Spotify vs. MySpace at SXSW

TECH FEUDS: Spotify’s Sean Parker went head-to-head with MySpace’s Justin Timberlake (who played him in The Social Network) at SXSW, in a bidding war to have Mumford & Sons play at their respective Austin bashes. According to N.Y. Post’s always spot-on Page Six, the Grammy-nominated British folk rockers negotiated with both companies before making their decision. Parker wanted Mumford to perform at Spotify’s Thursday night bash with A$AP Rocky, but the group chose to play the MySpace show Saturday night at the University of Texas to 8,000 fans. To everyone’s surprise, Parker showed up at the venue “to check out the competition.” Bryan Ling, manager of L.A. group Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, who appear with Mumford & Sons in the documentary Big Easy Express, negotiated with both Spotify and MySpace, but decided to go with the latter for the film’s world premiere. Earlier at the fest, the feisty Parker declared war on iTunes, claiming Spotify would overtake the Apple monolith “in terms of the amount of revenue we contribute to the music labels in under two years.” Just not in getting Mumford to play their showcase. (3/20a)