AUSTIN, Texas — It’s 2 p.m. on the Division of Protection’s South By Southwest pop-up, and the bartender is taking a look at her cellphone. A handful of competition attendees mingle with navy contractors close by, however the sparse attendance feels even sparser in a 5,800-sq. ft. occasion area. The bartender tells me that I’m her first buyer of the day. She palms me a beer, then the invoice—regardless of the navy’s $1.1 billion advertising finances, it is a money bar.
SXSW is a 10-day tech, movie, and music convention in Austin, Texas, that pulls over 300,000 folks and primarily takes over each venue within the metropolis. Tech corporations throw launch events (Twitter in 2007), music careers take flight (Leon Bridges in 2015) and film premieres draw thousand-deep traces outdoors the Paramount Theatre (this yr’s huge one was, possibly fittingly, Civil Battle). The occasion has been occurring in some capability since 1987, and I’ve been attending as a performer, music journalist, and appreciator of free drinks since 2003. I’ve RSVPed for a lot of tacky company SXSW events in my day, however that is the primary time I’ve been handed a water bottle that includes the brand of the U.S. Military, one in all this yr’s competition’s six “tremendous sponsors.”
SXSW booked practically 1,200 bands for the 2024 occasion. A few of them weren’t joyful about this navy patronage at any time, not to mention whereas we’re funding and sending weapons for use within the ongoing genocide in Gaza. (Raytheon, Collins Aerospace and BAE Methods, who promote arms to the IDF, additionally had presences on the convention.) Every week earlier than the competition started, Boston indie rocker Squirrel Flower canceled her official competition exhibits. At the least 75 different bands adopted, together with all 12 Irish acts (Kneecap have been one of many buzziest to drop). Somebody flashed the woke bat sign into the home windows of the Governor’s Mansion and Greg Abbott tweeted good riddance to these bands. SXSW clapped again with a 185-word Twitter thread that disagreed with Abbott’s stance, however in the end translated to “All Tech Issues.”
“The protection trade has traditionally been a proving floor for most of the techniques we depend on as we speak. These establishments are sometimes leaders in rising applied sciences, and we imagine it’s higher to know how their method will impression our lives,” learn a part of SXSW’s assertion.
The Military sponsorship turned this yr’s huge controversy (after band pay charges in 2023, which have been raised by $100 in 2024). Of the 60 bands I noticed, in all probability 5 of them made statements on stage concerning the navy involvement. Aside from that advantage banter, you could possibly simply undergo the complete competition with out noticing any of the Military’s advertising (they have been notably the one tremendous sponsor with out their emblem on the step-and-repeats). Or you could possibly do what I did, and hang around on the navy’s pop-up activation for a pair days and see what the Military hoped to perform.
Austin is commonly thought of a liberal outlier inside Texas, a blue bubble that incubates startups and birthed probably the most constant rock band of the final 30 years (I don’t even have to let you know it’s Spoon). However it’s also the capital of the state’s very conservative authorities, which employs over 185,000 folks in Austin as of 2021, together with 800 active-duty navy personnel at Camp Mabry.
The federal government and tech trade come collectively in camouflaged synergy at Military Futures Command. Headquartered in Austin, the navy payments it as their innovation lab. It has 600 native workers members and 1,800 oblique staff. The contractors I spoke to made the Futures Command seems like a Willy Wonka tech manufacturing unit. In accordance with the Futures Command web site, they’re engaged on six flavors of sweet: long-range weapons, next-generation fight automobiles, future vertical elevate tech, air and missile protection, a tactical community, and “soldier lethality.”
The Military Futures Command has truly been concerned within the competition in some capability since 2018, however nobody appeared to note till the remainder of the Military confirmed up this yr. So, for what it’s price, there are literally some native ties that specify the Military’s sponsorship. However you could possibly say the identical about fellow tremendous sponsor, C4 vitality drink, which changed White Claw because the competition’s solely beverage sponsor.
Over the course of 5 days, there have been 28 occasions on the SXSW Schedule tagged “Introduced by: U.S. Military.” This ranged out of your typical tech convention mumbo-jumbo (“Humanoids or Augmented People: Accelerating Autonomy with AI”) to a stay “BattleBots Metallic Mayhem” smackdown. Daily featured 7 a.m. exercises like “Yoga in Formation: Military-Impressed Thoughts and Physique Steadiness at Brush Sq. Park.”
