SXSW brings in millions each year, but Black and brown Austinites don’t always benefit from the influx of money. DAWA, a local nonprofit, has put together a series of music shows and panels to elevate and direct resources to Austin’s BIPOC community. Find more information about everything happening during Vision:8291 here.
Pause/Play podcast
All About the Census
In the latest episode, Peter Schwarz from Sound Music Cities about some of the results of the Greater Austin Music Census. You’ll also hear from Jonathan “Chaka” Mahone about why some Black community leaders didn’t feel included in the census.
Do Musicians Need Corporate Support to Survive in the New Austin?
Miles and Elizabeth explore different forms of corporate support for music, and look at one company that’s making a big investment in Austin music.
NFTs and Music: What is an NFT?
In this first episode of our mini-season about NFTs and you’ll learn all the things you need to know in order to understand what music NFTs are and how they work.
You’ll hear from musician, DJ, composer, and founder of the web 3 community Mashibeats Mark de Clive-Lowe, and President of Blockchain Creative Labs, Melody Hildebrandt.
The Return of SXSW
We’re taking a look at the first in-person SXSW in 3 years. You’ll hear from rapper and event curator J Soulja, bartender and co-founder of the Amplified Sound Coalition Jeanette Gregor, artist manager Andi Narvaez, Cheer-Up Charlie’s owners Maggie Lea and Tamara Hoover, musician and composer Graham Reynolds, freelance writer Brianna Caleri, artist, instrumentalist, bandleader and soundman Thomas Cook, and musician Jackie Venson.
Bonus! A City Department just raised their rate for musicians to $200 per hour.
The City of Austin’s Economic Development Department just raised their rate of pay for musicians to $200 per hour per musician. Hear why that happened, and how they hope this change will inspire other departments.
Live music doesn’t always pay the bills. So what else can you do?
In this episode, you’ll learn how much money the average Austin musician makes per gig, and why it can be hard to make a living playing live music.
Then you’ll learn all about an alternate revenue stream for musicians — sync licensing. Nathalie Phan, founder of SoundSync Music, will explain the ins and outs of sync licensing from an agent’s perspective and Austin rapper Tee-Double will walk you through the artist’s perspective.
During Nathalie’s segment you’ll hear the song “Black Tea” by Slug, Elijah Fox, Soul Food Horns and Yasper.
During Tee-Double’s segment you’ll hear “Caped Up” from his album Local Transplant.
Could affordable housing save Austin’s music scene?
In the latest episode, you’ll learn how Austin non-profit Foundation Communities helped musician James Shelton find affordable housing the central Austin. And you’ll get a crash course in how affordable housing works from Foundation Communities Executive Director, Walter Moreau.
Read “The Artist Loft: Affordable Housing (for White People)” from the Atlantic
How Austin’s housing market helped build the music scene, and how it could destroy it
In the latest episode of Pause/Play, we’re looking at how the housing market helped build Austin’s music scene, and how it could be the thing that destroys it. You’ll hear from Austin artists about how the housing market has changed for them over the years and why some of them have decided to leave. You’ll also learn about the connection between cheap housing and thriving music scenes, musician incomes, and Austin’s housing market from experts Nicky Rowling, Michael Seman, and Audrey McGlinchy.
In this episode you’ll hear from:
Ray Benson of Asleep at the Wheel
Robert A. Kraft
Laura Mendoza from Cosmic Chaos
Gina Chavez
Chinasa Broxton
Listen to the documentary “Back Home to the Armadillo”
Bonus! Music Scenes as Economic Clusters
Here’s another way to think about music scenes — they’re legitimate economic clusters! Don’t know what we mean by that? Well, you can listen to this bonus episode and learn a little economic theory courtesy of Michael Seman, assistant professor in the LEAP Institute for the Arts’ arts management program at Colorado State University.
Why Taméca Jones, Austin’s Queen of Soul, is leaving for LA
Austin singer and songwriter Taméca Jones is leaving Austin for LA at the end of the year. In the latest episode, you’ll hear the reasons why the Austin Music scene isn’t working for her. Plus you’ll learn more about our music ecosystem.
You’ll also hear from and Peter Schwarz about the reality of music businesses in Austin’s music ecosystem. And Nikki Rowling explains how so many businesses operating independently can lead to burnout.
What Do We Do Now?
We look at this latest COVID surge in Austin and ask the question — What Do We Do Now?
In this episode you’ll hear from
Desmar Walkes, M.D — Medical Director/Health Authority for the City of Austin.
Pat Buchta — Executive Director or Austin Texas Musicians
Aubrey Hays — Musician
Mike Hidalgo — Musician
Autumn Cymone — Musician
Matt the Electrician — Musician
Erin Walter from Parker Woodland
Kate Howard — Musician
Jason McNeely — Managing Partner of Hotel Vegas
Jung Kwak PhD, MSW — Associate Professor at The University of Texas at Austin School of Nursing specializing in end of life issues and Medical Ethics.
