SXSW has found itself in a bit of a controversy this year, as some artists have pulled out of the festival due to some of this year’s sponsors, including the US Army. Texas governor Greg Abbott relished in this news, though, tweeting yesterday (March 12), “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.”
Bands pull out of SXSW over U.S. Army sponsorship.
Bye. Don’t come back.
Austin remains the HQ for the Army Futures Command.
SXSW then issued a statement on social media, making it clear they do “not agree with Governor Abbott,” though. The statement explains their decision to have the Army as a sponsor, and it reads in full:
“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. We fully respect the decision these artists made to exercise their right to free speech.
Across the globe, we are witnessing unspeakable tragedies, the rise of repressive regimes, and the increasing spread of violent conflict. It’s more crucial than ever that we come together to solve these greater humanitarian issues.
The defense industry has historically been a proving ground for many of the systems we rely on today. These institutions are often leaders in emerging technologies, and we believe it’s better to understand how their approach will impact our lives.
The Army’s sponsorship is part of our commitment to bring forward ideas that shape our world. In regard to Collins Aerospace, they participated this year as a sponsor of two SXSW Pitch categories, giving entrepreneurs visibility and funding for potentially game-changing work.
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.”
We are an organization that welcomes diverse viewpoints. Music is the soul of SXSW, and it has long been our legacy. We fully respect the decision these artists made to exercise their right to free speech.
Across the globe, we are witnessing unspeakable tragedies, the rise of repressive regimes, and the increasing spread of violent conflict. It’s more crucial than ever that we come together to solve these greater humanitarian issues.
The defense industry has historically been a proving ground for many of the systems we rely on today. These institutions are often leaders in emerging technologies, and we believe it’s better to understand how their approach will impact our lives.
The Army’s sponsorship is part of our commitment to bring forward ideas that shape our world. In regard to Collins Aerospace, they participated this year as a sponsor of two SXSW Pitch categories, giving entrepreneurs visibility and funding for potentially game-changing work.
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.
SXSW will return to Austin next March. Throughout the Texas city, SXSW attendees can look forward to attending a multitude of conferences, film screenings, and musical showcases and performances.
Today, performers from various cities and countries were announced to take the stages within Austin’s iconic and off-beat venues. These performers hail from within the US, as well as Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Scotland, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine, and Wales.
Among the performers are Afro-fusion singer Äyanna, Canadian R&B up-and-comer Chxrry22, Germany’s Malugi, and more.
What is the SXSW 2024 lineup?
You can see the full line-up of artists and the cities they’re representing below.
250 (Seoul, South Korea)
Afternoon Bike Ride (Montreal, Canada)
Akira Galaxy (Los Angeles, CA)
Ako（a子） (Himeji City, Japan)
Alexander Biggs (Melbourne, Australia)
Alex Nicol (Montreal, Canada)
Amis du Teche (Breaux Bridge, LA)
Angelo Moore and the Brand New Step (Austin, TX)
