SXSW changes musician compensation package, but artist advocates ask, 'Is it enough?'

The South by Southwest Music Festival and Conference has raised the rates it will pay musicians for the first time in more than a decade. Under the new compensation structure, domestic showcasing artists can opt for payments of $350 for bands and $150 for solo artists for a festival set, an increase of $100 for bands and $50 for solo artists.

Alternately, artists may choose to forgo payment in exchange for a wristband that grants access to conference and festival programming. According to Michael Whellan, who represented the multimillion-dollar festival at an emotional meeting of Austin’s Parks and Recreation board last Monday, 90% of the 1,500 showcasing acts that played the festival last year chose the wristband.

For 2024 festival organizers have expanded access to the artist wristband, making it equivalent to a music badge. (In past years, artists were given primary access to conference sessions and secondary access to music festival events.) Whellan said these badges are valued at roughly $995. In addition, the festival has partnered with the Health Alliance for Austin Musicians to waive application fees ($35-$55) for members of the nonprofit, which provides health insurance to working musicians in the Austin area.

At the meeting, Pat Buchta, of the local advocacy group Austin Texas Musicians, called the changes to the way the festival accommodates showcasing musicians a “step in the right direction.”

“But respectfully, is that enough? Our musicians do not think so,” he said.

The parks board, a citizen-led group that advises the City Council, unanimously recommended that the city require changes to artist pay and compensation by SXSW before waiving any fees for the use of parkland.

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Should showcasing musicians have to forgo pay to attend SXSW?

Unlike for commercial festivals such as the Austin City Limits Festival, SXSW organizers have long argued that their conference and festival is an industry event focused on artist development and providing access to seasoned professionals. Each year, more than 7,000 acts apply to participate, Whellan said. In addition to featured interviews and panel discussions, conference programming includes mentor sessions. These one-on-one meetings can help artists build a career plan or figure out “Am I doing the right thing, or do I need to go back to medical school or whatever it is?” Whellan said.

Whellan also said the festival provides an artist lounge with meals, drinks and the opportunity to socialize with other artists.

Musicians have long complained about the festival policy that forces artists to choose between payment and access to the festival they are playing. The drumbeat has grown louder as Austin has become more expensive both for touring bands that travel to SXSW and local artists who have been pushed out of the city limits. Musician advocates also note that the festival, which sold a 50% ownership stake to the deep-pocketed Penske Corp. in 2021, is no longer a scrappy local event.

At the meeting, Audrey Campbell, from the local punk band Pleasure Venom, said her band always opts for the wristband to play SXSW because the stipend “is nowhere near our guarantee to divide between ourselves or pay out our manager.”

This year her guitarist had to pay “a staggering $55” to park in the Rainey Street district for the band’s official SXSW showcase, she said.

The festival policy “excludes working class artists disproportionately, excludes artists of color disproportionately, excludes queer and trans artists,” Joey La Neve DeFrancesco, a touring musician and leader of the national advocacy group United Musicians and Allied Workers, said at the meeting.

In March, UMAW published an open letter to SXSW demanding fair pay at the festival. The letter was signed by more than 2,500 artists, including Zola Jesus, Pedro the Lion, Speedy Ortiz, Sammus and Fugazi’s Guy Picciotto.

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Parks board's fair pay at SXSW recommendation passed unanimously

At the meeting, the parks board passed a recommendation that the city should include a provision requiring fair pay for artists performing on city-owned property in any future contract negotiation with SXSW.

In addition, the board recommended that the City Council require changes to artist pay and compensation by SXSW before waiving any fees for the festival to use city parks or other city-owned facilities.

In April 2022, the Austin Music Commission passed a resolution to raise the city rate for musical performances to $200 per artist per hour. The city’s Economic Development Department has adopted that rate for all city-sponsored events.

Last year, the city waived a fee of $23,430 for SXSW to present concerts at Auditorium Shores. SXSW traditionally programs free shows at the park that are open to the community at large. SXSW did not use Brush Square Park this year due to construction in the area, but the festival generally programs events in the city-owned green space adjacent to the Austin Convention Center as well.

The goal of the recommendations is not to pass a city ordinance that determines SXSW’s pay scale, but to leverage the power of the city in contract negotiations over the use of city space, said Pedro Villalobos, chair of the parks board.

Villalobos said he doesn’t accept the argument that SXSW is a networking event for artists to be discovered.

“I view this as an opportunity for a person to practice their profession and get paid an adequate wage as a result of that performance,” he said.

The parks board’s recommendations passed unanimously and will be sent to the City Council, which is under no obligation to act on a board recommendation.

The 2024 SXSW Festival and Conference is scheduled for March 8-16. Music festival applications are open now.

CLARIFICATION: This article has been updated to note that showcasing artists have been given access to conference programming in past years.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: SXSW to pay bands $350 if they don't want to attend the festival