# Music biz (SXSW) question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 17, 2003, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-biz-sxsw-question/161992 "2003-03-17T14:32:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2003, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-biz-sxsw-question/161992/1 "2003-03-17T14:32:47Z")
This past weekend I spent in Austin. While driven to fair Austin by other pursuits, since my hotel was downtown in the thick of it, I spent a good deal of Saturday night sampling what the SXSW music confab had to offer. And now, after the fact, it comes back to me that a friend is trying to get his daughter started as a singer. She’s country/pop, and can probably tackle a lot of other genres. What I’ve heard is very good. He’s been getting her appearances where he can (she just sang at the Houston Rodeo to a good reception). So it seems that perhaps SXSW would be something he needs to be aiming at for next year. How does he do that? How does he get his daughter an appearance at a sanctioned SXSW venue during next year’s confab? ---
**Author:** ![caveman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caveman/32/7242_2.png) [@caveman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caveman)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2003, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-biz-sxsw-question/161992/2 "2003-03-17T17:35:58Z")
As I understand it, months before the festival begins, there is a registration process by which an artist or band (or their publicist) submits information and (I think) a sample of their work. I’ve seen the registration deadlines published in the _Austin Chronicle_ well in advance of the festival, and I’d assume they also appear in other industry publications as well. My suggestion, though, is to monitor [www.sxsw.com](http://www.sxsw.com) in the coming weeks (once they recover from this fest) for contact info for the next go-round. ---
**Author:** ![black\_rabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f19dbf/32.png) [@black\_rabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/black_rabbit)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2003, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-biz-sxsw-question/161992/3 "2003-03-17T20:17:16Z")
Thing is, SXSW is usually reserved for artists that can already swing a fair bit of local/regional juice. In other words, get a record out, and start playing some shows. Lots and lots of shows. My partners in crime, Thee Shams, have played the past three years or so, but they already have a well-recieved CD (as in album, not a demo) and a handful of singles. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2003, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-biz-sxsw-question/161992/4 "2003-03-17T22:01:02Z")
Emailed my pals who played last year, and they confirmed in theory all that’s involved is going online and requesting an appication and getting it in with all your info by November or December. In practice, you do need a good bit of buzz; only about 10% of those applying get accepted.