by Kevin Erickson, National Organizing Director

On Friday, March 10, 2017, news broke that a band called Soviet Soviet had been barred from entering the US and forced to fly back home, cancelling a US tour that included Austin’s SXSW festival. In the wake of recent controversy about language in SXSW’s performance agreement, the news created a flurry of outrage and panic, and quite a bit of misunderstanding.  Here’s our attempt to answer all your questions:

Even though summer is still in full swing, we’re already looking ahead to 2015 and our annual springtime sojourn to Austin for the South By Southwest annual music, film, and interactive conference. It’s always a jam-packed week of great music and important conversations, and we’re excited to be part of the action once again.

Every year, SXSW offers the public a chance to weigh in on the kinds of programming choices they’d like to see at the conference through their PanelPicker online tool.  There’s a lot of great proposals to choose from; below, we’ve got a handful of panel proposals for which you might consider casting a vote.

Future of Music Coalition is well-represented this week in Austin at the annual SXSW Music Conference. Of particular note:  

Michael Bracy will be hosting an official panel called “Navigating Washington in 2013” featuring FCC Commisioner Jessica Rosenworcel. The panel takes place at 5 pm on Wednesday. This is an exciting opportunity for SXSW attendees to connect with influential policymakers and get an inside view of how the policies that impact musicians are made.

Jean Cook will join Brian Zisk as a panelist on the topic of “Fair Play: Music Startups and Artists” on Tuesday at 5.

We’ll also be helping Brown Paper Tickets kick off their “Make Radio Challenge” with tacos, bloody marys, and some amazing artists and activists talking about the awesome opportunities offered by Low Power FM, starting at 11 AM on Tuesday.

And if you’d like to just meet up with FMC staff for drinks, Michael Bracy & Jean Cook will be hanging out at Ginger Man Thursday evening (with music curated by Jon Langford).  Read on for the full schedule of appearances by FMC Staff, Board, and Advisory Board members!

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