INFLUENCING EMERGING MUSIC TECH CULTURE

March 16th, 2015

Thoughts from the CEO: Greetings from Austin! SXSW is in full gear. The weekend was amazing. Highlights in the first few days have been Roc Nation’s Raptor House, the launch of Ashton Kutcher and Guy Oseary’s Sound Ventures, SoulCyle’s collaboration at The Spotify House and catching a midnight set from Mark Ronson at The Pandora Den. Meerkat is all the buzz in the tech circles. Looks like it’s going to be breakout hit (though I haven’t yet seen any musicians really killing the platform). Many tech influencers and brands have jumped on so it will be interesting to see how things progress. Always exciting to see how SXSW can take a company from 0-100 - real quick! 

Although the tech portion of the conference is filled with bright ideas and smart people, there seems to be a big miss with how music is integrated into the culture. The two worlds don’t co-mingle in conversation and vision the way it could. Sure, a few places get it right but there needs to be a stronger bridge between these worlds. It will be telling to watch how the week progresses and the music world starts to migrate into Austin. I’m out here 12 days and not exactly sure how i’m going to make it through ;) Catch my #SXSW round up in Bullet Magazine!

Make sure to mark the live season premiere CRWN with Big Sean on Wednesday, here in Austin! 

- Jesse K (@JesseKay)

 

RIP

The Life & Death of Gigaom

As most know, we lost Gigaom last week. It was a sudden passing of a widely beloved tech media company, which had just topped up the tank a year ago with an $8 million funding round. What went wrong? 

 

SXSW

A Bigger, Better Trap

SXSW may have failed at protectin

g the integrity of its brand but is the only way to save itself now to shrink radically? 

 

Streaming

Spotify's Identity

The new look signals an identity shift: "We're a music brand, not a tech company!"

 

Apps

Investing In The Fan

DropKloud uses geo-fencing technology to put VIP access to exclusive artist content into the hands of fans at SXSW launch. 

 

SXSW

Brands Explode 

What was once a grassroots festival for emerging artists has morphed into a showcase for emerging technologies. 

 

Record Labels 

NEW: Wondaland

Janelle Mon

áe builds a music empire that's sparking a 'revolution in your head' by empowering emerging artists. 

 

Brands x Bands

The Patch: Austin TX

Sour Patch Kids' launches the second crash pad for brands in Austin, kicks off in time for SXSW. Take a look inside! 

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