The Military’s SXSW headquarters for the week was a main piece of actual property: an occasion area at eighth and Congress, only a couple blocks from the town’s essential bar strip. On the SXSW schedule, the activation known as “This Is Our Home (introduced by Division of Protection Joint Innovation Organizations).” The venue itself usually rents for between $15-$20k per day, though the military in all probability solely paid half that as a result of at night time the area hosted concert events by Spin Journal, which declined to touch upon their involvement, however did finish one panel on music PR with a efficiency from a navy band.
Once you enter This Is Our Home, you spin a wheel to win a prize. At some point I gained the water bottle; the second day, a forty five from a band referred to as Six-String Troopers (A facet: “The Uniform,” B facet: “Unsung Heroes”). Fellow youths, the Military is into vinyl too!
Considerably inexplicably, there have been a bunch of computer systems the place 20-somethings have been taking part in Rocket League. Considerably extra explicably, there have been Quest headsets with tank gunner simulations. Members of the Golden Knights Parachute Workforce gave me a Meta Quest 3D VR expertise of parachuting right into a navy base simply because the edible was kicking in.
I had a dialog with a contractor a few Class 3 TRV-150 drone displayed on a pedestal. He defined that it may carry a max payload of 150 kilos a distance of eight kilometers at a cruising pace of 56 mph. I requested him what kind of context these have been utilized in, and he described troopers on distant missions removed from their base. He mentioned the drones normally ship humanitarian assist. I requested what else. He requested: What would I need if I have been stranded away from base? I mentioned, in all honesty, that I’d in all probability need a gun.
South by Southwest’s sponsorship charges will not be publicly obtainable, and neither the Division of Protection nor SXSW responded to monetary questions. An previous deck states that the tremendous sponsor can anticipate $1.5 million in advertising impressions for a fraction of the fee, which isn’t notably useful however does sound like an amazing deal. Commerce present cubicles alone price as much as $135,000 in 2020; branding on napkins began at $20k. Based mostly on estimates from veteran occasion planners, This Is Our Home would’ve price a non-affiliated competition model possibly half 1,000,000 {dollars}. Just a few blocks away, the Austin for Palestine Coalition spent about $300 on a protest present with what would possibly’ve been the most well liked lineup of the week.
Earlier than the Military sponsorship backlash, AFPC secured a allow to host protests outdoors metropolis corridor. Pressure began to construct in late February with an Instagram submit from AFPC that parodied SXSW’s emblem by including blood-streaked fighter jets. The group demanded that SXSW disinvite Raytheon & Friends. SXSW fired off a stop and desist, and AFPC’s Instagram account was banned for a pair days.
As soon as bands started dropping out of the fest, the protest organizers began sending DMs. Abruptly AFPC’s Thursday day celebration was stacked. Squirrel Flower was taking part in, plus lots of hyped competition dropouts like Enola Homosexual, They Are Gutting A Physique of Water, and Tomato Flower. A cynic would possibly say {that a} band foregoing a SXSW paycheck isn’t a very grand assertion. But it surely’s a measly payday ($350 for bands, $150 for solo artists), and so they ended up performing for a similar viewers just some blocks down the road. The organizers of the protest live performance see it in broader phrases.
“I believe we have to draw a line between leisure and tradition,” mentioned Paul Biggar of Tech for Palestine. “Tradition is what actually brings communities collectively. Tradition is what lots of these artists got here for. They’ve expertise, they make music, and it’s enjoyable and entertaining to take heed to, however are they making it as a result of any individual can earn a living off of it? That’s the leisure trade.”
The boycott could not have made a dent in SXSW’s backside line, but it surely did seem to have a major native impact. The income from the ten days of SXSW buoys companies by the off season. The rash of cancellations left some iconic venues like Resort Vegas scrambling to place collectively a lineup for what’s presupposed to be the busiest week of the yr. A large company entity like SXSW isn’t precisely a magnet for sympathy, but it surely’s onerous to not really feel for a small live performance venue hit with cancellations through the busiest week of its yr.
“That is what boycotts are for,” mentioned Cliff Clive of the Falasteen Road Museum. “They’re for making folks notice that we’re all in the identical system, we’re all on this collectively, and we’re not required to participate in your capitalism that you just’re doing—which is identical factor that’s killing folks in Gaza.”
