by Sam Sanders

The South by Southwest music festival bills itself as “the premier destination for discovery.” It’s also the destination for truckloads of cash, as music and art fans flock to Austin, Texas, each March. Last year’s event brought nearly $100 million to the city, according to one analyst.

The more than 200,000 “creative class” types — musicians, media gurus, filmmakers — who come to South by Southwest (often known merely as SXSW) spend money not only at the official event, but also in Austin’s rich underground economy.

The annual festival has become a cash cow for the city, says Ben Loftsgaarden, an economic analyst with Greyhill Advisors who studied the economic impact of last year’s event.

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Main Street Pedicabs were used for the March 11, 2004 episode of NBC’s hit TV show, The Apprentice. Episode 10 – “Wheeling and Dealing” – the remaining members of “Versacorp” and “Protégé” teams compete against each other by operating a pedicab (rickshaw) service in NYC. When the two teams met with Donald in the boardroom, George and Carolyn laid out the numbers. Versacorp had a total profit of $3,680 while Protégé had a profit of just over $382. Even the always cool Trump seemed to do a double-take. The lopsided victory was the direct result of selling advertising.

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