Michael Buckner/Getty Images for SXSW Over 60 musical acts are boycotting this year’s South By Southwest (SXSW) festival in Austin, Texas over the event’s official sponsorship by the U.S. Army.
Many announced their abrupt cancellations on social media, citing anti-war sentiment and solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
Most of the artists who have pulled out of SXSW shared similar grievances about not wanting to have any connection to something paid for by the U.S. Army, citing their partnerships with American defense contractors and the United States government’s support for Israel in the war against Hamas.
Republican Governor of Texas Greg Abbott posted to X, “Bands pull out of SXSW over U.S. Army sponsorship. Bye. Don’t come back. Austin remains the HQ for the Army Futures Command. San Antonio is Military City USA. We are proud of the U.S. military in Texas. If you don’t like it, don’t come here.”
In a statement, the festival officials said “SXSW does not agree with Governor Abbott. We are an organization that welcomes diverse viewpoints. Music is the soul of SXSW, and it has long been our legacy.”
They also defended their military sponsorship, saying “the Army’s sponsorship is part of our commitment to bring forward ideas that shape our world.”
The statement did not make any direct references to Israelis or Palestinians: “We have and will continue to support human rights for all. The situation in the Middle East is tragic, and it illuminates the heightened importance of standing together against injustice.”
The nine-day festival began on Friday, March 8th, and was marked with pro-Palestinian protests outside the city’s convention center where many of the events take place; other major sponsors of this year’s event include Volkswagen, The Austin Chronicle, Porsche, C4 Energy and Delta Airlines.
SXSW is one of the premiere annual showcases of music, film, comedy and trends in tech. It was founded in 1987 but has experienced exponential hype and publicity in the social media era. In 2013, they had over 32,000 attendees. In 2018, 161,000 came to Austin for the festival. Last year’s festival had over 300,000 attendees, including 3,000 speakers and performers, and over 2,300 media from around the world.
The 2023 festival brought in a reported $381 million to the economy of Austin, the second-most populated capital city in the U.S.
While the boycotts could be a monetary and reputational hit for SXSW, some of the artists boycotting, many of whom traveled from abroad to perform, said they will be playing “unofficial showcases” in Austin, that are not associated with the festival. Squirrel Flower, an indie folk singer/songwriter from Boston, is one of the acts that cancelled their appearance. They wrote to their 19,500+ followers, “There are many ways SXSW is harmful to working musicians, but I am pulling out specifically because of the fact that SXSW is platforming defense contractors including Raytheon subsidiaries as well as the U.S. Army, a main sponsor of the festival. The IDF has now killed at least 1 in every 75 inhabitants of Gaza, including 12,300 children. The International Court of Justice has ruled that this plausibly amounts to genocide.”
Here’s a list of a few of the more than 60 scheduled performers who are boycotting SXSW this year and what they said:
Kneecap: A hip-hop trio from Belfast, Northern Ireland made the announcement to the over 135,000 followers of their Instagram profile.. In a four-part post, Kneecap wrote “It is done in solidary with the people of Palestine and to highlight the unacceptable deep links the festival has to weapons companies and the U.S. Military who at this very moment are enabling a genocide and famine against at rapped population.” They continued “that the organizers of the SXSW have taken the decision to mix the arts with the military an weapons companies is unforgivable, that they have done so as we witness a genocide facilitated by the U.S. military and its contractors is depraved.”
Scowl: A hardcore punk band from Santa Cruz, California wrote to their 91,600+ Instagram followers, “we came to this decision in protest of the U.S. Army’s sponsorship of SXSW. As well as the involvement of RTX (formerly Raytheon), Collins Aerospace, and BAE Systems whom have direct ties to the manufacturing and supplying of weapons used against the Palestinians.”
Gel: A punk band from New Jersey, responded to Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott’s “Bye. Don’t come back” post with “bro is so mad at us.”
Mamalarky: The Austin-based rock band wrote to their 10,500+ Instagram followers, “In remembering the 30,000+ Palestinians, many of whom having lost their lives to American weapons, in remembering active military member Aaron Bushnell who was moved to self immolate in protest of this ongoing genocide — this is a very easy decision to make.”
Rachel Chinouriri: The English singer-songwriter wrote to their 83,000+ Instagram followers, “on the official SXSW website and scheduling for the event, I was horrified to see things such as ‘army inspired yoga’ and ‘army functional fitness’ as some activities you can take part in at SXSW.”
“This has been a strong topic of conversation here at SXSW and there are two prevailing schools of thought,” Bruce Ravid, of the artist management and radio host company Go Deep Music, said. Ravid has traveled from Los Angeles to SXSW over 20 times. “The official conference stance is that they support artists having political beliefs and they are okay with the fact that a number of them have backed out. Most of these artists are up-and-coming and could really have used the exposure so this is a big decision for them. It’s tough on showcase organizers because they suddenly have empty slots to fill and are scouring the lists for available bands that can play. As one show organizer was telling me last night, he would be in favor of artists playing their shows, but feeling free to discuss the issue if they would like during their sets.”
The Journal spoke with an Austin resident (who didn’t want their name published) who has attended the last 13 SXSW festivals. He spoke about what he’s noticed so far this year.
“It’s bigger than last year, I don’t have a badge so I don’t go to official shows,” he said. “Most artists are still playing day shows so the boycott hasn’t affected me at all. I think 2017 was peak SXSW — more sponsors, more top talent. It’s back to being mostly smaller bands for music at least.”
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