The Royalty Scam

Last week at South by Southwest, the rock music conference held every year in Austin, Tex., the talk in hotel lobbies, coffeeshops and the convention center was dominated by one issue: how do musicians make a living in the age of the Internet? It’s a problem our industry has struggled with in the wake of the rising popularity of sharing mp3 music files. Our discussions were brought into sharp relief when news reached Austin of the sale of Bebo.com to AOL for a staggering $850 million. (Billy Brad in NY Times, e-Consultancy)

SXSW: Ticketmaster CEO on service fees, dynamic pricing

Ticketmaster CEO Sean Moriarty said the ticketing business is likely to move more and more to a dynamic pricing structure, and defended the company's service fees that are added to the cost of a ticket at a Friday afternoon panel at the South by Southwest Music Conference (SXSW) in Austin, Texas. (LA Times)

SXSW: Lou Reed is Not a Fan of the MP3

Lou Reed is decidedly frosty on the notion of digital music. A classic audiophile. "Technology is making it easier to make things worse," he proclaimed during his keynote interview on Thursday at SXSW, with veteran music producer and 20-year collaborator Hal Willner. "If you are one of those people like me who like 'good sound,' you need good speakers, a good stereo, and (as an artist) your price of recording goes up, because you need a good mic, good cables...If you don't like good sound, go with MP3." (Digital Media Wire)

SXSW music festival a clash of new and old media types

In its 22 years, SXSW has grown from a tiny music festival in the Texas capital into a massive, unavoidable media beast that reflects, discusses and showcases trends in culture and media but also often creates them. The trends that have forced massive changes upon the music industry are lamented in some SXSW panel discussions even as they're advanced and improved in others. (National Post)

SXSW: A Chat with iLike

In the 16 months since iLike launched, Partovi said traffic growth has been exponential, with 3 million users after the first eight months and an additional 20 million in the following eight months. It's the dominant mu-sic player on Facebook, as well as on Hi5 and Bebo, according to some stats Partovi showed me (there's also an Orkut version on the way). Here's what he had to say about the secrets of iLike's success. (AppScout)

SXSW music: A primer for the 22nd annual Austin festival

Never mind that CD sales are dropping and record labels are downsizing. As usual, South by Southwest just keeps growing. The annual music-biz schmooze-athon runs Wednesday through Sunday with a record-breaking 1,700 acts playing 80 stages around Austin. (Dallas News)

The Fight for the Future of Music

The Interactive portion of South by SouthWest was winding down March 11, giving way to the music festival for which the Austin, TX, conference is most well-known. But the debate over the Web’s proper role in the music business was just heating up. Much of the fire March 11 emanated from a heated afternoon panel discussion in meeting room 10. (Business Week)

SXSW: Moby on free music, sneaking into concerts

Electronic artist Moby said he's had high hopes to expand his Moby Gratis site, which makes largely original music freely available to independent and non-commercial filmmakers, but has had trouble persuading other artists to join in. Moby, speaking at the annual South by Southwest (SXSW) conference in Austin, Texas, said he's uploaded about 70 pieces of music on his site since announcing its launch last year. (LA Times)

SXSW Campaign Coverage: Emerging Trends

With both the expansion of independent music and the expansion of the SXSW brand, many members of the industry has become more critical of SXSW, citing that it has outdone itself in size and marketing clutter; at the same time, SXSW has become more critical of the industry, citing that it is fighting for control and that unsanctioned parties are damaging the SXSW brand. (Paste Magazine)

Bebo, Music Nation Team For Artist Competition

Social networking site Bebo has joined with independent artist site Music Nation for Bebo Onstage, a competition that will identify an up-and-coming band and help launch their career with a record deal and a performance at this year's SXSW. Bebo and MusicNation will help launch the band in the U.S. and other countries, providing them with Bebo toolkits to promote themselves and tour. Bebo claims 40 million users worldwide, most of them aged 16-24. (Billboard)