South by Southwest (SXSW, Inc.) is a private company based in Austin, Texas, with a year-round staff of professionals dedicated to building and delivering conference and festival events for entertainment and related media industry professionals. Since 1987, SXSW has produced the internationally recognized Music and Media Conference & Festival.
As the entertainment business adjusted to issues of future growth and development, in 1993, SXSW added conferences and festivals for the film industry (SXSW Film) as well as for the blossoming interactive media (SXSW Interactive Festival). Now three industry events converge in Austin during a Texas-sized week, mirroring the ever increasing convergence of entertainment/media outlets.
In addition to the SXSWeek events, NXNW is a production of SXSW as well. In association with NOW, an alternative newsweekly in Toronto, SXSW is also involved in North by Northeast (NXNE), held in Toronto, Canada in late Spring.
About SXSW
http://2005.sxsw.com/about/?PHPSESSI...dcf26a9ada80a8
They announced the music schedule last week:
http://2005.sxsw.com/music/
Fun background on Austin that also applies to why it was picked for the Real World:
Why Austin?
The first South by Southwest Music Conference and Festival (SXSW) was held in 1987 in Austin, Texas. Despite the fact that Austin is not a major metropolitan city, the background and character of the city made it a perfect location for the conference. Austin has always been considered a fairly cosmopolitan town for its size because of the University of Texas, which draws people from all over the world. As home to the state government and Texas Legislature it has also always been a popular party town, with a reputation that goes back to the 19th century when numerous nightspots and bars were populated by General Custer's troops after the Civil War. These nightspots are located in the same areas where the 6th Street and 4th Street club and bar scenes now exist.
Austin's eclectic music scene goes back to early in the city's history (from Mexican, German and colonial origins) and encompasses a wide variety of music including country, folk, jazz, blues and rock. Central Austin boasts more original music nightclubs in a concentrated area than any other city in the world.
The classic problem facing Austin musicians was being isolated from the rest of the world here in the middle of Texas. SXSW was a way to reach out to the rest of the world, and bring them here to do business. To do that successfully, SXSW needed to appeal to people other than local artists whether they were from Austin, Ft. Worth, Chicago, Toronto, Munich or Tokyo.
National interest in SXSW was immediate. For years, music businesses on both coasts had been intrigued by what was going on in Austin. The cosmic cowboy, blues, punk and other scenes had already proven that Austin was a receptive place for bands to be creative. With SXSW, music industry executives gained a good excuse to come here.
International interest in SXSW began the second year due to many Austin and American bands finding their first success in Europe. Conversely, there was a lot of interest from SXSW registrants in the international bands who came to perform. SXSW offices were set up in Europe and Asia to help bring those cultures to Austin.
The music event has grown from 700 people in 1987 to over 8000 people. As Austin has grown and diversified, film companies and high-tech companies have played a major role in the Austin and the Texas economy. In 1994, SXSW added a film and interactive component to accommodate these growth industries. SXSW Film and SXSW Interactive events attract approximately 6000 people to Austin every March.
The goal from the beginning was to create an event that would act as a tool for creative people and the companies they work with to develop their careers, to bring together people from a wide area to meet and share ideas. That continues to be the goal today whether it is music, film or the internet. And Austin continues to be the perfect location.
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