SXSW is a growing force with today’s young adults. Over the
last few years it has grown by the thousands each year. The problem I have with
festivals and concerts like SXSW would be the eventual change to commercial sponsors.
When most of these festivals first begin they are relatively small with local sponsorship
only which lends to the overall vibe of the festival. As the media catches on
the following years of festivals will suffer due to the infusion of billboards
and restrictions provided with corporate sponsorship. I consider this a media
failure as they diminish the experiences of the audiences with their rules, so
they can make money rather than caring what the overall purpose and
responsibility of the festival originally was. I am sure others have
experienced this with any of the many festivals located near the panhandle as
well as across the nation.
Has anyone else had a
personal experience with the effects of corporate sponsorship on your favorite
event?
First off I would love to go to SXSW, never been to Austin and I am absolutely dying to go. I also couldn't agree with you more over your expressed concerns with corporate sponsorship of music festivals. The atmosphere of solidarity and communal expression should be held with the utmost importance at festivals and more often than not that gets neglected when there is corporate sponsorship. There was a festival in South Florida called Langerado that had a great local vibe and had great artists come through. In 2009 they went w/ corporate sponsorship and they ran it into the ground, completing alienating veteran fans. Love the blog bro.
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