The San Diego Music Thing is back for another year of workshops/panels (along with showcases). I have to admit that the nerd in me enjoys the panels way more. The Friday panels are kinda meh (for me, anyways), but here are the ones you shouldn’t miss on Saturday.

The resurgence of Indie Labels: (3.45-4.45)

Panel:
Justin Pearson, Three One G Records
Jello Biafra, Alternative Tentacles Records
Scott Simoneaux, Aquarium Drunkard/Autumn Tone Records
Josh Feingold, Songs Publishing
Scott Pactor, Zoo Music

Having Jello Biafra on this panel already makes it the must attend session for the day. But the rest of the panel has lots of cred on this subject as well. Josh Feingold and Scott Pactor were great last year during the session on building a music community, so they have a lot to live up to, all things considered.

The Future of music distribution….is it the cloud? (3.20-4.20)

Panel:
Mat Bates, Slacker
Chris Wiltsee, RootMusic
Patrick Anding, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, PC

It’s too bad that this session is up against the indie label one, because I have found Mat Bates to be very engaging in panels. Besides, he is forever going to live in the annals of this conference for his coining of the #bonermeter in last year’s lively radio session.

Music and the media: where do traditional media outlets place in today’s music world? (2.20-3.15)

Panel:
Chris Ziegler, LA Record
Lil Bose, OC Weekly
Garrett Capone, 91X
George Varga, Union Tribune
Wendy Brynford-Jones, Hello Wendy PR
Haley Jones, KPRI

Every year, there is some sort of radio/media/PR session and these can either be really entertaining or really boring. I’ll pop in here just in case there are any fireworks.

For more info on the workshops/panels, check the official site.