Ladies (and Gentlemen), start your engines! SXSW is very very close, and that means it’s time to warm up the podcast muscle for Austin as well. Before the full daily show kicks off, I’ll be previewing the three elements (interactive, film and music) with the organisers of the conference – to start with, a qhistle stop tour of things to do, with some Top Tips on surviving SXSW from those that are setting it up….

Today’s Guests
Hugh Forrest (SXSW Interactive)
Matt Dentler (SXSW Film)
Brent Grulke (SXSW Music)

Tags: SXSW, SXSW 2008,SXSW Film, SXSW Music, SXSW Interactive, Ewan Spence, tips, hints,

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I may be up in New York at the moment, but there’s a few more things to clear up from SXSW. Such as the interview with moderator Christian Castle from the Google/YouTube/Arts discussion late last week I mentioned. As always, any stories, leads, or if you want to be in the show, drop me an email at ewanspence@gmail.com, or call me on 917 349 4539. Want to follow what’s going on with me? Twitter: EwanSpence.

Today’s Guest From SXSW:
Discussion from Christian Castle on YouTube, Google, and the mainstream media.
Music from Honeycut.

Tags: SXSW, SXSW 2007,SXSW Movie, SXSW Music, Ewan Spence, Honeycut, Youtube.

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What a fun day yesterday was. Panels that ranged across music, mobiles, the web, copyright law, Web 2.0 and consumers taking matters into their own hands, some cracking live bands, and a great midnight movie to finish it of. That’s what makes SXSW so special. As always, any stories, leads, or if you want to be in the show, drop me an email at ewanspence@gmail.com, or call me on 917 349 4539. Want to follow what’s going on with me? Twitter: EwanSpence.

Today’s Guest From SXSW:
Get ready for the internet based Portable Film Fest.
Mike Tucker, director of The Prisoner (or How I Planned To Kill Tony Blair).
Chris Stapp and Matt Heath, the team behind The Devil Dared Me To.
We play out with Deja Voodoo, Can’t Do What I Wanna Do.

Tags: SXSW, SXSW 2007,SXSW Movie, SXSW Music, Ewan Spence, The Prisoner, Portable Film Festival, Deja Voodoo, The Devil Dared Me To.

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There’s a bundle of stories and thoughts here at SXSW Music, and we’ll get to that in the next few shows. For now, there’s a fascinating interview with Ian Schaffer from Deep Focus (the company behind the Court TV ad/blog campaign to name one), a talk with Corey Dennis from Ioda along with the headline band from their opening day gig), and Casey Muller from Jamglue talking about music communities.

As always, any stories, leads, or if you want to be in the show, drop me an email at ewanspence@gmail.com, or call me on 917 349 4539. Want to follow what’s going on with me? Twitter: EwanSpence.

Today’s Guest From SXSW:
Casey Muller from Jamglue.
Corey Dennis from Ioda Promonet.
Ian Schaffer from Deep Focus.
The Black Angels, performing Bloodhounds on my Trail.

Tags: SXSW, SXSW 2007,SXSW Movie, SXSW Music, Ewan Spence, Jamglue, Ioda, Deep Focus, Court TV, Promonet.

Download “Bloodhounds On My Trail” (mp3)
from “Passover”
by The Black Angels
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Added on top of this was the fact that the moderator decided on a ‘no questions from the floor’ policy, only taking in questions (which he screened) on little pieces of paper. Any audience interruptions were parried with the skill of David Ogden Stiers acting opposite Raymond Burr.

Basically I pretty much fumed at the back of the panel until the end, when enough was enough. My notes read like this…

Okay with a few mintues to go they want to hit on orphan works. No I’m not taking this any more, I’m going to stand up and dare to ask a question. That a SXSW panel has to come down to going head to head against the moderator to have any debate.

…and I forced my question into the discussion flow. “Can we ask who represents the consumer on this panel?” The answer? “No you can’t ask.” (Eric Rice has a chain of thought blog posts starting at the above link as well). I’m sorry, I;m going to debate strongly that it should be asked. Turns out the audience was on my side and wanted the question answered as well. Result? End of Panel, thank you for coming.

