But nevertheless, Sisario's lede does serve as a microcosm of the article as a whole, which questions whether advertising at the South by Southwest Music Festival has become excessive. Sisario interviewed a range of characters: from company executives to ordinary fans, each with a small facet of the story to tell. Put together, the reader gets the big picture, as well as the range of opinions.
Sisario uses opinionated quotes as anchors for the article, while he interlaces his own observations between them. He also provides semantic information: certain performers, locations, ticket prices, etc.
Most of the article leans in favor of less marketing and advertisement at venues like the South by Southwest Festival, but for the ending Sisario cleverly supplies an opposing opinion, provided by twenty-six year old Amber Zook. Zook plays devil's advocate by pointing out that the more advertising that companies are allowed to do, the cheaper it is for an ordinary music fan to attend the festival. In fact in some cases, stuff becomes free if enough marketing is involved. This is a great end to a good article- it applies counterbalance to the piece, and it leaves the reader with more to think about.
Amber Zook here. Since you seem to be interested in the structure of this article , I thought I would give you some insight into what actually occurred. I was not interviewed by Ben Sisario, my brief quote was extracted from another interview I had with Melinda Ryznek , and in her article I was almost portrayed as someone who might be influenced to by a dell computer based on sxsw sponsorship.( not happening). In the article by Ben Sisaro my words were at least applied to the right context. The interview experience has left me with an interesting taste in my mouth. I don't think what I said was entirely news worthy but I feel like it fit for their purpose and I feel like I have honest perspective. I happen to always be the devils advocate and so yes I do think it is wonderful that because of corporate sponsorship I have been able to see more see incredible bands in one week for free than I might my life time. The sponsorship has admittedly gone a little over board in the last few years, but so has the price of badges and sxsw as a whole. Opposed to costs and crowds, a flood of corporate sponsorship has never seemed to get in the way of the spirit of being immersed in the moment of seeing something beautiful happen on stage.
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