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Apple Bringing iTunes Festival to U.S. at SXSW 2014

MacRumors

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
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Apple announced today that it is expanding its iTunes Festival to the US for the first time. Five shows will be held from March 11-15 during the Austin City Limits Live event at the Moody Theater in Austin, Texas. The shows will serve as a part of the film and music-focused South by Southwest (SXSW) festivals which will be held in Austin from March 7-16, 2014.

itunes_festival_sxsw.jpg
The live event will feature recording artists like Coldplay, Imagine Dragons, Pitbull, Keith Urban, ZEDD and more. Performances will be available as a live or on demand stream via iTunes, the Apple TV or the iTunes Festival app for iOS devices.
"The iTunes Festival in London has become an incredible way for Apple to share its love of music with our customers," said Eddy Cue, Apple's senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. "We're excited about the incredible lineup of artists performing and SXSW is the perfect place to debut the first iTunes Festival in the US."
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Apple's iTunes Festival tickets are available for free and will be given out by lottery to SXSW attendees, who can enter to win by scanning their badge at a location to be determined. Winners are allowed to bring a guest, but that person must be a SXSW badge holder as well. Details on the ticket giveaway are available on SXSW's website.

The iTunes Festival is held each year in London, where more than 400 artists have performed for over 430,000 fans since it started in 2007.


Article Link: Apple Bringing iTunes Festival to U.S. at SXSW 2014
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2014/02/19/itunes-festival-sxsw/
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Dave532

macrumors member
Feb 19, 2014
47
0
There's been an iTunes festival app for the UK event, so surely the same for the US version.

It always seemed odd to me that the UK was the only country with an iTunes festival.

Another weird iTunes tie-in the UK has is the Vodafone Big Top 40, that is broadcast on most commercial local radio stations. The chart is entirely controlled by iTunes downloads, but as it's sponsored by Vodafone they often give away crap like BlackBerry's :rolleyes:
 
ikir

ikir

macrumors 68020
Sep 26, 2007
2,130
2,282
I love iTunes Festival! Watching it live on my AppleTV usually!
 
2

2457282

Suspended
Dec 6, 2012
3,327
3,015
Would love to be there. SXSW is cool too. Unfortunately, getting to Austin this year is not in the cards. But I think its great that Apple is bringing the festival (in part) to the home turf.
 
C

coppersmith.dan

macrumors newbie
Feb 19, 2014
1
0
Old Concerts available?

Anyone know if Old Concerts are available somewhere other than iTube?

I assume Apple pulls them down for contractual reasons, but the quality is so much nicer on AppleTV. I'd be willing to buy them in iTunes, but that doesn't seem to be an option either.
 
B

Bare

macrumors regular
Jun 17, 2008
182
6
Holy Balls. I thought Coldplay was taking several years off from doing live shows, so this kinda seems like a big deal.

I don't care if it's in the middle of the week -- I'll drive to Austin for that. The Moody Theater is a fantastic venue.

EDIT: To actually get into the venue on that night, you have to have a badge for SXSW, then go to the Austin Convention Center the weekend before these shows and enter the drawing. Good luck.
 
Last edited:
brianvictor7

brianvictor7

macrumors 65816
Oct 24, 2013
1,054
429
United States
New Products?

The big question is will they use this an opportunity to announce any new products? Maybe a new Apple TV or spec-bumped Macbook selection? :)
 
BruceEBonus

BruceEBonus

macrumors 65816
Sep 23, 2007
1,355
1,362
Derbyshire, England
Thanks for the warning. About as much "talent" as there is at tonight's Brit Awards. Great if you like singer songwriters on guitars, rhythmical shouters or insipid folksy combos from the nineties. Otherwise keep playing the stuff from the nineties and before. Before instrumentalists died. And iTunes began.
Those who remember the days before Simon Cowell and the marketers came to town are advised to steer well clear!

Cheers! :)
 
Rogifan

Rogifan

macrumors Penryn
Nov 14, 2011
24,132
31,176
Ooh I wish they'd get Foo Fighters. Saw them in 2011, one of the best concerts ever.
 
J

jctech

macrumors member
Sep 24, 2013
32
12
NYC
Great event

This is truely an Apple TV sensation!:apple::D

__________________________________
:apple:rMBP & iMac late 2013, MBP 2012 SSD, iPhone 4, iPhone 5, iPhone 5s, iPad Air & rMini, :eek:HacPro 3,1:apple:
 
Lesser Evets

Lesser Evets

macrumors 68040
Jan 7, 2006
3,527
1,294
AustinIllini said:
SXSW is on the verge of sellout at this point...
Click to expand...

It has been "sold out" for decades. I used to work it a couple decades back, and it was already turning then. Nowadays it is more about the music industry and social programming rather than expression and musicianship.
 
S

sinsin07

macrumors 68040
Mar 28, 2009
3,606
2,662
Would of been better if they brought larger screen iPhones to US for the first time.
 
Jessica Lares

Jessica Lares

macrumors G3
Oct 31, 2009
9,612
1,056
Near Dallas, Texas, USA
It is cheaper to go to Europe than to attend SXSW (and I live 5 hours away from Austin). Seriously. You can see all these artists for less money, with better seating, and nicer venues. The experience is about the same, less people of course, but more intimate, especially when you can actually get near the front.

I will gladly enjoy watching it on my MacBook Pro instead. It's not the same, but man, the fact is that most of us who decide to buy tickets based on the iTunes Festival showcase will probably not be able to get the passes for the very thing.

It will be interesting to see if they still have the festival in the fall...
 
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