How SXSW Became a Hub for Global Community

From its inception, South by Southwest (SXSW or “South By”) was about crossing boundaries and blurring lines between genres, mediums, and art forms. Inspired by the New Music Seminary event in New York City, a group of music writers in Austin, Texas imagined a festival that went further, celebrating film and interactive technology alongside musical performances.  

South By’s founders always imagined the event as a national – and ideally international – celebration. While one of the festival’s goals was to spotlight the fertile Austin music scene, South By was as much about bringing talent in as exporting it out.  

Organizers’ savvy inclusion of media and technology into the DNA of SXSW keeps it more relevant than ever in a hyperconnected society.  

In its modern incarnation, South By is part conference, part festival with cultural relevance around the world. Basically: networking if it was designed by and for creatives. It is the place to meet insiders at the forefront of art and media, and can make or break projects and careers.  

 Is South By Southwest ‘Pay to Play’? 

“At its core, SXSW remains a tool for creative people to develop their careers by bringing together people from around the globe to meet,” CEO Roland Swenson wrote about the event.  

Deals are made and voices discovered, but many local artists say it’s getting competitive – and expensive – to grab attention at an increasingly corporatized SXSW. More attention means higher prices and fees, and a wider field of international artists are trying to be noticed.  

Despite frustration and some reform efforts on the part of artists in recent years, the ultimate creative dream of showing your art to an influential audience lives on.  

“Legends have played here before and legends will play here, eventually,” one longtime SXSW attendee told journalist Jeremy Steinberger, who wrote on the tension between corporate interests and artistic dreams at the ever-evolving festival.  

Costs might be climbing for the average artist at South By, but strategic spending on presentation can still pay off. Licensing music for content you’re promoting at SXSW ensures that you have the legal right to use premium audio in your production. Universal Production Music’s licensing offerings can help polish your image and allow your talent to stand on its own.  

Register to access a library of high quality tracks and begin plotting a vision for your SXSW showing.  

Music and Tech: Our Global Languages 

While the festival always had a technological component, interactive media at SXSW began to draw attention in the 2000s. By 2010, the Interactive portion of SXSW surpassed the music festival in attendance. Since 2017, SXSW has been a unified event, with Interactive, Film, Music and Convergence, open to all badge holders.    

Twitter’s intense popularity at the 2007 festival was a cultural moment that foreshadowed social media’s unprecedented rise and its rippling effect on art. Music is the global language, and as communication technology has connected the world, SXSW’s focus on their intersection has proven to be prescient. 

Since 1987, South By’s organizers had a global audience in mind. Their choice to select an only vaguely geographical Alfred Hitchcock pun as a name instead of incorporating “Austin” into the festival’s branding was a deliberate move to broaden the event’s scope. Across the world, alternative weekly newspapers inspired by SXSW’s success have started similar “four-letter festivals” that help expand the reach of diverse artists. 

 Get Inspired By International Voices  

South By Southwest’s massive success is a testament to the symbiotic relationship between technology, music, and communication. If you’d like to participate in the conversation, learn more about our international music collection. Universal Production Music curates high-quality music from a global community of composers so creatives can find a sound that speaks to their vision in a multicultural landscape.  

The ethos of SXSW has always been bucking against norms, barriers, and categorization. While the scale of the event can be intimidating for an indie artist, it’s still the spot to meet like-minded people who can inspire you and maybe even take your career further.  

Check out past projects UPM has supported with our tracks, and start planning your South By splash.