SXSW Is Garbage 

It’s just another Burning Man. Started out fun, got a lil too fun, then the rich people found out & now nobody gets to have fun anymore.

I'm a labor union organizer for the Musicans Union. You should interview some of the folks from the Austin Local about this! They're doing great work fighting back against slave wages at SXSW. Music is work!

SXSW be like “Situation bad, F-16 good”

“Across the globe we are seeing a rise in violent conflict” so let’s partner with the people accelerating that!

Every single Irish act pulled out of SXSW. This made me feel so fucking proud of my country! 🇮🇪🤝🇵🇸

You can’t even buy groceries with $250 Edit: some people don’t seem to understand it’s a joke, you can buy a weeks worth of groceries for $200

I’ve lived in Austin my whole life, have worked downtown for a long time, and one my Mom’s best friend’s brother was one of the cofounders of SXSW. The downfall of SXSW is truly heartbreaking. I remember not too long ago, it felt like EVERY local in Austin and every film/music loving enthusiast was here downtown during SXSW, and it felt like an annual collective festival of grassroot shows and good vibes for the city of Austin. These days I as well as most of the people I know stay as far away from downtown as possible during SXSW. Austin will ALWAYS be my home, and I’ll forever love this city, but there are beloved aspects of this town that have either progressively downgraded or gone away entirely.

SXSW was once the pinnacle of live indie music

"We believe its important to stand together...and pay for the bombs in all the conflicts we just mentioned"

This is just a microcosm for how Austin is going generally

stop coming in my house

It's getting harder and harder for grassroot entities to exist with how expensive everything is. Gentrification galore.

from them donating to the us army to a presentation of how "ai is changing the future" ( everyone boo'ed the entire thing ) yeah, sxsw is falling apart.

“The situation in the Middle East” 😂😂😂

The only people I've ever known to go to sxsw have been coworkers at ad agencies who are paid to go as a team and do marketing workshops. This "music festival" is just a lame corporate conference. The whole thing makes me cringe.

their audience isn’t artists any more tho - it’s large tech companies and Hollywood production companies etc

I can't remember the last time ended on a "for-never." That's how you know shit's gotten serious.

known about SXSW for years and literally did not know it was supposed to primarily be a music fest lol

Dude southby is so scuffed its insane. I run an indie label/event company in austin and multiple of our artists got booked for southby and I was bummed that we didn't get some official involvement but now I feel like I dodged a bullet. The Austin music scene isn't dead but it is Underground. ;)

Imagine coming from another country and you get 100 bucks.

Governor can't decide if he's pro us military or trying to secede....

We are truly in the worst timeline Edit: Can't believe I have to explain this due to the replies I'm getting but yes this is a hyperbole.

I'm a native Austinite and I have never paid for a wristband, back when it was $300, nor have I bought SXSW wristbands as they have gone up to $1000. Just wish I knew you were in town, so I could have bought you a beer and comiserate this together. The University of Texas has a huge military slush fund. SXSW has raised rent and the cost of living in Austin, Texas by gigantic amounts. I have never paid for a show there and didn't go to a single show this year there. What you left out Anthony is one of the positive effects of SXSW which is it does help foster tons of "unofficial" SXSW music shows from local artists in venues NOT on 6th street or downtown, where at least SOME of the Austin music culture is celebrated and preserved in the spirit of this actually being about the music.

46 year old former band photographer, and still present Austinite here. Your message has been relevant for about 5 years now. Between yous guys and these four walls: Austin isn't the place many have romanticized it to be since the early 2000's. That's my being generous. Austin is living off of the romanticized notion people have made it out to be from YEARS ago, not what it actually has been for a long time, much like Vegas. SXSW, Austin in general, use to be such a beautiful place because it embraced creatives and culture. You use to see a good music fest for $3 (over 21) that offered a group of local music that later grew to be some of Austin's finest. All music festivals out here are a money grab these days. A lot of the local "spice" has moved onto more accomodating places. What you pay to see out here is already established music from elsewhere that you can only hope to get in to see after wasting an afternoon in a line for. Even catching a show out here is NOT AT ALL what it use to be because a certain type has sullied the pot and dragged down the quality of friendliness that made Austin, Austin. One thing people aren't telling you is that Austin, Texas is still TEXAS. Texas politics are still VERY real here in Austin, though not as bad as many other surrounding areas. Before you come out here to visit, or permanently, take a looksie at the Austin Reddit. Trust that real people, artists, POC, and LGBTQ people are regularly posting about the true Austin, not the whitewashed/ highly commercialized Austin...don't just take my word for it. I probably shouldn't say ANY of that because I'm trying to sell my house to get the heck outta dodge to a much better, more gracious state 😂

