Matthew Siegel // Blog

In the morning, we learned that original ideas for the internet date back to the 1830s...that's right, they didn't have the telephone, but some guy still thought the internet would be a pretty cool idea. Since most of our short term memory was erased later on in the day by the nuclear tacos (read on for more), you can check out that cool dude's name and other interesting factoids about the history of the interwebs at Alex Wright's website.

One of the new friends we've made here at SXSW (a great guy from ASCAP by the name of Mark Palermo) decided that as SXSWi newbies we had to experience the nuclear taco buffet in Brush Square Park. Being the cavalier hot-pepper-eaters that we are, we dove right in to the nuclear (nucular as Reagan would say) tacos and we were certainly regrettful of our arrogance. These were the most painful things we've ever had to eat, but at SXSW, if it's free and you can eat it, you have to take it.

We capped off the night with an awesome show from Boston synth-pop act Freezepop - Jesse has been photographing the band for years and insisted that this was one show we didn't want to miss - it certainly dissapoint. This band is a lot of fun - especially if you like to dance - and they have exceptionally stylish schwag that I would recommend wearing even if you don't like synth-pop and keytars.

The highlight from yesterday (our 2nd day down here at SXSW) had to be meeting Bela Fleck and seeing the world premier of his documentary film, Throw Down Your Heart (co-produced with his brother). Bela is one of our favorite musicians (and people) at Indaba; I've been fortunate to have met him a few times, and every time he's just as warm and genuine as ever (despite obviously having no idea who I am). Yesterday Bela played a great solo set and then went across the street to premier the film at the Alamo Ritz.

Bela, who is one of the greatest banjo players of all time, takes his banjo on a trip across Africa to trace its roots as an African instrument and play with traditional musicians, many of whom have never even seen a banjo before. The film was beautiful and inspiring, and the music was incredible. A highlight for me was the 15 foot marimba that was played by upwards of 5 people at a time over a giant pit in the ground. I am anxiously awaiting the release of the soundtrack for obvious reasons. If you have a chance to see Bela's extraordinary movie, make sure to go.

To recap the day from a broader perspective, the whole experience of Bela's film served as a great little microcosm of why I love being here at SXSW so much. We got to interact with an incredible musician face-to-face after hearing him play an incredible set. We got to see a piece of media that no one in the world has seen before while drinking a pitcher of great Texan beer in a movie theater that, yes, serves drinks and food at your seat. And to top it all off, we made a new friend while waiting in line for the movie who also happens to be creating new opportunities for musicians (check out Magnatune - a very interesting company experimenting with new models for how a record label can function). More to come!

It's about 7pm here in Austin, TX, ending our first full day of conferencing here at SXSW. Me, Dan, and Jesse came down for the Interactive festival, and the rest of the Indaba team will be joining us for music next week. First and most importantly, I must report that the BBQ is as good as I remember last year, and we will certainly be returing to Stubb's again before leaving town (perhaps 3 or 4 times if our arteries can handle it). Dropkick Murphys happened to be playing the outdoor venue while we ate so the ambience was awesome.

So far I have to say that in terms of insight and awareness of the sweeping changes taking place in technology and also in music, the Interactive festival is far more progressive and forward-thinking than Music was last year. Everyone here seems to "get it" - not surprising of course since this is a conference made up entirely of people who work on websites for a living. Today we heard panels on building successful online communities leveraging the web for artist promotion just to name a few, but more importantly we had some great conversations with other people working to reinvent and improve the ways people find and work together online. Not much by way of specifics to report just yet (since I am exhausted and am cutting this short so I can take a nap before dinner), but we'll be blogging all week so there's more to come...

And if there are any Indabans down here that we don't know about, please let us know so we can get together!

