South by Southwest
Conferences and Festivals

Much to the surprise of music lovers everywhere, long-time SXSW supporter, Harp Magazine, declared about two months ago (and the first day after this year’s SXSW) that it would cease publishing. Jaws dropped. But it is a trend that the publication industry is seeing more and more of everyday. The digital age is pushing through in a big way and the print world is starting to suffer because of it.

But don’t worry, kids! Harp is being digitally resurrected with a new name. The magazine’s founder, Scott Crawford, has teamed up with Managing Editor Fred Mills and Senior Editor Randy Harward to create a two-part information hub for all things music – BLURT Digital-Magazine and BLURT-Online. Not only will this be a greener form of getting your music and culture news, it will allow for fresher and more up-to-date content so you’ll never be at a loss for new information. You’ll want to bookmark this page when it goes live in June. BLURT already has an impressive list of featured artists for its debut and there will certainly be more of that to come along with exclusive interviews, reviews, videos, daily news and more. Your one-stop go-to music guide will live at www.blurt-online.com.

This site is sure to impress. Especially since it is being hosted by yet another long-time SXSW supporter and Interactive Festival Closing Party Sponsor, Media Temple. If you haven’t attended this closing party, go ahead and put it in the books for next year. It’s a can’t-miss event. Oh. And they’re a pretty good web hosting service, too.

OurStage who sponsored the music interview suite Studio SX at South by Southwest 2008 and co-sponsored the packed SXSW Film Closing Party (where Moby and Addictive TV played) has announced a strategic partnership with AOL Music.

On OurStage.com, independent bands can upload music and videos and compete for prizes, with site members voting for the winners. This content, including new music by top-ranked artists, interviews, streaming audio, and videos will now be available for distribution on AOL Music.

"Our partnership with AOL Music has given us international exposure on the world's largest music site," says Dean Tsouvalas, VP of Product for OurStage.

OurStage has also announced a slate of music festival partnerships for the 2008 festival season. Bonnaroo, Noise Pop, and Bumbershoot, among others, will tap OurStage to help fill out their line-ups using the company’s fan-driven music filters to identify the best emerging talent on their site.

Since its inception in 2007, OurStage has developed relationships with dozens of music industry partners to create career-launching opportunities for artists who are charting on the site.

PHOTO: EJ Alyssa Jane Hale is interviewing OurStage band American Babies at SXSW Studio SX. From left to right the band members are: Scott Metzger (guitar, vocals), Tom Hamilton (vocals, guitar, piano), and Jim Hamilton (bass, guitar, vocals).

The SXSW Film Conference & Festival is pleased to announce the call for entries for its 5th annual SXSWclick Festival. SXSWclick is a summertime, digital shorts event hosted at: http://sxswclick.com. Winners in each of the five categories will automatically be invited to screen at the next SXSW Film Festival, scheduled for March 13-21, 2009 in Austin, TX.

The call for entries has started, and the final submission deadline is June 13, 2008. Submissions can be entered here: http://sxswclick.com/enter/ and projects cannot exceed 10 minutes in length. Fifteen finalists will be announced in five categories on June 24, with the winners announced on July 15. There will be audience votes and jury prizes. Some of the jurors already confirmed, include: actor Jeffrey Tambor, comedians Eugene Mirman and Doug Benson, filmmakers Ron Mann, Anish Savjani, Mary Sweeney, and many more. Companies that have already donated prizes for the winners, include: Productiontrax.com, Gear Software, Mariner Software, Eye Scream Factory, and Movie Outline Software.

Thanks to the generosity of the Alamo Drafthouse, SXSW is hosting two benefit screenings on April 29, for ailing filmmaker Benh Zeitlin. Why?

“Short filmmaker Benh Zietlin was in Austin, Texas March 9th, 2008 to World Premiere his film GLORY AT SEA. Unbelievably and unfortunately, Benh got in a serious car accident just hours before his screening. He shattered his hip (which has been replaced), broke his pelvis, and sprained both his ankles. While his film was showing to an enthusiastic crowd, Benh was in surgery. His medical bills have added up to about $80,000!”

The SXSW staff could not be more upset and impacted by what happened to Benh. So, we wanna help out by screening some of Benh’s shorts, and other acclaimed shorts by some of his friends, to raise cash for his medical bills. Click here for details on the screenings. Spread the word, and we hope to see you there!!

Well, it is. But you can relive the memories through our colorful May follow-up issue of SXSWorld. This issue will feature SXSW success stories, reviews and a plethora the best photographs taken during the event. The May issue will mail out to registrants of each SXSW conference. Here's your chance to be in our most popular issue for less! Secure advertising now and receive 20% off the list rate! Click here for more information or email sales (at) sxsw (dot) com