SXSW (South by Southwest) started as a music festival in hip Austin Texas but has expanded to include film and technology. This year they asked me to be a Judge for their startup competition where 30 companies competed.
The startup finalists I judged: Roqbot (a venue music system using Roku), Nextbigsound (stats service for artists, like Alexa for bands), and Rootmusic (helps bands create Facebook pages with music player and merch). Winner was Roqbot.
Two standout bands: Shayna Zaid & The Catch, an acoustic pop band with a dynamo lead singer and standout violinist. And The Kin, 2 brothers and hand drummer Shakerleg weaving together thick beat-scapes and organic harmonization. Midway through their set the sound system melted down causing them to go fully acoustic in the middle of the crowd.
--MR
