Rhapsody is sponsoring The Echo Nest?s iPhone application to let South by Southwest attendees search, browse and listen to all the scheduled bands.

The Festival Explorer Austin Edition application is designed to optimize the music festival experience for users by integrating personalized concert recommendations, show calendars, location-based tools and data on each of the bands playing in Austin. The application is available for free download in Apple?s App Store.

?Festivals are overwhelming and we have great personalization tools to identify your musical taste in order to make recommendations for bands that you would want see based on your listening habits,? said Elissa Barrett, director of communications and operations at The Echo Nest, Boston.

?There are more than 2,000 bands that are playing at SXSW and with this app you can cut through the clutter and see bands that you know you would be interested in seeing,? she said.

The Rhapsody digital music service gives subscribers unlimited on-demand access to more than 11 million songs.

The Echo Nest connects application developers to data and music to enable the next generation of music experiences.

Music fanatics
SXSW attendees can browse the entire concert calendar by artist, venue, or tag and search for individual bands.

Users can add a specific appearance by a band that is playing multiple times during the event.

Additionally, attendees can add a band to their favorites list for easy access during the shows.

?We used mobile because you are out and about and the portability is key to finding the right next thing to go to while you are out,? Ms. Barrett said. ?We?re not extending to other platform, but we are an API company and if someone else wants to build it on another platform, they are welcome to do it.? 

Users can look up band schedules

Users can browse their favorite artists

Interactive features
The application also features an interactive calendar where every single show is mapped onto Google Maps, so users can schedule shows nearby.

In addition, the application displays upcoming shows in chronological order for the current day, tomorrow, or the whole festival, making it easy to find out where you're supposed to be next.

?We are getting the word out via media blasts and Rhapsody will also be doing outreach,? Ms. Barrett said.