by Harold McMillan

It's that time of year again. Time for the biggest music thing in the world. And it is right here in our front yard. It's SXSW LIVE, appearing at a live music venue near you -- and you, and you, and you.

As our Little City again fills up with musicians and other music biz pros from all over the rock n' roll world, Austinites will -- as they have been doing for years now -- debate the merits and shortcomings of our own homegrown music and media conference/festival. Regardless of what side of the debate you find yourself, fellow Austinite, you gotta admit at least one thing. It's big. SXSW is very big.

And unless you are just one of those folks who hates to see tourism-generated dollars flow into town, you probably oughta go ahead and admit another thing: in the big picture, SXSW is good for Austin. Like it or not, it just is.

At no other time during the entire year will there be as much music related activity in our fair city. The hotels will make a killing. The bars will sell oceans of whiskey. TexMex will fill many a New York stomach. And the media will have some-music-thing to report every hour of every day. Now that doesn't mean your favorite local rock n' roll band is gonna get the record deal they've always dreamed of. That is no longer, if it ever was, the point. It means that the conference is good for business. And at this point, Austin needs more music business activity happening here. If this is really the live music capital of the world (and it probably isn't), it is entirely fitting that the largest pop music conference in the world find its home here amongst us. Right?

It should be clear by now that the Austin Chronicle and the SXSW organization do indeed have a clue about what it takes to successfully promote and market music conferences. They seem to be peerless but for the competition they provide themselves with sister conferences, NXNW and NXNE. These guys know what they are doing. And, for the rest of us in the music business, there must be lessons to be learned from them. It wouldn't hurt either if the folks on the City Council, Chambers of Commerce, Music Comission, and the Convention and Visitors Bureau paid closer attention.

Austin, for many in the old guard, is still stuck in a provincial, small-town mentality when it comes to tourism and downtown revitalization. We all seem to acknowledge that our downtown needs something. Getting agreement on just what that "thing" is is the big problem. There are those who would welcome Austin's continued gradual slide into being a lose connection of private MUDs, restricted suburban deveolopments, and other enclaves for those with enough money to live in the country and avoid downtown altogether. Others, with definite ideas about what life in downtown Austin should be all about, seem to envision a high-polish Dallas knock-off reserved for the martini and cigar set.

The thing that SXSW does best, at least as an illustration of how to get folks to come and spend their money here, is show that the tourism marketing notions put out there by the Austin Convention and Vistors Bureau (for instance) really ignore a potentially huge market.

What market is that?
Duh...it's the music, dummy!

At one and the same time, Austin tells the world that it is the live music capital of the world, yet there is no concerted marketing effort to simply invite tourist to come to Austin for the music scene. As hard as it is for me to believe it, the Visitors bureau simply does not do consumer/tourist targeted marketing that tries to sell Austin as a destination for music lovers -- yet their letterhead reads "Austin, the Live Music Capital of the World."

Why do you think SXSW is so successful? Yes, there are a number of reasons, I'm sure. Many of them I can't begin to understand. One of the things that does, however, make a lot of sense to me is the connection to the local music scene. Now that connection, as I said earlier, is not so much about our local guitar heroes getting the BIG RECORD DEAL. But it's more than that.

The connection I am talking about is that for the four days of SXSW, Austin really does become the Live Music Capital of the World. Because of who is behind the Austin Chronicle and SXSW, the particular flavor of the music is mostly white/pop/rock/commercial. But make no mistake, these guys get the commercial music/recording industry -- all levels, from the gararge band down the street to Mr. Record Label President -- to come to Austin and hang out, spend money, listen to music, do business, have fun, and leave with good memories of their trip. The predominant memory that these folks leave with is that Austin is jam-packed full of venues for live music.

SXSW visitors are smart enough to know that these same stages are not as active when the conference is not in town. But the fact remains that Austin probably does have more live music stages per capita than most other places in the world. And if you like to travel, and if you like Austin, and if you like music, Austin just might be the kinda place you wanna come back to.

Imagine how much more fun it would be (this is directed to you, Mr. SXSW Visitor) to check out the musical treasures of Austin without the crowds, without the pressures, without the hoopla of this big stinkin' music festival. That is the kinda thing that promotes tourism during the other 11 months of the year. That's the kinda thing that makes folks wanna come back here in the summer months and check out the Jazz Fest or the Symphony's outdoor series or Elias Haslanger's little-big-band on the patio at Cedar Street.

I've had lots of conversations with other music business folks about this. To many of us it is hard to see why the ACVB doesn't use some of its marketing resources to attract these folks. Their mission, as they see it, is to go after conventions, advertise in trade publications for the hospitality industry, and go to trade shows. All of these things are indeed in the purview of the city's Convention and Visitors Bureau. But the focus seems a bit heavy on the conventions side and very, very light on the visitors.

Believe it or not, there are some cities that do a helluva tourist trade just selling their music scene, their climate, their hotels, and their regional foods to travelers. These cities just don't happen to be lucky enough to be the Live Music Capital of the World.