[chiph]

I'm not sure what the relationship is between an A Capella group and entrepreneurs is... But I can tell you why the cops showed up.

SXSW the brand is very powerful - if you are an artist, being able to say that you performed at SXSW means that you'll be able to book better/larger venues, and perhaps get a better deal with a record company.

As a result, there are several artists who show up each year and stage ad-hoc performances like the ones who played while being driven around on a trailer. They don't pay venue fees (a source of revenue for Austin), and are now say "We're cool - we played at SXSW". In other words, glomming onto the brand that SXSW has worked to create.

Austin PD will shut down unauthorized performances for this reason, as well as general crowd control & liability reasons. It's not because SXSW has become this big evil corporation - they're good people. But now that they're the size they are, they have to do certain things.

You'll see the same things happen at Fun Fun Fun Fest this fall, and for the same reasons.

OK, back to early-stage entrepreneurs. I got to (over)hear about a dozen elevator pitches, and it's still very much a happening scene. Compared to last year, I didn't hear the word "coupon" nearly as much. :)

[vannevar]

Austin PD will shut down unauthorized performances...

I saw literally dozens of street performers and buskers around town that week, and I never saw any of them hassled. I think this had more to do with a product promotion in a SXSW venue, not the singers themselves.

[akiselev]

At an event as big as SxSW "crowd control & liability reasons" just don't cut it. You can sure as hell bet that everything is insured with layers of event and general liability policies and the law enforcement is trained to work with these kinds of crowds (as they are, for example, during Burning Man and Escape from Wonderland).

Controlling who associates themselves with their brand is an entirely different issue and should be treated separately. Here it results in (at least in my mind) a devaluation of the SxSW brand because this is the opposite of what I thought it was supposed to represent.

Also, venue fees? Really? In a Hilton Lobby?

Edit: Actually the above is a largely moot point. Hilton called the police, which I would think has nothing to do with SxSW

[mrgold]

Like a typical corporate drone, you sounds like your subtly justifying the arrest of some young people singing acapella at SxSW.

[protomyth]

It is amazing to me that someone "explaining" something is heard as "justification". Nowhere did chiph express approval or disapproval, but simply explain chiph's belief of why it happened. Calling someone names for providing an explanation is not very nice.