I pay bands 100- 250$ to play at my local union . We : 1) do not charge for tickets at the door. The shows are free and float on beer sales. 2) rely on local bands who are happy to just play in front of 50 people. I can't express how much I wish I could pay bands 500 to play minimum. Since most bands are 4-5 people I think around 100 pp to drag and set up their equipment, to play for an hour, and to hopefully stick around and party a bit is fair, with some potential room to cover for a car rental or whatever they need to bring their stuff up. But it's not in my budget which is okay, some bands just love some exposure and love playing, so I am happy that I get to provide a fun show for everyone to go to and hope I break even . I am looking at the prices right now, and people pay 900$ , that's about 100$ a day, to go to this festival . So basically if I picked a lineup of 8 bands a day that's 2k/day in bands . That means 20 people need to attend to break even, with beer sales assuming to cover the venue . And then they have a fuckton of sponsors. Disgusting.

personally, I rate the military-industrial complex a strong 1 to a light 2

This is such a stupid move I can’t even be upset it’s like putting a trump sign in front of a hotel and wonder why you only see one type of person go to it

Right so I never really heard of SXSW before and was super curious so I looked it up, and- -the “Music Badge” entree fee for SXSW is $995. Nine hundred and ninety five fucking dollars PER PERSON. Looking up information about the attendance rates: “According to organizers, over 330,000 people visited the festival in 2023”. Fun fact: that’s a lot of people. A lot more people go to this thing than I originally thought. ….and bands are being paid $250. Not per person, that’s *per band*. The cost for a SINGLE PERSON to see the bands play is 4x that. What in the actual wiener slapping fuck???

my husband is in a small Austin local band. They’ve played SX for years but pulled out of all official shows this year. They got paid more from all their unofficial shows this past week. SXSW sucks now. 😕

As a native Austinite I agree with this video. 👍🏻

First SXSW was in 2003. Had the time of my life, racewalking from club to club seeing all of my favorite bands that most of my friends didn’t like. That whole NY revival thing was in full swing. It was fucking beautiful. As a xennial Austinite, it’s been brutal watching its downturn.

I'm probably asking too much of the bootlickers, but the fact that none of them are chanting "misuse of public funds" (the whole military is a misuse of public funds, but that's a different rant) is infuriating. If the department of education sponsored a music festival, people would be outraged.

And of course we get the whole “b-both sides are bad, we all need to c-c-compromise!” response that may as well be in full support of exactly the wrong side.

I was there it was garbage

Maybe I’m just stupid, but I genuinely didn’t know SXSW was even a music festival

damn i wonder what injustice they re talking about...

Drag them, king

Festivals have been dying out over the last few years. Woo inflation They want it to keep increasing in price, but they don’t increase the music. They just keep making it more and more expensive, run by volunteers, and cutting into artists merch sales. Burning Man and other multiday festivals are just becoming places wealthy people can buy temporary space and make money off of it and are not even about the music anymore. There are no more music festivals. Just festivals with some music.

Fantano on firetano lately, thanks for bringing more attention to this amongst many issues in the industry.

$100? I made more playing in a restaurant, 30 years ago...

SXSW made it here to Sydney, Australia last year, and it was an absolute disaster... It was some bands with lots of talks and seminars, but the low entry access wristband was about $350 whether someone attended 1 event or all of them, with most people getting in by music industry bodies handing out free wristbands to employees, effectively forcing the public out, and not compensating artists appropriately for what the public was asked to pay... I don't know what SXSW is doing but they're coming back in 2024

it's almost been taken over by the film industry, barely about the music anymore.

damn I remember when it was cool I live south of Austin used to go up all the time for SXSW now it’s become stale

Anthony, let my children go so I can see them again

I can’t believe Melon would do a Raytheon ad read in the middle of this video

I wonder if SXSW could just say in their statement "every dollar we take from military complex is a dollar not spent on bombs"

The intro wasn’t the worst 😶‍🌫️

Remember that time they took everyone’s money in 2020 and then kept it when the shit got cancelled. Yeah nah.

This is why capitalism must fall

Shit started changing back in 2011. You used to be able to go to a venue and pay separately to get in. I remember i was a broke college student and i saw talib kweli, jean grae, strongarm steady, and a bunch of other underground acts for $20 in 2010. The next year everything was badges only or some American Express Platinum or capital one X exclusive concert. Started seeing artists like Lil Wayne and 50 cent performing. Shit became way too commercialized so fast. I haven't been back since 2013 when i volunteered. Most locals just try to avoid going near downtown during sxsw so they don't get stuck in traffic.

they really woulda been better off saying "look $20 is $20" smh

That apology is totally chatgpt generated 😭

I work for a hotel in downtown Austin and SXSW staff and events are held there. This year they were like, “people are saying we sold out…” And we’re like…👁️👄👁️: “you have…”

dude the american navy gave us top gun and their soundtrack was aight, mid, not gonna lie, danger zone was fire, they just want to find who can do the theme for top gun three: fly me to the moon. cumgirl8 could’ve been the next kenny loggins ngl.