After the session the number of poeple asking for my card was testimony to the most one sided, ill moderated panel at SXSW (or any conference) I have ever been at.

Which didn’t stop me interviewing the moderator (Christian Castle) for the Tech Conference Podcast. That should be up over the weekend.

SXSW Google is Evil

Moderator: Chris Castle Managing Partner, Christian L Castle Attorneys

Marybeth Peters Register of Copyright, Library of Congress, US Copyright Office
Ali Aydar COO, SNOCAP Inc (ex of Napster)
Rebecca Greenberg Natl Dir, Recording Artists’ Coalition
Rick Carnes Pres, Songwriters Guild of America
Jay Faires Pres of Music and Publishing, Lionsgate
Patrick Ross Sr Fellow and VP Comms, The Progress and Freedom Foundation

Who is representing the listener or consumer on this panel?

We have to write down questions on a piece of paper for the moderator?

CC Misconstuing the DMCA by saying ‘Google is permitting clips.’
MP Explanation of DMCA takedown – physical world is different to the digital world – DMCA adds a protection of copyright. Providers wanted more certaintly if they were “merely” hosting . Copyright Extension was traded with the value of DMCA
AA ‘Is youtube making a copy?’ YT accepts the content, which is then transcoded, thus creating NEW content, and thus direct copy.
PR ergo not covered by DMCA. Copyright intent was an opt-in process.
RG Are there peopel wanting to be exploited by Google/YouTube. Professional (living) artists want to be created. THis removes the artist choice. If google has cash, why can’t they police?
RC And how do we ‘police’ the other myriad sites. “People die of exposure too.” And they’re doing adverts, so they are selling, where’s my portion?
MP The solution is an accoustic fingerprint (after all, they filter porn – but isn’t this a user generation). So if they can do this, are they shaking us down.
CC google’s answer is to give you cut of the revenue after negotiation.
PR the copyright owner should negotiate adverting themselves, not rely on GOogle. ie Comedy Central want it on their site.
RC living on one song for many many years (exs COPYRIGHT is NOT infinite) They can;t search for ‘circle c’
MP we turned down google to digitise the works of library of congress
CC are we surprised that google are wanting to change the law (exs: this comes from the panel arguing against the DMCA)
MP We should do this in the confines of the law (exs ahem DMCA)
CC Why should we spend our creative time searing google
RC I’m a servant – a servant of google. Away from the manufacturing and the industry
CC Is there a massive social cost to thinking Goggle’s DMCA lookout is correct? Takes $10 per takedonw per instance ‘it is in their commerical interest to not filter’
Audience: ANd he trys to remind us all written questions only afte the audience jump to correct re CBS YT deal

Questions
Q. Thread of Did you invite google. Nobody asked to appear from Google. Picking on a google employee in the audience.
Q. What is the EU doing on this issue? MP there is no EU takedown regieme, trying to argue fiar use in the UK (exs which doesn not exist)
Q. Why is it okay for Radio, and not Google (RC: I signed to ASCAP and get paid). Also US is chasing a PRS deal in america.

(from IRC)
[11:58] So to summarize: panel with no official backchannel, no consumer representation and roadblocks placed in the way of open debate?
[11:58] yes
[11:58] welcome to the music biz

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Mostly movies today, but with the musical biopic of Larry Pierce, you’ve got some melodies to join in with at the very end of the show. before that though, 40,000 zombie sheep attack the farm in the New Zealand comedy horror agricultre spectacle that will rival Shaun of the Dead this year, and the chaos of getting every music registrant a wristband.

As always, any stories, leads, or if you want to be in the show, drop me an email at ewanspence@gmail.com, or call me on 917 349 4539. Want to follow what’s going on with me? Twitter: EwanSpence.

Today’s Guest From SXSW:
Hugh Forrest, SXSW Coordinator talking about registering all the music fans and more.
Jonathan King, writer and director of Black Sheep.
Nick Prueher and Joe Pickett, directors of Dirty Country.
Larry Pierce sings “I Think About You Every Time…”

Tags: SXSW, SXSW 2007,SXSW Movie, SXSW Music, Ewan Spence, Black Sheep, Dirty Country.

