Fair Pay at SXSW

120+ artists call for higher pay from SXSW in new open letter

The Union of Musicians and Allied Workers, UMAW, has launched a new campaign calling for higher pay for artists performing at SXSW. They’ve shared an open letter signed by over 120 artists, including Wednesday, Half Waif, Downtown Boys and Victoria Ruiz, Evan Greer, Greg Saunier, Spencer Krug, War on Women, Guy Picciotto, Maggie Vail, Vijay Iyer, Jackie Mendoza, illuminati hotties, Austra, Cadence Weapon, Delicate Steve, YACHT, Pedro the Lion, Geoff Rickly, Zola Jesus, Anjimile, Remember Sports, Eve 6, Speedy Ortiz, Tess Roby, and more. The letter makes four demands of the festival:

1. Increase the compensation for showcases from $250 to at least $750 for all performers. (Which is still less than the cost of a single music badge to attend the festival.)

2. Include a festival wristband in addition to financial compensation. Stop forcing artists to choose between being paid and attending the festival they are performing at.

3. Provide the same compensation + wristband deal to international artists and domestic US artists.

4. End the application fee.

SXSW, which Rolling Stone parent company Penske Media Corporation acquired a majority stake of in 2021 with MCR Entertainment (Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, etc), has offered the same artist compensation for over a decade, consisting of either a $250 payment ($100 for solo artists and duos) or a festival wristband for US artists, with no payment offered for international artists.

In a statement, UMAW organizer Joey La Neve DeFrancesco said, “The costs of touring and the overall cost of living have soared over the past decade, but SXSW has continued to offer the same disrespectful deal to artists. The festival has continued to grow, and openly brags about the hundreds of millions of dollars it generates for Austin. Yet the artists who are the backbone of the festival continue to be mistreated.”

Read the open letter in full here and below.

OPEN LETTER TO SXSW FROM UMAW

Since SXSW launched in 1987, musicians have been the festival’s backbone and main draw. Yet despite SXSW’s consistently growing profits and ever-expanding programming over the past 30+ years, the musicians performing at the festival have been exploited with low pay, high application fees, and other insults.

For at least a decade, SXSW has offered its showcasing artists the same unjust compensation options: either take a wristband to attend the festival, or receive a one time payment of $250 (or $100 for solo artists). International artists do not even have this choice, and are only offered a wristband with no possibility for compensation.

While SXSW has maintained these insultingly low wages since at least 2012, the festival has regularly increased its application fees. For instance, in 2012 the fee was $40, and now it’s $55, a 37.5% increase. Even without accounting for skyrocketing inflation, these stagnant wages and growing fees have meant an actual decrease in wages for SXSW performers over the past decade.

Enough is enough. Artists have built SXSW and we must be fairly compensated for our work. The undersigned artists demand that SXSW:

1. Increase the compensation for showcases from $250 to at least $750 for all performers. (Which is still less than the cost of a single music badge to attend the festival.)

2. Include a festival wristband in addition to financial compensation. Stop forcing artists to choose between being paid and attending the festival they are performing at.

3. Provide the same compensation + wristband deal to international artists and domestic US artists.

4. End the application fee.

SXSW regularly boasts about bringing hundreds of millions of dollars into the Austin economy. The festival is now owned by Penske Media, who also own Rolling Stone, Billboard, Variety, and the Hollywood trade publications. The corporation’s CEO Jay Penske is the son of billionaire Roger Penske, and is himself worth roughly a quarter of a billion dollars. The festival brings high profile politicians and business people from all over the world for high level speeches, panels, and networking. Yet SXSW continues to severely mistreat the artists who are the backbone of the enterprise. We demand fair pay for musicians at SXSW.