Bits & Bytes 3/10

Monday, March 10  |  SXSW Kicks Off, Beats & Spotify Acquisitions

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Monday, March 10thSXSW Kicks Off + Beats & Spotify Make Large PurchasesSXSW kicked off this weekend and we've got some of the companies, gadgets and trends to watch out for below. In other news, both Spotify and Beats announced large acquisitions this past week. Beats Music on Tuesday announced it is purchasing Topspin Media, a platform that lets artists sell merchandise and albums directly to fans. Spotify acquired music tech company The Echo Nest in a $100M deal that TechCrunch speculates brings it closer to its ultimate goal: "To be the music identity provider across the web and mobile the way Facebook has become a social identity provider."

5 Finalists From SXSW’s Accelerator Competition With Musical Potential via SoundCtrl

Apple Hops On The Passenger Side With CarPlay via SoundCtrl

Talentcall Puts Music Discovery In Fans’ Hands

via SoundCtrl

Mew: The Purring, Hissing Sound Art Piece

via SoundCtrl

Together, Spotify And Echo Nest Want To Build The Facebook Connect Of Music via TechCrunch

Lunch With Daniel Ek via Lefsetz Letter

Spotify's Daniel Ek, Echo Nest's Jim Lucchese Explain What The Big Data Deal Is (Q&A) via Billboard

Beats Music Acquires Music Marketing And Monetization Company Topspin Media via TechCrunch

Lady Gaga Playing Stubbs at SXSW For Doritos, Must Do 'Bold Mission' To Get In via Billboard

How SXSW Turned Austin Into a Cultural Mecca via Mashable

7Digital’s music service is coming to Tizen OS and Samsung smartwatches via The Next Web

How Bittorrent Rewrote the Rules of the Internet via Fast Company