Anna Smyrk (Melbourne, Australia)
Anna Vaverková (Prague, Czechia)
Another Sky (London, UK-England)
Arches (Hong Kong, Hong Kong)
Askew (London, UK-England)
Axel Flóvent (Reykjavik, Iceland)
Äyanna (London, UK-England)
The Ayoub Sisters (London, UK-England)
Bad Bad Hats (Minneapolis, MN)
The Beatbox Collective (London, UK-England)
beccs (Warehan, MA)
Bee Bee Sea (Castel Goffredo, Italy)
Being Dead (Austin, TX)
Benjamin Walker (Chile, Mexico)
Bess Atwell (Brighton, UK-England)
Bleach Lab (London, UK-England)
BLK JKS (Johannesburg, South Africa)
Bloomsday (Brooklyn, NY)
Blue Lake (Copenhagen, Denmark)
Boy With Apple (Gothenburg Sweden)
BROTHER DEGE (Lafayette, LA)
Buffalo Nichols (Milwaukee, WI)
Caleb Landry Jones (Garland, TX)
Camidoh (Accra, Ghana)
Carla Geneve (Perth, Australia)
Certainly So (Nashville, TN)
Cha’keeta B (Austin, TX)
Chalk (Belfast, UK-N. Ireland)
Chartreuse (The Black Country, UK-England)
Chelsea Carmichael (London, UK-England)
Chiaki Mayumura (Setagya, Japan)
Chief Cleopatra (Austin, TX)
China Bears (Bridgwater, UK-England)
Chxrry22 (Toronto, Canada)
CLT DRP (Brighton, UK-England)
Conchur White (Portadown, UK-N. Ireland)
CURRLS (Brighton, UK-England)
Danny Bonilla (Dallas, TX)
Dasom Baek (Seoul, South Korea)
Daydream Twins (Austin, TX)
Dead Tooth (Brooklyn, NY)
Delights (Manchester UK-England)
DICE (Perth, Australia)
Dirt Buyer (Brooklyn, NY)
Discovery Zone (New York, NY)
Divorce (Nottingham, UK-England)
Dobrawa Czocher (Warsaw, Poland)
DOMICO (Tokyo, Japan)
Do Nothing (Nottingham UK-England)
Dream Nails (London, UK-England)
Dumb Buoys Fishing Club (London, UK-England)
dust (Newcastle, Australian)
Earth Tongue (Wellington, New Zealand)
Eleni Drake (London, UK-England)
Elisapie (Salluit, Canada)
Elle Shimada (Melbourne Australia)
Ellie Bleach (London, UK-England)
Emily Barker (Perth, Australia)
Emily Frembgen (Brooklyn, NY)
Emma Aibara (Yokohama, Japan)
Enola Gay (Belfast UK-N. Ireland)
Etta Bond (London, UK-England)
Fantasy Of A Broken Heart (Brooklyn, NY)
Fat Dog (London, UK-Englan)
FAZI 法兹 (Xi’an, China)
Field Guide (Winnipeg, Canada)
Folk Bitch Trio (Melbourne, Australia)
FONTINE (Winnipeg, Canada)
Forest Claudette (Melbourne, Australia)
Friedberg (Berlin, Germany)
Fust (Durham, NC)
Gavin James (Dublin, Ireland)
Glasser (New York, NY)
Glixen (Phoenix, AZ)
Good Looks (Austin, TX)
Grandbrothers (Berlin, Germany)
GRÓA (Reykjavik, Iceland)
Gruff Rhys (Cardiff, UK-Wales)
Gurriers (Dublin, Ireland)
HALLEY (Waseda, Japan)
Harvest Thieves (Austin, TX)
Hause Plants (Lisbon, Portugal)
The HawtThorns (Nashville, TN)
HIEN (Budapest, Hungary)
HighSchool (Melbourne, Australia)
Hinako Omori (London, UK-England)
HMS Morris (Cardiff, UK-Wales)
Ho99o9 (Newark, NJ)
Holly Macve (Brighton, UK-England)
Hooks & The Huckleberries (Albuquerque, NM)
Hour (Philadelphia, PA)
The Howdies (Athens, GA)
Humour (Glasgow UK-Scotland)
HYPNOSIS THERAPY (Seoul, South Korea)
IFE (New Orleans, LA)
Iona Zajac (Glasgow, UK-Scotland)
Iris Jean (Alkmaar, Netherlands)
Izo FitzRoy (London, UK-England)
Jack Barksdale (Fort Worth, TX)
Jack Harris (Cleveland, OH)
JADA (London, UK-England)
Jad Fair and the Placebos (Manor, TX)
Jaimee Harris (Nashville, TN)
JÁNA (Stockholm, Sweden)
Jazz re:freshed DJs (London, UK-England)
Jeannel (Berlin, Germany)
Jeshi (London, UK-England)
JFDR (Reykjavík, Iceland)
JM Stevens (Austin, TX)
Jon Muq (Austin, TX)
Jon Vinyl (Toronto, Canada)
Juani Mustard (Viña Del Mar, Chile)
JUANPALITOSCHINOS (Mexico City, Mexico)
Justin Webb (Nashville, TN)
Kali Claire (London UK-England)
Ken Yates (London, Canada)
Kikuo (Tokyo, Japan)
Kroi (Tokyo, Japan)
LAIR (Jatiwangi, Indonesia)
