Amidst the crowds of flustered music fans, rows of bars with live music blaring out of open doors, networking industry folks, chattering panelists, and overwhelmed indie artists, the TuneCore team was holding it down during SXSW 2015! With one-third of all artists who performed this year having distributed through TuneCore, this was the perfect time to expand on our TuneCore Live event series and offer some of them the opportunity to get on stage and play for fresh faces.
We were also psyched to sponsor some day parties and showcases held by likeminded, pro-independent brands that put together equally killer line-ups! BrooklynVegan, Nettwerk Music Group, and CraveOnline provided SXSW attendees a chance to discover new acts and enjoy some of their favorites, and TuneCore was proud to partner with them. Thanks to the help of sponsors like Swisher Sweets, we were able to expand our presence with a street team, hand out some cool free swag, and put together an awesome event.
On top of the live events, we officially launched the DropKloud app! DropKloud, acquired by TuneCore in late 2014, is an innovative app that provides fans with access to exclusive, artist-curated “Kloud” content dropped at different locations. We had over 40 Klouds across downtown Austin including the world premiere of Angelique Kidjo and ZZ Ward’s track, “Bomba”. We encourage TuneCore Artists to grab free download of DropKloud, available via the iTunes Store and Google Play!
Being a leader in digital music distribution, SXSW couldn’t be all play and no work! Between meeting with store partners and artist services vendors, the TuneCore team was workin’ it to make sure our services remain ahead of the curve.
Chris Mooney, TuneCore’s Senior Director of Artist Promotions & Strategic Relationships said of the SXSW experience this year:
“It was amazing to finally see so many TuneCore Artists that I just discovered and have been working with over the years. The quality of the TuneCore line-up—Prinze George, Ultimate Painting, Sam Outlaw, Nova Rockafeller, Dear Boy, Devon Baldwin, G-Eazy, Olivver the Kid, and Derek Minor—is a testament to the amazing artists using our service.
Another highlight for me was wandering though Austin, and getting the shout outs from bands and fans when they saw me in my TuneCore t-shirt.”
Chief Creative Officer Joe Cuello on TuneCore’s presence at SXSW 2015:
“SXSW 2015 was amazing for TuneCore artists. We had our artists just about everywhere and the talent at our first Tunecore Live Austin was incredible.Independent music is alive and well and we can’t wait to continue offering opportunities for our artists to play live.”
To prove we didn’t spend the duration of SXSW 2015 drinking Lone Star and gorging on BBQ and fish Tacos, (though that sounds very pleasant), we’ve put together some photo galleries to browse through and relive some of the action!
Wednesday 3/18 & Thursday 3/19
Nettwerk Music 30th Anniversary Showcase & Brooklyn Vegan Day 1
Friday March 3/20
TuneCore Live Austin party sponsored by Mirrored Media, CraveOnline, & Swisher Sweets!
Tags: dear boy derek minor devon baldwin featuring g-eazy Hip Hop indie nova rockafeller olivver Photos recap sam outlaw SXSW tunecore ultimate painting