| Don’t believe the hype.
Or should you?
It is quite an undertaking for bands to play a major music industry showcase like Austin’s South by Southwest (SXSW). But is it worth it? When there are 1400 other bands playing the same 40-minute set as yours over four days, how do you make sure you get noticed? How do you capitalize on any buzz you create?
Monitoring the band "chatter" in the blogosphere, it is possible to chart whenever a band is mentioned in a blog on the website bandsblogsbuzz.blogspot.com. Blog activity for a band is calculated and mapped as a bar chart and posted side-by-side with other bands’ charts to monitor popularity. While there are some drawbacks to this, notably the difficulty in distinguishing between bands like Pelican or Spoon and the everyday objects of the same name, it nevertheless offers some revealing trends. For example, although the daily SXSW press named The Dears/Bloc Party show one of the best of the festival and the bands played to a packed house of roughly 1200, it barely increased the number of times The Dears were mentioned in blogs. While the Bloc Party’s chatter increased by about 100 extra mentions a day, The Dears gained roughly ten. One could argue that they gained nothing from being at SXSW.
Who benefited the most from SXSW then? Amy Winehouse, hands down. Despite cancelling several shows, she did manage to perform a stellar set at the Levi’s/Fader Party. Heading into SXSW she was averaging 200 mentions a day, and during SXSW that number doubled, and at times hit 600. For Amy Winehouse, whose fans are already starting to look forward to her upcoming appearances on the Holland Festival circuit, the trick will be sustaining this level of interest. The Polyphonic Spree for instance, who’ve seen their chatter double since SXSW, are now rumoured to be in the running for David Bowie’s High Line festival next month. Certain bands like the Tokyo Police Club and The Ponys scheduled releases immediately following the festival, and The Ponys’ album has currently generated far more interest than the band’s show.
As for the buzz on the streets of Austin and in queues for ATMs, food and the loo… kudos were sent out to bands from near and far. From Sweden, the uplifting whistling intro to Peter, Bjorn and John’s "Young Folks" could be heard throughout the hallways of hotel lobbies and the convention centre, and they registered the third most significant increase in chatter, a level they’ve held since the festival closed. The Canadian presence at SXSW was obvious at the trade show, barbecues and many shows – especially Friday’s loud and raucous M for Montreal gig, which saw boosts in numbers for double headliners Malajube and Les Breastfeeders. Local bands such as Voxtrot and the Million Year Dance must have known the importance of playing well and often at the festival – they packed rooms and let it rip, and the hits have followed them online.
It would seem that the bands that benefited the most from SXSW in the short term were artists that already had a presence or promotional push behind them, like the Stooges or the Buzzcocks. For many smaller acts, the music festival brought them a temporary increase of about 20 more daily mentions for the following week. As far as easy foolproof ways to create buzz, here are some that crossed our paths – and our minds. Talk to people, buy them drinks, bring your own cheerleading squad – with pretty girls who give away CDs, posters, T-shirts and other marketing swag, blog away, host a barbecue, have a hospitality lounge – nothing we haven’t ever heard of before, right? Finally, remember that even if no one seems to notice you at SXSW, good things can still happen. Despite being somewhat under the radar at SXSW, British band Mika has recently seen its single "Grace Kelly" take off and is now receiving major attention in Canada.
Track the hype online at www.bandsblogsbuzz.blogspot.com throughout the summer. |
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