Pandora has announced its first official presence at the South by Southwest Music Conference and Festival (SXSW).
The leading personalized radio service will host the Pandora Discovery Den at Antone’s in Austin, TX. Between kick-off on Tuesday, March 13 and closing performance March 16th, the company will host dozens of bands and feature acts from Rock to Hip Hop to Americana.
Pandora Founder and Chief Strategy Officer Tim Westergren said, “The emergence of personalized radio is rewriting the basic rules for musicians. As Pandora achieves true scale, now counting over 125 million registered listeners in the U.S., it brings with it unprecedented opportunity for thousands of artists, many of whom have never spun on radio before. This is an exciting moment in the history of the music business and we are thrilled to be at SXSW to talk about our vision for the future.”
Bands featured at the Pandora Discovery Den throughout the week will include Theophilus London, WALK THE MOON, Gary Clark Jr and Bahamas. Westergren will kick-off the festivities on Tuesday, March 13, at 5 p.m. with a happy hour DJ event followed by performances by We Are Augustines and Band of Skulls, which begin at 8 p.m. Daytime programming will continue daily from Wednesday, March 14, through Friday, March 16, beginning at 12:30 p.m. and will feature a variety of key artists and genres. The venue will feature two official evening SXSW Showcases: the longstanding annual Americana showcase on Thursday and the Billions showcase on Friday. Admission to the Pandora Discovery Den is free with an advance RSVP (visit www.pandora.com/PandoraATX for complete line-ups); SXSW badges will also be honored at the door.
Several national advertisers will be present, including Chipotle Mexican Grill, Caesars Entertainment, Microsoft IE9, Irish Spring, Lowe’s and Sony Electronics. Attending fans can check out giveaway opportunities, limited-edition items, hands-on technology demos and more.
Several Pandora representatives will also participate in speaking roles at the Austin Convention Center during the festival, including Westergren. On Tuesday, March 13 (3:30-4:30 p.m.), he will discuss “The Evolving Role of Radio.” On Wednesday, March 14 (5-6 p.m.), Westergren will demonstrate – for the first time publicly – the process of listening to a musical track and decoding its “DNA” as the track is added to Pandora’s Music Genome Project.
SXSW attendees and Pandora fans can watch for the latest updates via social media channels by following the tag #PandoraATX.
SXSW was first held in Austin, Texas in 1987. Since then it has become one of the premiere festivals for music industry professionals.
