Photo courtesy of midemmidem, Europe’s top music industry conference (and long time SXSW participant) is taking place this coming weekend from January 26th-29th in Cannes, France. While you might not be able to make the trip, there are plenty of channels through which you can watch, engage and participate in midem’s exciting programming.

The midemblog will be the hub of live coverage, with conference reports, videos, interviews and a daily, crowdsourced wrap of midem concerts. Stuart Dredge will provide daily business wraps, and Reed MIDEM’s Johannah Cantwell will provide an essential overview of the event.

Twitter will also provide access to the conference, with livetweets & other key updates via @midem and the #midem hashtag. Add #festival for concert tweets, and #vmon for Visionary Monday insights on January 28. Tweetwalls in the Palais and Debussy Auditorium will also encourage conversation.

• Is Spotify a musician's friend or foe?
  Commentary from The Independent.
• Is the new Mega a cynical cover-up for a new piracy business?
  Commentary from Paid Content.
• Crate digging and the resurgence of vinyl
  Feature from BBC News.

Clockwise from top left: Toro Y Moi, Dent May, TEEN, Prince Rama, Popstrangers and Dog Bite

This year's SXSW Music Festival with include it's own live streaming venue for the first time. From March 12-16, each night at The North Door (501 Brushy St) will be programmed with an awesome mix official SXSW showcases. However, for those you who can't make it, they will all be viewable at sxsw.com in real time! Joining us in this new endeavor are SXSW favorites Carpark and Paw Tracks, showcasing on Friday, March 15th at SXSW Live at The North Door.

• Big music companies vie to purchase Insomniac
  Post from NY Times.
• Kim Dotcom launches new venture
  Story from Ars Technica.
• Six music-related issues facing this administration and Congress
  Story from Billboard.biz.
• Sound City rocks Park City
  Review from LA Times.

The App Annex is the newest addition to the Music Gear Expo, showcasing the best in music creation apps - including virtual guitars, keyboards, drums and mixing software. The Annex will provide attendees with an interactive experience, allowing hands-on access to these exciting new tools.

The Music Gear Expo is free and open to the general public, and will be a hot spot for the thousands of amazing showcasing artists at SXSW 2013.

Dates: March 14-16

Location: Austin Convention Center, Exhibit Hall 5 – right next to Flatstock!

Photo by Michael O'DonnellSXSW Music 2013 will feature hundreds of the music industry's most influential and notable figures, discussing the most important issues in the business. This is your chance to meet some of our esteemed panelists!

Here's a quick interview with 2013 Music panelist Rynda Laurel, Founder/CEO of 1968media, a veteran of SXSW. Be sure to check out her panel, Herding Cats: New Digital Management for Artists this March!

• Why EDM is thriving while other genres are sinking
  Post from Village Voice.
• Grohl talks Sound City with Marc Maron
  Post from Spin.
• Tegan and Sara discuss new album
  Interview from The Guardian.

Photo Courtesy of Rebecca Fondren We are excited to announce that local food maven, Paul Qui is partnering with SXSW to curate a selection of gourmet food trucks for SXSW attendees this year. Paul is the executive Chef at Qui, opening in Spring 2013, the owner of Austin’s renowned East Side King trailers, winner of Top Chef Season 9, and is the recipient of the James Beard Award for Best Chef: Southwest 2012.

• Cloud music service face-off
  Review from Ars Technica.
• IPhone, iPod Touch users can now buy music from Amazon
  Post from CNET.
• Sony/ATV gets 25% increase in Pandora royalties
  Story from NY Post.

• Satellite radio as proving ground
  Story from NY Times.
• The life and death of Austin Peralta
  Story from LA Weekly.
• The 2012 Pazz and Jop poll
  Feature from Village Voice.