday afternoon with Tim Quirk, the vice president of music programming for Rhapsody, wedged in around a set from Jersey punks Titus Andronicus (who had very tight and well-constructed songs with incredible energy and some interesting triple-guitar work, but I don't know if the singer's going to make it another three days).

Quirk, who's been with Rhapsody since before it was acquired by RealNetworks, suggested that streaming music on demand will change the mechanics of the music business because artists (and other stakeholders) won'… Read more

Is your brand vulnerable?

Social media strategist Shannon Paul, who works with the NHL Detroit Red Wings, said many good things on a SXSW panel this Sunday, but the one thing that stuck with me most was her assertion that brands need to become more “human” in order to connect with their audiences. She wasn’t referring to personifying a brand through a human face (be it an average employee or a charismatic leader), but rather to exhibiting ‘branded’ behavior that is truly human. What does that mean? What is the most human trait of all human traits? Shannon Paul posits it’s vulnerability.… Read more

At SXSWi, hacking 'The hat game'

AUSTIN, Texas--"Is that the hat, Mr. Terdiman?"

My inquisitor was Alice Taylor, a prominent British video game journalist and, like me, an attendee at the South by Southwest Interactive (SXSWi) festival here this week. But the bowler Taylor--whom I know through professional and social circles--had spotted on my head and was asking me about was most definitely not the hat she thought it was.

And she was hardly the only one seeing this black chapeau resting atop my dome and thinking that it was something other than a stylish headpiece. In fact, all day Monday, strangers and … Read more

At SXSWi, how much should big media be listening?

AUSTIN, Texas--With panels and discussions every year about social engineering, hacking, remixing, and culture jamming, South by Southwest Interactive is the must-attend conference for geeks who want to shake things up.

Maybe that's why the many panels at the conference about the future of media--from print to broadcast to music to film--were tinged with the message that fast, often radical change is necessary. With panel topics like "How Copyright Law Failed The Digital Age," "New Think for Old Publishers," and "Old Media Finds New Voice Through Twitter," this year's SXSWi promised to … Read more

SXSWi 2009: Tech fest in Texas

roundup South by Southwest Interactive in Austin is the ultimate petri dish for tech enthusiasts eager to try out innovative ways to meet up, socialize, and consume media.

Latest coverage Featured stories At SXSW, attendees confront Twitter saturation So many people are using the "#sxsw" tag in their tweets that it has become extremely hard to filter for worthwhile panels and parties. That is creating an opportunity for other services. (Posted in Webware by Daniel Terdiman) March 14, 2009 1:10 PM PDT Facebook: It's party time for the social Web...on the iPhone Facebook Connect for … Read more

I Can Has Interview?

I've been in Austin for less than 24 hours and I'm already exhausted but Ben Huh the founder of I Can Has Cheezburger woke me up--I meet up with him for my first interview at SXSW. He was a speaker on a SXSW Interactive panel called "UR Blog Sux and Print is Dead." The panelists discussed the pros and cons of being Internet famous and gave advice on how to be an successful blogger. Speakers included Christian Lander from Stuff White People Like, Kerry Miller from Passiveaggressivenotes.com, Heather Armstrong from Blurbodoocery Inc, and Ana Marie … Read more

Does location-based networking need some direction?

AUSTIN, Texas--There's Loopt, Brightkite, Whrrl, FourSquare, Rummble, uLocate, Google Latitude, Yahoo Fire Eagle, and goodness knows which other ones we haven't heard of yet. The location-based mobile networking space has been front and center at this year's South by Southwest Interactive Festival as hundreds of tech enthusiasts from around the country have been eager to find their friends and learn what's happening.

Perhaps it's fitting that in one of the festival's last panels on Tuesday afternoon, a handful of executives and high-level developers from the location-awareness space got together for a discussion called "… Read more