We’ve been longtime partners with the folks at Disc Makers and CD Baby.

As a practical joke, Andy, who runs our business development, inserted in our agreement this year that when we renew our deal I’ll personally give Brian Felsen from CD Baby a “hug”.

A deal’s a deal.

Panos

First, a disclaimer: I don’t shop at Saks Fifth Avenue. It’s way too establishment for my taste.

If you live in Boston you’ll know that the parking garage elevator at the Prudential Tower spits you right into the store (location, location, location…) and hence the genesis of this post.

So, I’m walking through Saks on Saturday when I noticed these giant Soviet-like posters proclaiming ultra-capitalist things like “Want It”; “ Oversize Your Jewelry” and “Arm Yourself With a Slouchy Bag.” (I am not sure the Bolsheviks, whose 1920’s posters inspired all this, would have appreciated the irony that their artwork is now inspiring all these ultra-consumerist slogans.)

The posters and artwork were created by Shepard Fairey, the street artist that most folks in the business will recognize from all his “Andre the Giant” and “Obey” work; as well as the “Hope” poster from the Obama campaign.

My first thought was “wow, what a sell out”. But then I started taking with Kimberly, my wife, and we agreed that this is exactly the kind of thing that I am talking about on my blog and on all these panels: Shepard is acting like the opportunistic entrepreneur that he should be.

If you have the chance to bring your art and message and story to a larger audience by partnering with a larger, consumer brand, why not go for it?

Panos

P.S. By the way, as a fan of illustration and design, I love the work itself.

I am speaking on a panel at the Music and Entertainment Industry Educators Association Conference (that was a mouthful…) later this afternoon.

The conference takes place at my alma mater, Berklee College of Music, at 3:15 at the Berklee Performance Center. The subject is  “New Opportunities for Entertainment Entrepreneurs” — and of course the term does not just apply to business people but also to artists.

If you plan to attend the conference, come up and and say hi.

Panos

Leaving Austin and coming back to this weather in Boston is kind of like the end of your beach vacation. You’re glad to be sleeping in your own bed again but bummed the summer’s over.

The Sonicbids party at SXSW on Friday was a blast – and a huge success. I’m not a big industry party thrower to be honest (I’m too anti-establishment to play P Diddy) but everyone had a great time, we got maybe a couple of thousand people to stop by, and more importantly, all 13 bands that played sounded amazing – and hopefully got great promotion.

The party was co-produced with Armed Forces Entertainment, who has a new gig listing on Sonicbids looking for bands to tour US army bases around the world.

At the party I had the chance to catch up with Catchpenny who’s already played for troops in Kuwait and Iraq and is scheduled to do about 150 shows altogether, all expenses paid plus a small fee per band member per show.

I’m continuously amazed at all the avenues that exist out there for bands to develop audiences and get the word out there about their music, some of them (like AFE) almost so “old-school” that many tend to ignore.

Personal favorites from the bands that played? Hard to call out just a couple (honestly) but Dead Confederate, The Temper Trap (Australia), The Beat Poets (Northern Ireland) and The Parlotones (South Africa) blew me away. And the guys from the Iceland band Sprengjuhollin really entertained the audience by teaching us how to pronounce their name over and over.

Personal crusade: get bands to tell the audience who on earth they are. I can’t tell you how many shows I went to where no one had any idea who they were watching – kinda defeats the purpose of showcasing.

Attended SXSW? Tell me your thoughts about the event or your favorite bands.

Panos

I am dead tired but loving it. The combo of meetings all day and music showcases all night can tire out even the most energetic souls. (Not to mention, emailing, and calling and blogging…)

Having had the chance to observe the Interactive portion of SXSW the first couple of days of this week, I guess it helps me realize once again that music people are special. The energy of this place is electrifying once the bands roll in (check this article in the NY Times). Nothing, and mean nothing, beats the power of seeing a gripping live performance of a band you’re seeing for the first time.

