Music Appreciation

We started talking about the under appreciation of Austin musicians in class. I started thinking about it and I think I have a decent theory on why it is that they don't receive as much attention as other artists. More popular artists get more publicity and therefore more people know their songs, identify the songs, the artist and therefore want to go see there shows. Now Austin has three large music festivals that I can think of: SXSW, ACL and Fun Fun Fun Fest. A grand portion of the audience at these festivals attends to see the headliners. This year headliners among ACL were Passion Pit, Walk the Moon, Phoenix, Kings of Leon, Vampire Weekend, Muse, et cetera. The issue is that all of these bands are out of town so all of the publicity at ACL is directed to external music (music not originating in Austin). In one sense this is good because it should diversify the music people in Austin listen to except they have a tendency to rely on this exo-music. It's shopping big-business vs. local, pop vs. rock. The issue is that big businesses make more money and in this sense, all the festivals want to make more money as well. The festivals rely on the musicians they know are going to make them money, the pop artists. This is good business and it is hard to criticize the event organizers for wanting to maintain financial stability. However, these festivals are often sold as being part of what makes Austin the "Live Music Capitol".

Austin has music year round heavily relying on local artists but I think it is too disorganized. So many
people attend ACL because it's time, and cost, efficient. It's a buffet of all you can eat music with a whole lot of healthy vegetables (small bands) in which you have no interest and tantalizing deserts (pop). You can consume the entire meal in a matter of up to three days and then you're done. In this seemingly long amount of time, one has consumed so much music though, that it's extremely efficient. This is the challenge Austin artists face in my eyes, time efficiency.

For the average individual, dedicating a night to one band may seem like a questionable commitment but if it were for multiple deals, if it were a PACKAGE, like ACL, people might become more interested. Also, a radio station playing the "sounds of Austin" wouldn't be a bad idea either, although this might not be monetarily sustainable or already exists. Considering Austin's "Live Music Capitol" claim, maybe the station could be subsidized and sponsored. Just some food for thought.