Again on the This Is Our Home Home, Pearl Snap pilsner in hand, I used to be having fun with probably the most impregnable bastions of capitalism: the commerce present.
This wasn’t SXSW’s essential large convention-center commerce present, reasonably simply an occasion area with a handful of cubicles staffed by bored-looking navy contractors who appeared incapable of imagining the offensive makes use of of their know-how. Their drones undoubtedly solely delivered meals. The lone wolf Rambo-types utilizing energy turbines the dimensions of my Fjallraven man-purse undoubtedly solely go on humanitarian missions. Even the 3D-printed scopes for mortars — designed in collaboration with troopers by way of the Civil-Army Innovation Institute — have been created to make these weapons safer for our troops to make use of, no more deadly for whoever’s on the receiving finish. I perceive SXSW’s “dedication to deliver ahead concepts that form our world,” as they wrote of their assertion, however the distance between world-shaping and killing instruments could be very, very small right here, and everybody appeared blissfully unaware of it.
The cringiest moments got here throughout a presentation, “From Films to the Army: Designing Spatial Interfaces with MX Expertise.” It was hosted by Hollywood particular results man Jayse Hansen and Military Analysis Laboratory scientist Dr. Jeff Hansberger. Hansen has a cool job—he created the heads-up shows in Iron Man and Prime Gun: Maverick, amongst others. He nonetheless works on films, however now additionally contracts for the federal government, designing HUDs for tank operators.
Given the determined state of the particular results trade, I may see how a comfortable navy contract could be interesting. However have slightly disgrace. Hansen used the phrase “killer app” a number of occasions with no trace of self-awareness. About half-hour into the presentation, Hansen began explaining his tank gunner HUDs with a little bit of inventive jargon.
“I see this for example of telling a narrative to the reverse, since you’re seeing not solely what the present ranges of your automobiles are, you’re seeing the complete previous on the appropriate hand facet with the little graph, and also you’re additionally being alerted to potential futures,” Hansen mentioned. You see, by designing concentrating on techniques for the navy, he’s in truth storytelling.
After attending SXSW for 20 years, I really feel like I’ve acquired deal with on the previous and current, and may make some knowledgeable guesses concerning the future.
Regardless of my hand-wringing concerning the Military pop-up, I nonetheless love the competition. We’re speaking about 1,200 bands right here! I will not be cool sufficient anymore to have heard of most of them, however that’s the purpose. In case you are fascinated by discovering new music—particularly worldwide bands—there’s nothing else prefer it. Add within the filmmakers and the smart-but-a-little-bit-terrible tech folks and the ten days of SXSW is likely to be one of many highest concentrations of tradition on the planet. The issue is that it’s additionally the very best focus of leisure, and subsequently of promoting {dollars}.
For this ecosystem of a thousand concert events to proceed to function, it must be fed cash. SXSW already offered half the corporate to Penske Media (house owners of Rolling Stone) a pair years in the past in what SXSW’s CEO referred to as “a lifeline.” In the event that they’re nonetheless so determined for funding that they’d flip to the navy, that’s not monetary signal.
Most longtime attendees will let you know that the competition has shrunk in nearly each manner, and that basically boils right down to the advertising spends. The tradition continues to be there, it’s simply now not served up in buffet type—the unofficial free/sponsored megaparties are a factor of the previous. The Military set up made me lengthy for the kinder, gentler days of competition advertising, when manufacturers like HBO turned an entire ghost city into immersive theater, to promote Westworld (there have been no weapons at that one). On the door they gave out white or black hats primarily based on whether or not you needed to play or evil character. On the Military activation, based on the oldsters there, there wasn’t a black hat in the home.
SXSW didn’t reply to questions on whether or not it is a multi-year contract, however whether it is, that would have disastrous penalties for 2025’s bookings. In the end the way forward for SXSW doesn’t have a lot to do with Israel and all the things to do with picture. The common band undoubtedly doesn’t play SXSW for the cash, and even as a result of it’s enjoyable—they do it as a result of it’s cool to play at SXSW. Certain, lots of people attend the convention to community or as a result of their corporations purchase them badges, however once more, in the end, they go as a result of they suppose it’s cool. I’m going to this competition as a result of I believe seeing 60 bands in every week is cool. All like to the Six-String Troopers, but it surely’s impossibly onerous to make the Military appear cool.