Anthony, can you do a video about the situation we have here in the Boston area with an agency called "Bowery"? They operate three incredible venues, but several weeks back, held an IDF fundraiser with a Zionist performer at The Sinclair. There was a huge DSA protest along with the actual venue staff (the Sinclair had to hire from outside to make the event happen) and the music community in general. Myself and others have upheld a firm boycott against Bowery, and are actively raising awareness, especially to artists booked to perform. There have been artist cancellations to push back against them as well. So far, literally zero statements or any acknowledgement whatsoever from Bowery. Would love to hear your thoughts.

I was in a band that played sxsw in 2012. We didn't get paid to be there, it was more of an "exposure" type situation. We drove 8 hours to be there, stayed in a hotel that we paid for and performed for free(from what I remember). I was in my mid 20's and I still had fun doing it all, but it was obvious to me at the time that it amounted to essentially nothing. SXSW hasn't been a viable outlet for up and coming bands for quite some time, and if you're getting billed to play there, you should be getting some compensation.

" defense companies " More like occupation operations like holy shit.

Getting paid in exposure to tech bros is a negative. If anything they’re just going to try and scam you even more

I mostly agree. But I’m at SX right now seeing a bunch of amazing, upcoming bands from all over the world and 80% of the shows have been totally free and outside of the SX organization itself. And don’t think that because the show is free those bands aren’t getting paid. I’m a local drummer and I play these shows every year, they’re usually sponsored by brands, and there is A LOT of money to be made playing them. the SXSW organization itself is getting a bit wack, I agree, but the ecosystem around the festival is amazing - truly unlikely any other city. And as someone whose lived here for 10~ years I enjoy it immensely every year.

I feel sorry for young people these days. They don’t know any difference, but they are living in the shittest time in all of my 44 years.

Listening to your rants, I am impressed. I am 68 years old, was a club Dj 40 years ago and am currently a rocket scientist. I LOVE MUSIC! Yeah you know stuff and you have amazing taste and music knowledge. You are the type of people that really matter because you LOVE music not just like it. The people in the music business love money. The music and the artist don’t mean much to them. Just.ask any real music artist. So there’s this new girl named Natalie Blue. She has a song on you tube called “could have been something” and “a pair of hearts.” She was talking about playing SXSW but thanks for the heads up. Glad for the knowledge before she makes the trek to Austin. You are a saint and you rock! YOU MATTER! Take care of yourself. ❤❤

from them donating to the us army to a presentation of how "ai is changing the future" ( everyone boo'ed the entire thing ) yeah, sxsw is falling apart

You just flushed SXSW rep down the toilet in under 10mins. Iconic.

Grew up in Austin, thus grew up with SXSW and it used to be absolutely incredible. Now it's corporatization at it's finest.

Thank goodness for the Irish artists having some kind of a conscience

He went a bit far with the whole genocide claim, TikTok may have washed his mind

SXSW is such a nuisance. Glad I live at the edge of the county so I can avoid tech bros, suits, traffic, and just a cesspool of corporate media nonsense. Don’t support this festival it’s so lame

I live in Austin and everyone I know that went around the festival this year said it was empty. It was starting to get less cool over the last 6 years. It’s just an advertisement now.

Pretty sure these bands are getting more *exposure* and support from pulling out than playing

Who funds the Army?!?! This is so insane. Why do they even have a marketing budget?

Up next is the Indy rock band "Reagan Death" on the Lockheed Martin stage!

Wasn't expecting Melon to give Kneecap a mention. Great to see, hope we see them in Weekly Track Round Up or a review soon too. Tiocfaidh Ar La

As a person who is a native to Austin. SXSW hasn’t been the same for nearly 10 years & has progressively gone worse. I miss the Old SXSW

More evidence that I left Austin at the perfect time. I miss the beer, though.😢

I’ve lived in Austin most of my life. SXSW has almost always sucked. It was never really good

The situation in the Middle East is tragic? I assume they refer to poop trucks in Dubai. I don't believe some fraudulent festival runners have the balls to at least imply support for Gaza.

