Many Austin businesses that count on entertainment events are turning a healthy profit this week. But there are some that say SXSW isn't exactly music to their financial ears.
With every musical genre represented in just about every venue in Austin, it's no wonder why club owners and general manager's love SXSW.
"As a native Austinite, I've watched it grow, and no one anticipated that it would evolve into the powerful entity that it is," said Paul Oveisi, the owner of MoMo's.
But it's the people the event draws to Austin which is the ultimate bottom line.
"We love SXSW because it brings lots of tourists and if you think about it when you go out of town generally you are spending more money than when you are in town," said Josh Cisneros, general manager of the Ranch.
More tourists also means more business for cab drivers, who told us the numerous road closures caused by the event are just a minor inconvenience.
"It is certainly offset by the increase in business," said cabbie Ed Heimlich.
Heimlich says the only time business stops is when he turns in the car at the end of a 12-hour shift.
"What I like is doing in one day, what I would otherwise do in three," said Heimlich.
And it's not just fast cabs making a fast buck. Vendors, like Le Beast, at Auditorium Shores, say SXSW is one of their biggest money makers of the year.
"I cook to please and I make money here as well," said Suzanne Aronson, owner of Le Beast.
But not everyone is raking in the big bucks. At the Leaf, on 2nd and San Antonio, many of the regular customers have avoided downtown this week. Couple that with many SXSW patrons forced to wait in long lines as they go from venue to venue, and many simply can't afford to take the time to seek out unique places to eat off the grid.
"The second half of the week has been tough for us, it's difficult for us to figure out how to really get more traffic here because we are not in the middle of all of it, so for people to find us we have to get them here and that's been a difficult challenge," said Jon Michelson, the owner of the Leaf.
Even musicians that we talked to, like Suzanna Choffel, say SXSW is helping to change their business, not just by getting to play, but because the interactive portion is introducing them to more and different social networking techniques which allow them to get their music out to a wider range of audience.
