News: Two Events for Local Musicians in Austin
Behind the Stream:
How UT Scholars Are Rethinking Music, Labor & Artist Sustainability
Austin, TX- Streaming transformed access to music, but it also obscured the labor, rights,
and economic realities behind it.
In Behind the Stream, a new two-part Prosper XO Town Hall series, leading University of
Texas scholars join the Austin creative community to examine music not only as art, but as
work and to explore how research, policy, and community knowledge can reshape artist
sustainability in the digital age.
This public series brings academic research out of the classroom and into conversation
with artists, advocates, and local leaders at a time when musicians face increasing
precarity amid record industry profits.
PART ONE
Music, Labor & the Digital Economy
Wednesday, January 14, 2026, 6pm-8:30pm
Capital Factory, ACL Room, 16th Floor
Austin, TX
Part One focuses on the structural shifts introduced by streaming platforms and digital
distribution, how they changed access, compensation, and power dynamics for musicians.
This conversation explores music labor through the lenses of ethnomusicology, music
theory, and cultural history, asking critical questions about value, visibility, and ownership in
today’s music economy.
GUEST SPEAKERS:
Sonia Seeman
Associate Professor of Ethnomusicology, Butler School of Music & Center
for Middle Eastern Studies, UT Austin
Eric Drott
Professor of Music Theory and Virginia L. Murchison Regents Professor in
Fine Arts, UT Austin
PART TWO
Austin as a Music City: Policy, Place & Precarity
Wednesday, February 11, 2026, 6pm-8:30pm
Capital Factory, ACL Room, 16th Floor
Austin, TX
Part Two centers Austin itself, a globally celebrated “music city” grappling with the lived
realities of artist instability, rising costs, and uneven institutional support.
This Town Hall highlights research connected to the Support Austin Musicians project and
broader scholarship on music, labor, and cultural policy. The discussion examines how local
economies, public institutions, and policy decisions shape musicians’ livelihoods, and what
cities like Austin must do to truly support their creative communities.
GUEST SPEAKERS:
For more information on research into the challenges facing Austin musicians, visit
SupportAustinMusicians.org.
ABOUT THE UT SCHOLARS
This series features leading faculty from the University of Texas at Austin, whose
research examines music as labor, culture, and public infrastructure. Their work spans
ethnomusicology, music theory, musicology, and cultural policy, with a shared focus
on how musicians navigate economic systems, institutions, and place. Through long-
standing research and community engagement , including the Support Austin Musicians
project, these scholars bring vital context to conversations about artist sustainability,
policy, and the future of music cities like Austin.
Robin Moore
Professor of Ethnomusicology, Butler School of Music, UT Austin; specializing in
Latin American music, cultural policy, and music & society
Charles Carson
Associate Professor of Musicology and Editor of the Journal of the Society for
American Music, Butler School of Music, UT Austin
ABOUT PROSPER XO
Prosper XO is an artist-first, ethical public benefit technology company,
cultural initiative, and policy movement dedicated to shifting power back to
creators. Through community town halls, education, advocacy, and ethical
technology, Prosper XO is working to build sustainable, transparent systems
that allow artists to thrive, not just survive.
All Prosper XO Town Halls are free and open to the public.
The group hosts monthly Town Halls on the second Wednesday of every month in
Austin, Texas, a space for artists, fans, brands, and community leaders to
come together.
Education, listening, resource-sharing, and in-person connection are at the
heart of what we do. These gatherings are about more than conversation;
they’re about building a future where artists prosper and culture thrives.
BECAUSE WHEN ARTISTS PROSPER, CULTURE THRIVES.
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