When I was a teenager growing up in Austin, South by Southwest was awesome - you might randomly see a death metal band from Japan play at Emo's or watch Men Without Hats perform the safety dance at a random tiny Club. Also it was always both a music and film thing, at least since the very early days. The Film Festival was one of the best parts because you could actually get tickets to stuff and see really cool new underground movies that you probably wouldn't have otherwise. Plus there were all these great animation shorts, and live-action shorts. It was fantastic. It's slowly transformed into a nightmare for the city and a corporate cash grab as an event.

that opening pun was a low blow

SXSW has started branching to Australia (unsure if thats known already) it's due for its second appearance and for local artists to play they actually CHARGE bands to be apart of the bill lmao

SXSW went the San Diego comicon route in that it started as a very specific kind of event and turned into a trade show for other industries like film and TV. The problem is in growth and seeking funding to facilitate it and once you step outside of the original intent of music in the case of sxsw, you do probably guarantee more money coming in to host the growing size of the event, but now it's original purpose is diluted.

The "selling your soul" bit reminded me when creative companies started looking at indie or non-mainstream acts for big time ad campaigns, then got shit for selling out, and a lot of them were like "yeah, we made our own studio with the fee and album sales, now the label is off our back and we can do whatever". $250 should be enough to get a couple of cheap midi controllers, toooooootally worth playing for an hour on the Raytheon presents The US Army Recruitment Stage.

I live in Austin. SX was a complete ghost town this year

the best thing I experienced about this past festival edition was being at a Jazz club and all the south byers were at the back of the venue speaking louder than you can imagine, and the artist that was playing at the bar told respectfully that if you wanna talk during the concert, please do it close to the south byers. We could barely listen to the drums...

I was supposed to see family in Austin this week, but can’t now because of this bs festival. Praying on its downfall

I moved to Austin close to 20 years ago with my band. We were an official band and I think the pay was the same, 250 bucks or 1 badge to share for every member of the band. The fact that it hasn't changed in 16 or so years is insane. With that said, I still enjoy going to the unofficial day parties and seeing bands that I wouldn't be able to see any day of the week, especially finding bands that might not have been on my radar. To hell with the showcases and the big corporations that have turned the festival into a money grab. There are still some cool music parties to go to and great bands to support.

Anthony: "just the middle east in general, not gonna mention anything specific." Also Anthony: doesn't say Gaza once in the video or acknowledge that a lot of the protest is a response to the military industrial complex's culpability for the genocide in Gaza. I generally respect your politics, but this seems like you're trying to avoid getting your content demonitized by not saying the obvious part out loud, which isn't so different from SXSW's bullshit PR-speak statement.

I find it funny you call it the "defence" industry, when I can't recall the last time that the American military had to defend their country using tanks... they didn't? The last time was 1865, if I remember correctly

Thank you Anthony for platforming this

Haha playing at a build a stage 450 sqft area with 2 bands, can't hear yourself, every place says you get exposure, and no electricity..plus load all your gear in and out for 30 minutes,while no one will move and its nuts to buts with ppl.Thats the sxsw experience, Im Austin local and played it twice.. It's trash you cant even hear the bands lmao let alone yourself.Alot of ppl pay to play not get paid, Idknw what you mean by 250$

I remember in 2008 (i think) hearing vaguely familiar music off in the distance and honed in on helmet playing a random gig in somebody’s living room

Most of my friends are indie/small label musicians and it doesn't seem *that* long ago when there would be a certain number of them playing SXSW each spring and planning their tours around it. While I was well aware that it was fading as an important music festival and getting overshadowed by non-music stuff, I still had no idea it had faded so much that there are people commenting here how they didn't even know it was a music festival. Geez.....

I don’t agree with Fantano on his music opinions a lot of the time, but speaking as an Austin musician I have to say he’s absolutely right about this. Actually, even back maybe 5 to 10 years after the inception of the festival it ceased to be an event to get unsigned bands deals and became a way for signed bands to negotiate better deals…now we find ourselves being co-opted by the military. This is how corporately sickening it has become and it’s bonkers, but it ceased being what it was originally envisioned to be a long time ago.

Looks like SXSW have edited their tweet to just the first line "We don't agree..."

Crazy that it started as a music festival and now I only knew it as a video game conference.

You’d think those military contractors would have deeper pockets.

My buddy got robbed at SXSW back in the early 2010s. He lost more money than the bands made performing.

As someone who's lived in Austin my whole life, I haven't bothered with sxsw either way since theres really no interesting acts anymore on top of crazy ticket pricing for shows that are pretty much just ads. and thank you so much for pointing out the raising rents here, it's getting crazy. PLEASE STOP MOVING HERE I BEG

my respect for Rachel Chinouriri has really gone up because of this

lived in austin for ten years and my favorite response to anyone asking for sxsw directions was, "i don't know where that is, i actually live here, sxsw is not for me".

SXSW has been a crap entity for a long time. Calling it out now is like waiting til Kanye’s 100th offensive tweet and then saying now he’s gone too far.