SXSW

We knew sparks were gonna fly at this one. Using David Lowery's explosive blog response on the current state of artists' rights in the digital age last summer as a jumping off point, Daryl Friedman VP of Advocacy, The Recording Academy organized a panel of musicians to speak directly to those points, specifically aiming to hear directly from working musicians. Music

Slim Whitman dies Obituary from AP via Miami Herald. Google might be experimenting with music playback in search results Post from Music Industry Blog. Bravado takes on Beatles merch rights Story from Variety. Thicke's 'Blurred Lines' draws criticism Story from The Hollywood Reporter. M.I.A. talks about label problems Story from The Guardian. Low's Sparhawk defends droning festival set Story from Minneapolis Star-Tribune. Black Sabbath earns first #1 album Chart watch from Billboard. Music Daily Chord

SXSW 2013 Showcasing ArtistJason Isbell(Photo Courtesy of Jason Isbell) Written by Kevin Connor Deeply personal and unabashedly romantic in places, the new album by Jason Isbell, Southeastern, has quickly established itself as one of the major Americana releases of 2013. Jason completed work on the album in February on the day before his wedding to the equally brilliant musician, Amanda Shires. The couple shared the stage at several SXSW showcases this year. An 8th generation Alabamian, Jason Isbell first gained fame at age 22 when he joined the state’s hard-charging Drive-By Truckers, leaving that band after 6 years to tour and record as Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit. But the name on the new Thirty Tigers release is simply Jason Isbell, indicative perhaps of the personal nature of the album and the growth of the artist. SXSW FM

Registration for the 2014 SXSW Interactive Festival opens on Thursday, August 1. Early-bird cost to register for the event will be at least $695. But, why spend your hard-earned cash when you can obtain a badge at no charge? That's right, you can win a FREE FREE FREE registration for the 2014 SXSW Interactive Festival in March in Austin by taking part in this simple social media campaign. To be eligible to win, create a tweet that describes what innovation means to you. The tweet must include the hashtag #sxswv2v (and we all recommend also using the hashtag #innovation). Our staff will pick one tweet from all that use this #sxswv2v hashtag -- and the person who created this tweet will get a comp badge. To be eligible to win, tweets for this campaign must describe your concept of innovation and must be posted by 11:59 pm central time on Wednesday, June 19. Interactive

Only two weeks until Monday, July 1, when we begin accepting speaking proposals for the 2014 SXSW Interactive Festival. We expect to receive more than 3000 total entries via this year's interface, so the competition for speaking slots will be fierce. How can you ensure your proposal will get high marks via public voting, as well as in Advisory Board and staff feedback? One of the most basic keys for success is proofread proofread proofread! To this end, we are often amazed at the number of PanelPicker proposals we receive that include misspellings, poor punctuation, incomplete sentences, bad grammar and an assortment of other typographical problems. These kinds of errors are always serve as a red flag -- if you don't have enough attention to detail to catch these mistakes in your speaking application in July, then it is not likely you will have enough attention to detail to pull off a successful speaking slot in March. Interactive

2013 Showcasing Band Parquet Courts. Photo by Maggie Boyd Apply to be considered as a performer for SXSW Music Festival 2014 earlier than ever! In an effort to ensure thoroughly reviewed submissions and inform applicants of their status sooner, the official Sonicbids application platform will open a month earlier this year, on July 9 for only $33. After September 7, the application fee will be raised to $45. Please take note- the final submission deadline is also earlier (October 11), so don't miss out on this opportunity to be part of the SXSW 2014 lineup. Check Sonicbids on July 9 to submit. Music

Brandon Kinder of The Rocketboysat SXSW 2010(Photo by Rita Quinn) Written by Dempsey Jones Austin-based indie rock band The Rocketboys released their third full-length album, Build Anyway, in June of 2012. After their first two full-length albums, and a complete band split, The Rocketboys continued with more heart and inspiration than before. As a young high schooler in Abilene, Texas, I remember seeing The Rocketboys when they were Homer Hiccolm and the Rocketboys playing at local coffee shops in town. I loved them and all they represented for a small town like Abilene. As their talents strengthened and their dreams developed, The Rocketboys took themselves to Austin to pursue more opportunities. Music SXSW FM

Lil Wayne steps on flag during video shoot, criticism ensues Story from NY Daily News MTV wants to be wanted Story from NY Times. Pink Floyd put catalog on Spotify after fan challenge Story from The Guardian. Andrew WK to attempt world drumming record Item from NME. Music Daily Chord

Quick access to your need-to-know SXSW information! SXSW V2V Meet Up tonight in Los Angeles PanelPicker entry process opens Monday July 1 T-Shirts & More: Buy cool SXSW merchandise Interactive

The inaugural SXSW V2V conference in Las Vegas begins in just over 50 days-- have you purchased your registration yet? Scheduled August 11-14 at the Cosmopolitan Hotel of Las Vegas, this exciting event brings together startups, entrepreneurs, innovators and digital creatives for four days of learning, sharing, networking and career-enhancing connections. Speakers at SXSW V2V 2013 include Micah Baldwin (Graphic.ly), Scott Belsky (Behance), Stephanie Burns (Chic), Amber Case (Esri R&D Center), Steve Case (Revolution), Jake Colvin (National Foreign Trade Council), Dustin Curtis (Svbtle), Aziz Gilani (Mercury Fund), Frank Gruber (Tech Cocktail), Christine Herron (Intel Capital), Tony Hsieh (the Downtown Project), Peter Kazanjy (TalentBin), Natalia Oberti Nogurea, Tim League (Alamo Draft House) and many many others. Music Film Interactive V2V