There are about 1,800 bands showcasing (you read that right) and many of them are playing 2-3 times throughout the event so that’s something like 4,000 shows over four days. (I call that musical tapas, as really, you can only see 30 minutes from each band or so as there is so much good music going on).

I’ve seen dozens of great shows since Wednesday  but I had a different musical experience yesterday when I got on the Wente Vineyards music bus yesterday and witnessed impromptu acoustic performances by Scissors for Lefty and Stacy Kray. Even after 15 years in the music business, raw musical talent still blows me away.

I had a great time Wednesday too, interviewing Martin Elbourne, booker of Glastonbury and The Great Escape Festival; as well as the band Barcelona from Seattle for Studio SX. After the panel and the two interviews (which I am hoping to link to once they are live), I have newfound appreciation for reporters. Interviewing is much harder than being interviewed.

If you’re reading this while at SXSW, come by our party today at Maggie Mae’s that starts at 11:30 AM (things start early). The line up is out of this world:  The Beat Poets; Devil Makes Three; Hot Lava; The Temper Trap; Gay Blades; Gliss; Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band; The Forms; Dead Confederate; The Parlotones; Wild Light; Sprengjuhollin;  and The Takeover UK.

See you there.

Panos

The “Artist As Entrepreneur” panel that I moderated at 1:30 went pretty much without a hitch and we got a large (and very inquisitive crowd). I only wished we had more time (who knew that 75 minutes would not be enough) as I would have liked to take more questions from the audience.

I particularly enjoyed Rachael Sage’s comments about her experiences being a true entrepreneurial artist for whom I have much respect and admiration. Some good insights from the panel:

•    If you’re looking to build a small team to help you out, tap into interns;

•    It’s not enough to just believe that music alone will carry you. You have to go out there and market yourself;

•    There is no better way to do it that hitting the road over and over;

•    Use all available tools out there to build your “story” and a bond with your audience;

•    A great comment from Derek: DIY should stand for Decide It Youself not do it yourself. No one builds a business alone (I know that first hand);

•    Pursue only what you love and have passion for — and just do it;

As promised, I tried something new and set up a Twitter stream for people to use to leave commentary and questions while the panel was going on. (Special thanks for Lou from our office for helping out; you can follow his tweets at twitter.com/sonicbidslou).

It worked better than I expected and got a lot of participation, even from people who were not in the audience. More importantly, you can see all the tweets right here so you get to pretty much follow the panel as it was happening.

Stayed up way too late trying to catch up on all the good music, check out some of the early videos. More to come. Gotta run to meetings.

Panos

Finally, the SXSW that I recognize. As the Interactive is wrapping up and the Music show begins, the usual hustle and bustle and overall noise level that I’m accustomed to ratchets up.

I saw a good keynote today by Chris Anderson, who wrote the Long Tail (a personal favorite) and has a new book coming out called Free. I respect Chris and I’m a follower but I don’t find that all his arguments about why the future of business is free hold water. Surely, we need an economy that’s based on more than just ads right? I’ll withhold judgment until I read the book.

I’m looking forward to my “Artist As Entrepreneur” panel tomorrow as well as the two Studio SX interviews that I’m conducting (it’s my Oprah day) with Barcelona and Martin Elbourne from Glastonbury.

I’m excited about the prospect of having Adam Lewis (Planetary Group); Matt Rosoff (CNET Blogger); Derek Sivers (founder, CD Baby); Jeff Price (Tunecore); Rachael Sage (artist & founder of MPress Records); and Raphael Domalik (Sovereign Ent) all on the same panel.

Here are some of the questions that I plan to pose the group:

- Today’s music business: best time or worst time?

- Should artists really be expected to behave like “entrepreneurs”?

- What does the modern artist’s “team” look like? Is it an army of one?

-  If the importance of record labels is diminishing, who is stepping in their shoes to act as the financial backer of new talent?

- What are the new tools that you believe an artist must have today to be able to succeed in the new music business?

I’m a bit late with this but if you have questions, let me know. I’ll check them before the panel.

Panos