Increase the compensation for showcases to at least $750 for all performers. (Which is still less than the cost of a single music badge to attend the festival.)
Include a festival wristband in addition to financial compensation. Stop forcing artists to choose between being paid and attending the festival they are performing at.
Provide the same compensation + wristband deal to international artists and domestic US artists.*
End the application fee.
No Warmongers at SXSW (A permanent end to defense industry involvement in any and all editions of SXSW)
What We Are Asking For
Our Campaign Victories So Far
The fight for Fair Pay at SXSW is far from over. Pay is still too low, the festival still charges an outrageous application fee that increases each year, international artists still receive no compensation, the festival's processes remain totally untransparent, and SXSW refuses to answer our questions to clarify the war industry’s involvement in the festival. However, our campaign has won some important victories.
Festival Victories:
In 2023, after the first season of our campaign, SXSW agreed to raise the rates for bands from $250 to $350, and from $100 to $150 solo artists and duos.
In 2024, SXSW agreed to raise the rates again of bands from $350 to $400, and from $150 to $175 for solo artists and duos.
In 2024, after the No Warmongers Campaign, SXSW agreed to remove all defense contractors and the U.S. Military from the festival. Questions still remain on the permanence and scope of the change, though. UMAW and Austin for Palestine Coalition emailed these questions to SXSW, but the festival has so far refused to answer.
Political Victories:
In June 2023, the Austin Parks and Recreation Board voted to recommend a fair pay ordinance to the Austin City Council. The recommended ordinance would have required SXSW to pay artists a fair rate if the festival wished to continue using city property for the festival. The victory came despite aggressive, insulting lobbying efforts from SXSW.
In August 2023, the Austin Music Commission voted to recommend the same fair pay ordinance to the Austin City Council. The victory came after months of organizing from musicians, and after SXSW’s lobbyist delayed the vote.
As of now, the Austin City Council has refused to take a vote on the recommendations of the Parks and Recreation Board and the Music Commission.
Why We Are Asking For It
PAY IS STILL TOO LOW:
Until we launched our campaign, rates for performing artists at SXSW hadn't changed in at least a decade, with the festival paying either an entry wristband to the festival OR a paltry $100 for solo and duo acts, and $250 for bands to perform. While we’ve now won raises and rates are up to $175 for solo and duos and $400 for bands, this is nowhere near the $750 minimum that artists are demanding.
The festival also still forces artists to choose between being paid OR attending the festival they are performing at. This is not a normal practice for music festivals anywhere in the country.
APPLICATION FEES ARE A PAY TO PLAY SCAM—SXSW STEALS MORE FROM ARTISTS THAN IT PAYS TO ARTISTS:
For the 2024 festival, we estimate that SXSW stole $385,495 in application fees from musicians, while paying out only roughly $57,820 to all artists combined
The application fee for performers has increased by 53.3% since 2012 to 2025, from $40 to $75. In 2024, 1248 musical acts performed, out of 7009 bands and performers who applied. That year, the application fee was $55. This means SXSW made $385,495 in 2023 from musician application fees alone.
Only 826 of those 1248 musical acts were US artists and so eligible for compensation. SXSW reports that only 20% of artists choose to be paid over receiving a wristband, meaning that in 2023 approximately only 163 artists chose to be paid. That means that at most, using the $350 per band rate in 2023, SXSW paid out $57,820 to artists.
So, SXSW took in $385,495 in application fees and paid out, at most, approximately $57,820 to artists. This is a festival that steals more money from artists than it pays out.
SXSW IS RICH:
SXSW boasts that the 2023 economic impact of the festival on Austin was $380.9 million, well above its reported pre-COVID impact of 355.9 million in 2019, and significantly higher than its 2022 impact of $280.7 million. The economic impact of attendance alone in 2023 totaled $234.1 million, including ticket sales and goods and services that attendees bought while during the conference.
SXSW reports the attendance at its music festival at 140,060 people, and the total attendance for all weeks of the festival at 228,738.
TICKETS ARE REALLY EXPENSIVE:
A SXSW Platinum Badge costs $1495, and a Music Badge runs $695. Music festival wristbands, which grant lower levels of access, still cost a minimum of $149. SXSW reports that attendance at the 2024 festival was 140,060.
SXSW AND ITS PARENT COMPANY, PENSKE MEDIA, ARE KNOWN FOR IMMORAL BUSINESS CONNECTIONS AND PRACTICES
Until our campaign forced SXSW to cut ties in 2024, the festival maintained sponsorships with weapons companies such as BAE Systems, Collins Aerospace, and Raytheon. The U.S. Military was also a key sponsor, even hosting a Department of Defense stage at the festival.
SXSW has committed to removing these weapons companies and the military from the festival, but so far has refused to answer any questions clarifying their decision.
In 2019, the SXSW was sold to Penske Media, a massive media corporation that also owns Rolling Stone, Billboard, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Women’s Wear Daily, and numerous other publications.
Penske Media is owned by Jay Penske, a member of the billionaire Penske family. His father, Roger Penske, is the founder of Penske Corporation.
As the owner of ArtForum, Jay Penske fired longtime editor David Velasco after Velasco published an open letter of artists calling for an end to Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
The Penskes and the Penske Corporation are major donors to former President Trump and other Republican politicians and causes. The Penske Corporation gave $676,000 to Republican candidates in the 2020 election cycle.
In 2018, Penske Media accepted a $200 million loan from a Saudi Arabian public fund. That same year, the Saudi government assassinated US journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Jay Penske has refused to answer questions about the loan, despite the assassination of Khashoggi and the Saudi’s ongoing war on Yemen. In fact, in 2019, Jay Penske doubled down and co-hosted a yachting event in Saudi Arabia.