SXSW festival streaming acts via iTunes


Wired reports that performers at this year's South by Southwest music festival in Austin, Texas are enjoying a new promotional edge -- their music is available to all comers via nearly 30 wireless access points and Apple's iTunes jukebox software.

Here's a quote:

"If someone launches iTunes, these 600 songs will pop up in their iTunes," said Scott Wilcox, chief technical adviser, SXSW. "Because we have their audio in-house, we're able to -- with the appropriate permission -- make these tracks available for free as part of the promotion for playing South by Southwest."

The system was setup using a pair of open-source applications, one of which is Apple's automatic network broadcast and discovery technology, Rendezous.

In addition to local streaming, SXSW is providing a "radio" stream of live and precorded music by event performers. You can listen in here via iTunes.

Editor's note: Exclusive content drives market penetration. To gain ubiquity, Apple needs to not only expand its catalog but to do so at the expense of its competitors with unique content like this.

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