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A burst of short thoughts from the floor of the trade show to start today’s show, from opening up systems (OpenID) at AOL, to new storytelling methods and ideas, to the impressive One Laptop Per Child program. And for SXSW Movie, when you have people who love movies as much as Chris Kattan and Glasgow Phillips (from Undead or Alive) you can’t help but chat about the resurgence of the Zombie, The Transformers Movie, Pirates of the Caribbean and debate the merits of The Swarm.

As always, any stories, leads, or if you want to be in the show, drop me an email at ewanspence@gmail.com, or call me on 917 349 4539. Want to follow what’s going on with me? Twitter: EwanSpence.

Today’s Guest From SXSW:
Owen Walsh from AOL on AOL’s OpenID Plans
New forms of storytelling from The Couriers of Ruin (www.thespyronsconcept.com)
I get my hands on an OLPC Computer.
The aforementioned Glasgow and Kris from Undead or Alive.

Tags: SXSW, SXSW 2007,SXSW Movie, SXSW Interactive, Ewan Spence, openID, AOL, Undead Or Alive, OLPC.

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Last night’s Web Awards brought pretty much every Interactive badge holder to the Hilton Hotel Ballroom for the annual rewarding of the newest and latest sites in the internet. Stay tuned to the end of the show for some of the more notable winner’s names, but before then I caht to two nominees and the man behind the awards. Of course SXSW isn’t just that, so Twisted (a balloonamentary) tell me more about the delights of balloon modelling and documentary filmmaking.

As always, any stories, leads, or if you want to be in the show, drop me an email at ewanspence@gmail.com, or call me on 917 349 4539. Want to follow what’s going on with me? Twitter: EwanSpence.

Today’s Guest From SXSW:
Twisted – A Balloon Twisting Documentary.
Broadtexter – SMS Groups for Music Bands and Fans.
Evan Williams, Twitter – If you’re not on Twitter, you’re !2.0.
Shawn O’Keefe – The Tenth Web Awards

Tags: SXSW, SXSW 2007,SXSW Movie, SXSW Interactive, Ewan Spence, Twitter, Broadtexter, Twisted, Web Awards.

DOWNLOAD the podcast by right clicking on this link or press play and listen in your browser.

Everyone tells you the fun stuff at these Conferences happens in the evening, and that’s even more the truth at SXSW. Austin is awash with events, parties, and Web 2.0 bar tabs being run down. One of the incredibly interactive events was the joint Make / Austin Robot Group / Dorkbot event that ran last night. WHat was it like? Well, I thought I’d try to capture the event for you in today’s podcast.

As always, any stories, leads, or if you want to be in the show, drop me an email at ewanspence@gmail.com, or call me on 917 349 4539.

Today’s Guest From SXSW:
The Dorkbot, Make and Austin Robot Group Fair with…
A self navigating robot, Metal Bras and Lingere, Egg Drawing, Animatronic DekaTalk, Experimental Arachnid Robot, Robo Spin Art, Theraping Guitars and The Bio Mechanicals; Plus I talk to Joi Ito (joi.ito.com), Elisa Camahort (BlogHer) and Dale Dougherty (Make Magazine).

Tags: SXSW, SXSW 2007,SXSW Movie, SXSW Interactive, Ewan Spence, Make, Podcast Pickle, DorkbotLife, Austin Robot Group.

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SXSW continues, today was the first fully programmed day of panels on the Interactive and Film festivals, with the midnight movies and a number of films coming out as well. Getting round everything is not possible, so everyone is making priority decisions. That’s the same process i the podcast – I’m not going to get 15,000 people through the podcast – but I am aiming for a good representative feel to the festival.

As always, any stories, leads, or if you want to be in the show, drop me an email at ewanspence@gmail.com, or call me on 917 349 4539.

Today’s Guest From SXSW:
Jakob Heuser, Gaia.
Gary Leland, Podcast Pickle.
Rev Billy, What Would Jesus Buy?
Jerry Paffendorf, The Electric Sheep Company.

Tags: SXSW, SXSW 2007,SXSW Movie, SXSW Interactive, Ewan Spence, Gaia, Podcast Pickle, Second Life, Electric Sheep Company.

