SXSW Reminds Critic That As Much As Things Change Music Promo Remains The Same

An interesting take on how the net is changing how we often discover new bands and the people behind the scenes from the NY Times’ critic at Kelefa Sanneh at SXSW:

"…For many of the savvy listeners (even, perhaps especially, the amateur ones) in town, this week might be the only time all year they’re likely to see a band live without first having visited the site and downloaded an MP3. For a few days, an ancient tradition — checking out a band simply because a friend says it’s good — comes back to life…"

"…But in another sense, SXSW provides a useful corrective to the world of MP3 blogs. When those songs get beamed around the Internet, it’s seductive to think that bands and listeners have eliminated the middlemen: music goes straight from the recording studio to your laptop. This conference is a reminder of how many professionals it takes to turn an amateur band into a popular MP3. Here, "behind the scenes" is the scene: the place is packed with publicists (right now, Envelopes should be thanking theirs) and managers and booking agents and marketing teams and even a few old-fashioned radio D.J.’s. This is a big part of what makes SXSW tick: middlemen as far as the eye can see."