Laney Tripp (New Smyrna Beach, CA)
Larry Seaman (Austin, TX)
Laura-Mary Carter (Brighton, UK-ENGLAND)
Laura Misch (London, UK-ENGLAND)
Lauren Housley & The Northern Cowboys (Sheffield, UK-England)
Lauren Lakis (Austin, TX)
L E M F R E C K (Newport, UK-Wales)
Library Card (Rotterdam, Netherlands)
Lindsay Beaver & Brad Stivers (Austin, TX)
Lisa Morales (Austin, TX)
Logan Crosby (Milledgeville, GA)
Logan Halstead (Powell County, KY)
Los Cogelones (Mexico, Mexico)
Lottery Winners (Leigh, UK-England)
Madam Radar (Austin, TX)
Malugi (Berlin, Germany)
Mama Terra (Glasgow, UK-Scotland)
The Manatees (Southampton, UK-England)
maxime. (Montreal, Canada)
May Rio (Brooklyn, NY)
Meagre Martin (Berlin, Germany)
Mia June (Perth, Australia)
Mick Flannery (Cork, Ireland)
Minas (Cardiff, UK-Wales)
Miranda and the Beat (Brooklyn, NY)
Miranda del Sol (New York, NY)
MØAA (Seattle, WA)
Moody Bank$ (Austin, TX)
Nagasaki Swim (Rotterdam, Netherlands)
Natalie Jane Hill (Asheville, NC)
Native Harrow (Brighton, UK-England)
néomí (Den Haag, Netherlands)
NeOne Wonderer (Wolverhampton UK-England)
Neon Waltz (John O’groats, UK-Scotland)
Night Lunch (Montreal, Canada)
NOBRO (Montreal, Canada)
O. (London, UK-England)
Omni (Atlanta, GA)
OSKA (Vienna, Austria)
PAPISA (São Paulo, Brazil)
Pelvis Wrestley (Austin, TX)
Perennial (Amherst, MA)
Pink Pablo (San Juan, Puerto Rico)
Planet Giza (Montreal, Canada)
Plastic Palms (Turin, Italy)
poolblood (Toronto, Canada)
Population II (Montreal, Canada)
Presence (Camarillo, CA)
The Psychotic Monks (Saint-Ouen, France)
PVA (London, UK-England)
Pylon Reenactment Society (Athens, GA)
Rainbow Girls (Bodega, CA)
Ralphie Choo (Madrid, Spain)
The Rare Occasions (Los Angeles, CA)
Redbud (Austin, TX)
rEDOLENT (Edinburgh UK-Scotland)
Robby Hecht (Nashville, TN)
Rodeo Boys (Lansing, MI)
Rory James (Edinburgh, UK-Scotland)
RUBIO (Mexico City, Mexico)
Sam Williams (Paris, TN)
San Gabriel (Austin, TX)
San Saba County (Austin, TX)
Seafoam Walls (Miami, FL)
Selfish Sons (Brisbane, Australia)
She’s In Parties (Colchester, UK-England)
Sinkane (Brooklyn, NY)
Skateland (Austin, TX)
SNACKTIME (Philadelphia, PA)
Soda Blonde (Dublin, Ireland)
Sofia Kourtesis (Berlin, Germany)
Sofi Paez (Berlin, Germany)
Softee (Moorhead, MN)
South Summit (Perth, Australia)
SPRINTS (Dublin, Ireland)
Stuck in the Sound (Paris, France)
Styrofoam Winos (Nashville, TN)
Sui Zhen (Melbourne, Australia)
The Sully Band (San Diego, CA)
Sultan Stevenson (London, UK-England)
Swallow the Rat (Auckland, New Zealand)
Sycco (Brisbane, Australia)
Talia Goddess (Brooklyn, NY)
Tamera (London, UK-England)
Teenage Sequence (Fort Worth, TX)
Telehealth (Seattle, WA)
TENGGER (Seoul, South Korea)
testpress (Glasgow, UK-Scotland)
Texas String Assembly (Austin, TX)
TFD (Total F*cking Darkness) (Vancouver, Canada)
This Is Lorelei (New York, NY)
THUS LOVE (Brattleboro, VT)
The Tiarras (Austin, TX)
Tokyo Syoki Syodo (Shimokitazawa, Japan)
TRACY DE SA (Sevres, France)
Tufan Derince (Diyarbakir, Turkey)
twst (Barry, UK-Wales)
Venus Twins (Brooklyn, NY)
Vera Sola (Los Angeles, CA)
The Vices (Groningen, Netherlands)
The View (Dundee, UK-Scotland)
VLURE (Glasgow, UK-Scotland)
Vulva Voce (Manchester, UK-England)
Water Damage (Austin, TX)
William The Conqueror (Newquay, UK-England)
Wyldest (London, UK-England)
The XCERTS (Aberdeen, UK-Scotland)
Yb. (Brisbane, Australia)
YHWH Nailgun (New York, NY)
Yo Diablo (Valencia, Spain)
Yogetsu Akasaka (Tokyo, Japan)
YU-KA (Tokyo, Japan)
Zheani (Brisbane, Australia)
Zoon (Winnipeg, Canada)
ZÓRA (Budapest, Hungary)
zouz (Montréal, Canada)
Some of the artists mentioned here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