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SXSW gets under way, and there are people everywere. More notes later, as I’ve got to head out for the ’social drinks’ that provide the most results, but for now, here’s toays mix of fun from Austin.

Today’s Guest From SXSW:
Scott Beale, Laughing Squid.
Harris Fishman, (Cat Dancers on MySpace).
Harry Knowles, Ain’t It Cool.

Tags: Harry Knowles, SXSW, SXSW 2007,SXSW Movie, SXSW Interactive, Ewan Spence.

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Edinburgh rapidly departs behind me as I fly over the Atlantic, there’s one last little interview from BarCamp Scotland, about the official launch (on Friday 9th March) of Scotedupedia, the wikipedia for Scottish Education. Ewan McIntosh explains more in the first part of today’s show.

And as bonnie Scotland dissappears, over the horizon comes America and Austin. SXSW also starts on Friday 9th, but to9 get you all ready, I caught up with Hugh Forrest, who helps run SXSW Interactive, to find out a bit more about the history of SXSW, the roots of the Interactive show, and some of the fun and high jinks attendees can expect over the next 10 days…

BarCamp Scotland and SXSW (Interactive):

Ewan McIntosh, ScotEduPedia.
Hugh Forrest, SXSW Interactive.

Tags: BarCamp, BarCamp Scotland, Ewan McIntosh, Hugh Forrest, SXSW, SXSW 2007, SXSW Interactive, Ewan Spence.

I’ve already received a number of screener discs (and they’ve naturally been converted for the PSP) and teh quality of the films is a sight to behold. Not that I’m against the Michael Bay big budget extravaganza (cf Transformers, The Movie, this summer) but to be challenged, to be made to think, to really work through something in my head thanks to a movie is special. With the SXSW Movie lineup, I’m going to be in a popcorn overloaded haze of exactly that.

The only probloem is that some of the film screenigns (most have two screenings) clash with some of the sessions at SXSW Interactive – how I’m going to get around that I don’t know.Maybe I’ll just have to have some of the other bloggers who’ll be at SXSW cover one thing for me and I’ll do the other?

And it was on the flight out (as I was editing the one year anniversary show of TPN Rock) that I decided that this year I would cover the music (and film) parts of SXSW as well. Naturally it makes my stay in Austin three times as long – and as Austinites know SXSW has a lot of visitors, it gets very pricey for accomodation and suchlike – but that just presents me with a slightly larger finanical problem to overcome; which I have.

Of course I have another consideration – you can’t just walk into any of the gigs and switch the microphone on to grab a bootleg (well you could, you just couldn’t podcast it legally afterwards). So as well as finding bands that will work in the show format I have in mind, they need to be podsafe, have some tracks alreadya vailable that I can play, and be available to meet up for an interview.

Luckily I’ve had contact with a lot of bands through TPN Rock, so I can call on them, and their labels (now that the SXSW Organisers have published the big list of bands playing), but I’ve another advantage. Ioda’s Promonet.

Naturally a number of the bands on their promotion network have already appeared on many shwos on The Podcast Network, and they also know who’s turning up at Austin. Which means that big SXSW list gets cut down a fair bit once I factor in the promonet bands that are appearing. I wonder if other podsafe music sites are doing this? And they have a massive musical showcase gig on the first day as well which I’ll be attending.

This year it’s the other way round. SXSW is the same rough dates, but Etech has shifted right to the end of March (and thus clashes CTIA in Florida…), so Austin is going to be my starting point. The good news is tehre is a Denny’s, so that’s breakfast on Friday 9th sorted.

Anyway, Interactive. The schedule is looking quite good- one of the things I found last year was that the panel discussions take a very broad sweep of each subjkect, but completely fails to get into any decent level of detail on any subject, mainly because once eachpanellist is introduced, gets their five mintues, two questions form the chair, and you’re at 45-50 minutes, with only 5 minutes for questions. That’s where I know the Tech Conference Show can come in, by getting to the panellists and explanding on the discussions, drilling down on a topic or two, and getting some meat on the bones.

Which is why I think the podcast will be great for peopel who are at Austin as well as everyone else listening around the world. Of course SXSW is more than just the Interactive Show, but that’s for the next post.