Does the performance of a superstar act like Metallica help or hurt SWSW?The South by Southwest Music Festival, or SXSW for short, is one of the biggest, most high-profile annual music festivals in the United States. The Austin, Texas event is one of three festivals (film and interactive media are the focus of the other two) hosted by Austin each year.
Originally geared to music industry professionals to showcase unsigned or up and coming talent on a national level, the twenty-three-year-old event is now a bona fide schmooze-fest for fans, media, and music industry insiders alike. It is the musical equivalent of France’s Cannes Film Festival, with a bit of Mardi Gras thrown in for good measure.
This year’s event ran from March 18 to 22 and featured more than 1,800 musical acts of all genres from around the globe performing on over eighty stages in downtown Austin. Traditionally, most of the performers at the Festival are up-and-coming acts for which an appearance at SXSW has provided early national exposure. For example, Lily Allen was one of the breakout performers at the 2007 Festival.
In recent years, however, more and more established acts have been making “surprise” appearances at SXSW. While their performances are welcomed and appreciated by the music fans in attendance, the presence of chart-topping stars naturally draws media and industry attention away from the newer artists SXSW was originally intended to spotlight.
This year’s Festival featured performances by superstar artists like Metallica, Kanye West, Perry Farrell, and Tori Amos. That was great for the fans, but perhaps not so great for Beach House, the Pepper Pots (pictured left), or any of the hundreds of other lesser-known artists that were trying to generate a buzz in Austin.
Here’s a YouTube video of Kanye West performing “Amazing” at this year’s SXSW (warning: graphic language):
The participation of a few established artists is beneficial to SXSW – it generates publicity, and fosters continued interest in the Festival and similar events around the country. But when it comes to superstars at SXSW, it's not a matter of the more the merrier. I hope that SXSW organizers will be wise enough to regulate the number of star performances in the future.
As it is, SXSW is the United States’ premier music event highlighting new or unknown artists. I’d hate to see it turn into just another red-carpet celebrity showcase.
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