The sun is shining in Texas everybody! We’ve had a great few days at SXSW already, a veritable marathon of panels, parties and performances, and with music kicking off it can only get better.
The Next Big Sound crew is rolling deep at SX this year. During interactive, Software engineer and analytics mastermind Alec Zopf presented a sweet Future15 on Neural Interfaces for Musicians. Alec has built his very own prototype glove and sleeve allowing him to control and create music with a wave of his fingers and a flick of the wrist.
The following day, yours truly had opportunity to participate in a panel on the future of journalism and the role of data in driving news. While solid reporting and writing abilities are still the cornerstone of the field, the increased volume and velocity of information that we define as big data means journalists today need to learn additional skills in order to uncover great stories. Journalists are becoming coders and vice versa.
Coming up are two additional panels that include our CEO Alex White. Thursday afternoon, stop by the Austin Convention Center to learn more about Big Data: The New Oil or the New Snake Oil, a discussion on mobile technologies, the data that is being gathered, and what this means for the music industry. On Friday, he will also be part of a session entitled Man v Machine: Data Science and the Future of A&R. Alex and Zanab Hussain, Data Scientist at Simple Reach, will be exploring how data and algorithms can have a role in music discovery and predicting the success of artists.
For those who want to learn more about what we are doing at Next Big Sound, our Director of Client Services Syd Cohen is camping out in the lobby of the Marriott hotel, a stones throw from the convention center. Stop by any time between 11 am and 4 pm, or shoot us an email at sxsw@nextbigsound.com to schedule a chat.
Join us tonight at the Empire Control Room for the #MEGABLAAG Music/Tech happy hour. From 6 pm we’ll be hobnobbing with stellar companies like Topspin, Mobile Roadie, Exfm, Songkick and Squarespace, with a showcase featuring acts like the High Highs, Diana and Alpine later in the evening. Drinks, great music and an awesome location should make for a great time - even Pitchfork says so.
Enjoy the rest of SXSW and we hope to see you around Austin!
Liv Buli is the resident data journalist for music analytics company Next Big Sound. Buli is a graduate of New York University’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute and her work has appeared in Newsweek Daily Beast, The New York Times Local East Village, Hypebot and more.
