South by Southwest (SXSW), an annual festival in Austin, TX that features parallel music, film, entertainment and culture events, is facing boycotts and embroiled in controversy over the fact that the U.S. Army is a sponsor during the ongoing Israel and Palestine conflict. A large number of musical acts have pulled out of the music festival over what they view as the festival platforming not only the U.S. Army, but also its associated defense contractors and weapons manufacturers, such as the RTX Corporation (formerly Raytheon).
South-by has the US Army listed as a “super sponsor” on its website. According to the festival, sponsors “play an integral role in igniting discovery, making new connections with registrants, and contributing directly to the SXSW community across all sectors.” They “provide specific initiatives” and help to connect “their brand on a more personal level.”
SXSW runs from March 8 through 16, and festival management has been mostly quiet about the issue, perhaps hoping that the whole thing will blow over. As of right now, that doesn’t seem to be the case. In fact, South-by by even fired back at a group that called it out for supporting the U.S. Army, and by extension, the war in Palestine.
Back on Feb. 21, a group called the Austin for Palestine Coalition (APC) made an Instagram post asking people to email SXSW and ask that weapons manufacturers RTX Corporation, its subsidiary Collins Aerospace and BAE Systems get uninvited to the festival.
These weapons manufacturers “have direct ties to the arming of Israel, supporting their violent oppression of the Palestinian people. Raytheon manufactures missiles, bombs, and other weapon systems for the Israeli military to use against Palestinians.” How did the festival respond? Here’s where things get a little interesting.
The post used an iteration of the SXSW logo, a large arrow, and manipulated it so that it included three fighter jets, with two of them trailing blood. Instead of answering to the charges or distancing itself from RTX, SXSW took the opposite route and sent a cease-and-desist letter to APC.
The letter said SXSW “supports the constitutionally protected right of free speech” and that the APC is “permitted to refer to our SXSW Marks in a factual or editorial manner,” but “as a trademark and copyright owner” the festival has “an obligation to protect the goodwill and reputation associated with the SXSW Marks and copyright protected art by preventing their unauthorized use.”‘
If the cease and desist is ignored, the letter said, then “[SXSW] reserve our rights to take appropriate steps to protect our marks and copyright.” The lawyer for the APC, Cara L. Gagliano, responded to the letter on March 7, and said there’s no trademark claim, because the graphics are “political parody.”
“No reasonable consumer would interpret Austin for Palestine’s renditions of the arrow logo – which add fighter jets and details evoking blood splatter – as indicating that SXSW produced, sponsored, or endorsed graphics criticizing its own business practices. Without a likelihood of consumer confusion, there is no infringement,” Gagliano said. Interestingly, SXSW has not responded, and the post is still up.
From there, bands started to drop out of the festivals like Iguanas falling out of trees in the Florida winter. Belfast group Kneecap took to social media to say they were pulling out of the festival, citing the “unacceptable” connection between the festival and the U.S. military. Despite facing “significant financial impact,” the band said it “cannot in good conscience” do the event. The band said it would face monetary consequences for dropping out but that it’s nothing compared to the “unimaginable suffering” in Gaza.
Kneecap is one of an entire lineup of Irish artists who’ve pulled out of the festival. Music From Ireland, a group that represents artists from Ireland, pulled out all of their artists. Mick Flannery, a singer songwriter from Cork, said he does not “wish to be associated with weapons manufacturers.” Gurriers, NewDad, Cardinals, Enola Gay, and Conchur White are out as well.
Soda Blonde, a pop group from Dublin, said, “The decision to involve entities directly linked to the global arms trade, and by extension the ongoing atrocities in Palestine, is not just tone-deaf; it’s morally reprehensible.”
Singer songwriter Gavin James took to Instagram and said that music and art “should always stand on the side of peace and humanity. I will never support any event that is associated with weapons of war.”
Chicago indie rock singer Elia O’Connor Williams, who goes by Squirrel Flower, pulled out of the festival on March 4 “in protest of SXSW’s ties to the defense industry and in support of the Palestinian people.”
“The IDF has now killed at least 1 in every 75 inhabitants of Gaza, including 12,300 children,” the statement said. “The International Court of Justice has ruled that this plausibly amounts to genocide.” She also shared a list of alternate venues where she’ll be performing.
A hardcore outfit from Santa Cruz called Scowl also shared a similar statement, saying that “we refuse to be complicit in the face of genocide in Palestine. We refuse to participate in the war machine.”
Another hardcore group from New Jersey called Gel said “there’s no reason for [SXSW] to involve music of our peers and music at large with the US Army and defense companies that are actively committing and/or complicit in genocide.”
Brighton punk band Lambrini Girls, who music legend Iggy Pop calls his “favourite new band,” is one of the more higher profile acts to pull out of the festival, and they’ve been pretty transparent about what that means, financially. The band explained that they receive funding from PRS Foundation, which is a charitable funding organization in the U.K. to help develop talent.
“We were trying to find a way to [get] out of the situation whilst keeping our moral integrity intact and not having to repay thousands of pounds at the same time. That really just isn’t possible. Money has to be repaid and we can’t affiliate ourselves whatsoever with SXSW. Without our solidarity becoming totally inauthentic.” The band also said it considered the option of attending the festival and doing an on-stage protest but they couldn’t think of a way to do it without feeling “performative or inherently exploitative.”
All in all, more than three dozen acts are out. SXSW has yet to officially respond to any of the cancellations.