Keith Urban is in the iTunes Festival during the SXSW Music Festival on Saturday in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Jack Plunkett / Invision / AP)
AUSTIN, Texas | rapper Schoolboy Q a few years ago had a great time in his first South By Southwest, but was angry this year, he played a series of concerts at the annual conference and music festival .
Everywhere he turned, he stood to his fans in locations outside the corporate brand, adorned unable to give because they had a formal invitation.
“It’s stupid. , You changed everything. Actual company," said while preparing for a show on Saturday. "I will never go back, if they do not, where the fans are in. I'm tired of the implementation and see my fans out the door.... That is not fair to change. Was not that about the fans any more, it comes to money, which can give you the best view. "
As South By Southwest be closed 28 Year Sunday, the participants discussed the growing influence of business in the conference. Critics say that SXSW has evolved over its core purpose: support new bands get discovered. Instead, they say , the media attention has shifted on celebrities like Jay Z , Kanye West, Lady Gaga , Coldplay, Ceelo Green, Rick Ross, Keith Urban and many more whose intense promotional appearances become well established over by international brands.
Is bad compared to 1 percent in miniature, and this change in the environment is relatively new. Even those who say that the spotlight before, it is always found hard to break.
"It feels different South By us," said Adam Thompson, guitarist and singer of the Scottish band We Were Promised Jetpacks, who made his fourth appearance at the festival. “It feels like the first two were fantastic helping us, concerts and people notice about us. A too silly thing like our name was funny, so people come to see us.
"We are just back from a nice trip with some beautiful places, and now we’re kind of thrown by the walls sometimes you think.” I would in a big club with a sound instead of playing not in a position on the stage to hear. ... "
An hour later, the band had technical and sound problems after hastily assembling your team, but left the place with a few fans in three days, fed by his fourth five sets.