And here's Dan talking to a very nice reporter at lunch courtesy of Sam at drop.io...(hopefully our pictures will get more exciting)

I definitely had an awesome time these past few days at SXSW. Austin is a great city, especially if you are a fan of live music. Dave described it as "Brooklyn with guns ans Mexican food." Touche. Even the places we went that weren't really associated with SXSW has a constant stream of young bands - you can't really avoid discovering new music even if you want to. Texan beer is good too. 2 highlights for me personally that I want to share - 1) I am really happy Dave made us go to the Paolo Nutini show - he's great. The live show we saw at Stubb's was a lot of fun, and I bought the album as soon as we got back to New York. I highly recommend checking him out. 2) Saturday night we went to this place called The Broken Spoke outside of town. Wow. I've never seen anything like this - a genuine Texan two-stepping bar, complete with sequined lead singer, creaky floors, 3 dollar beers, and a gospel closing number. If you're ever in Austin, check it out for an truly authentic experience. Anyway, a fun time all around. I will certainly be back next year.

This morning at SXSW, panelists including Marybeth Peters (the US Register of Copyrights), Ali Aydar (the COO at Snocap), Rick Carnes (President, Songwriters Guild of America), Rebecca Greenberg (Nat'l Director, Recording Artists' Coalition), and Patrick Ross (The Progress and Freedom Foundation) gave an interesting (for more reasons than one) panel this morning called "Can Art Survive Google?" Rather than attempt to answer this question, the panel was more interested in simply ranting against Google - unfortunately in the process doing a great disservice to independent musicians (and the one poor girl from Google who was in the room). Let me start by saying that I have not been a supporter of Gootube's massive copyright infringement. That said, a good discussion of copyright, emerging content-sharing and distribution technologies and music must include an examination of the huge contributions recent developments have made to art and culture. Instead, the panel divided nearly all of its time between arguing that copyright owners need a better seat at the table (I agree), that the DMCA's Safe Harbor provision provides inadequate protection of content creators, and slinging derogatory comments at Google (not very productive). Marybeth Peters, who was one of the only panelists abstaining from the latter, made a good point - people shouldn't break the law. However, she also said that "This country has to incentivise creators, and the way we do that is with the system we have." This type of support for the status quo in copyright law was pervasive - there was no mention at any point of Creative Commons or even DRM, to say nothing of the fact that copyright law hasn't exactly been progressive when it comes to the internet and digital music). Ali Aydar from Snocap even stated that the YouTube acquisition has incentivised young entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley (who he mentioned with great derision in his voice) to build businesses around copyright infringement. I'm not sure that's true, but even if it is, what about all the wonderful new opportunities these entrepreneurs have created for independent artists? Copyright law clearly has to evolve, content creators clearly need better tools to help them control their own work, and new technologies are clearly changing the ways people not just consume, but also create content. I expected to hear a discussion of these kinds of questions: What will copyright law look like in the future? How will creators retain (and regain) control)? What is the impact of technologies like Google on art (and music)? Instead, I heard this: Google is breaking the law. Well, I already knew that. And the Indaba team was out way too late last night down here in Austin to get out of bed for an 11am panel to hear it again. In fact, the reason I think this panel is worth blogging about at all is because it underlines a pervasive problem in the music industry - the powers that be really don't understand what's going on in media or technology. Rather than ask "Can Art Survive Google?" I'd therefore ask, "Can the internet (and all it's new ways of helping artists) survive the music industry?" given how hell-bent they are on destroying it's innovation. Independent artists won't benefit from an industry that is clinging to existing technology and law - they will (as they already are) benefit from adapting to new forms of content distribution. How they will do that, and how the law will help them, is an interesting discussion to have. Going on a tirade against Google isn't.

I am happy to report that I am on may way to fulfilling at least one of my new year's resolutions, as the Indaba team officially has plans to attend South by Southwest in Austin this year. We'll be there for the music festival from March 14-18, which also means we'll be there for my birthday on St. Patrick's Day. Let us know if you'll be there too...I'm psyched particularly since I've never been before, although last year I only missed it by a few hundred miles since I was in Houston at the time. Check out SXSW at http://2007.sxsw.com