Talk:South by Southwest

Paying Contributing Artists/Speakers
The ONLY thing anyone who ever talks about SXSW mentions is the fact that they don't pay their performers. Why isn't this included? SXSW will cease to be precisely because its reputation for greed and "paying with exposure" bullcrap.

Interactive part of SxSW?
Why isn't there any information about the interactive side of SxSW? --Ampersand2006 ( talk · user page design ) 11:52, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

I agree, for an wired event as the SXSW, you'd think there'd be a huge dedicated wiki-section or article.--Conrad Kilroy (talk) 23:44, 14 March 2008 (UTC)

although the addition of photos is a good idea i think additions should of noted performances this year or pictures from previous years. Carrie Rodriguez was a noted performer at sxsw years ago and considering that official sxsw musical showcases do not begin until tonight [3/14/2007] photos for 2007 are not appropriate. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Junkiecosmonaut (talk • contribs)


 * I don't follow this logic. Carrie Rodriguez is both a current SXSW showcase performer and a noted performer from a past conference.  The photo is from an unofficial event, but so what?  The only photo in the article before I added that one is a standard photo of the Austin skyline, that says very little about SXSW.  SteveHopson 21:25, 14 March 2007 (UTC)

Cost of SXSW
Is it fair to say this event is fairly commercialized? I've heard that the cost to truly sample and experience the event is astronomical. -Rolypolyman 12:54, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

It is possible to attend cheaply, but a wristband experience is a better experience - I believe it was $129 this year (2009). You can always select a club and stay there for a single admission (usually under $20) if you get there early enough. A lot of people get hung up on the cost of a badge and don't realize there are other options. Andrewhime (talk) 06:12, 12 March 2009 (UTC)

Also, there are a lot of Austin concerts that are not officially part of SXSW that are supposedly better than the big name shows. Some bands that are playing SXSW play other shows in Austin on other nights and those are free or have a nominal cover charge. Magicwalltree (talk) 15:49, 25 January 2012 (UTC)

Timing
'seems to me that the festival always coincides with Spring break (at least, locally (UT)), but i can't prove it, much less source it: no such mention at sxsw.com. Anyone? --Jerome Potts (talk) 06:50, 10 March 2008 (UTC)

Found these two at IMDB
--Jerome Potts (talk) 07:57, 15 March 2008 (UTC)
 * Guide to Music and South by Southwest
 * South by Southwest Festival 2007

external links and all
Thanks to the anonymous who added the SuperDeluxe.com SXSW 2008 Highlight Video in the external links section: it is sooo lame that it makes you wonder whether the festival is interesting at all. Oh, and: only one reference/source for the whole article? Duuude. How incomplete, how amateur, how lame. --Jerome Potts (talk) 20:09, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

ORLY?
I read: According to the Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau, SXSW is the second highest money-making public event for the Austin and Travis County economy, trailing only the annual Republic Of Texas Biker Rally., with a ref to something written at UT's newspaper The Daily Texan's website, a dead link by now, so i can't tell whether it was an article or a comment posted by a reader, or what. I wonder about the validity of that claim; perhaps we should get a ref from the Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau itself, no? (austintexas.org) --Jerome Potts (talk) 06:28, 17 November 2008 (UTC)
 * Unfortunately the newspaper article cannot be found, but after checking some more recent sources it appears that SXSW is actually be larger than the ROT Biker Rally. The article has now been updated to include these sources. EagleAg04 (talk) 06:00, 18 November 2008 (UTC)

Name
SXSW makes no sense. "South by Soutwest" is not a point on the 32-point compass. "Southwest by South" is. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.253.65.38 (talk) 16:07, 23 March 2009 (UTC)

I've removed an entry in a similar vein to the above and am placing it here for safekeeping:


 * The name, perhaps derived from the famous film North by Northwest, refers like the latter to a nonexistent compass point. Ancient mariners who can still "box the compass" will recall that there is a Northeast by North but no North by Northeast. All the "by" points end in N, E, S, and W.

While this is all very interesting for navigators, it has nothing whatsoever to do with the SXSW Music, Film, and Interactive Festivals, and I don't believe it has a place in the rather trim SXSW page. It certainly does not belong in the introduction. - Corporal Tunnel (talk) 15:43, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

Criticism
Anyone wanna add a "criticism" section, with references, talking about how SXSW used to actually be about undiscovered local bands but is now just another big corporate rockapalooza? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.94.125.134 (talk) 22:52, 18 February 2009 (UTC)

Gosh, aren't you clever. This is the typical whine of someone whose band didn't get selected. There are still hundreds of bands every year that play that are not signed, but the big acts get the big attention. Gotta have big acts to draw people to see the smaller acts. There's over 1000 mp3s this year. Do you really think they're all on major labels? Andrewhime (talk) 06:09, 12 March 2009 (UTC)

Torrents
SXSW kind of silently discontinued the torrents in 2008 as I recall (maybe 2007?) and did not offer one in 2009 either - the torrents for those years were user-assembled and hosted, so it might be necessary to rephrase this part to indicate that the event can be a good source for a huge sampler of new music with a little leg work. Hewgill's site is a good place to link to, as long as he continues to link to the user-generated torrents going forward (he created the one for 08, as I recall). Andrewhime (talk) 06:15, 12 March 2009 (UTC)

Band list
This is kind of unnecessary, a link to the archived pages for each year's band lists might be better. That or making a separate page for each year if you really want to catalog the bands that played? Andrewhime (talk) 05:44, 24 March 2009 (UTC)
 * It's kind of an awkward solution to the mess that existed previously. Given that 1,000 (or however many) bands play at SXSW, I think it would make more sense to just have the section read something like, "SXSW 2009 took place from blah blah. It featured over 9,000 musical acts." Maybe an attendance figure if that's possible, maybe list the more notable performers (although that might get POV).


 * I'm not at all opposed to each year's festival getting its own article, but the way this article's been maintained, it doesn't seem feasible. Tomdobb (talk) 14:07, 25 March 2009 (UTC)


 * I would like to see each year's festival get it's own page as well. It's a shame the list of bands that played or even some basic facts about each year is not on their site. Magicwalltree (talk) 15:55, 25 January 2012 (UTC)

Twitter a bad example of something bred there
"SXSW Interactive's focus on emerging technology has earned the festival a reputation as a breeding ground for new ideas and creative technologies. Twitter launched at SXSW Interactive in 2007." If a product launched there, that's something different to it being bred there, so to me Twitter is a bad example of a new idea or creative technology that was bred there. Lopifalko (talk) 17:35, 15 March 2010 (UTC)

Any relation to NXNW?
There's a similar event in the Pacific Northwest at Portland, Oregon each year. Any relation?

South by Southwest employment
Does anyone know how many people are employed by the Festival? Dmhyde1 (talk) 23:18, 16 September 2010 (UTC)

Is it a trade show or a festival?
sxsw.com makes it sound more like a trade show:
 * features five days of compelling presentations from the brightest minds in emerging technology, scores of exciting networking events hosted by industry leaders, the incredible new SXSW Trade Show and an unbeatable lineup of special programs showcasing the best new digital works, video games and innovative ideas the international community has to offer.

What do you think? The intro description of the article does not match at all, with what the web site says. Shouldn't they be similar? Daniel.Cardenas (talk) 22:49, 13 March 2011 (UTC)

This article needs a lot of fact checking.
Interesting how SXSW supposedly started at a convention center in a year that the convention center didn't even exist yet. Whoever wrote this article is obviously just making stuff up... — Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.132.13.2 (talk) 02:36, 16 March 2012 (UTC)


 * You mean the Austin Convention Center? It opened in 1992, and it first hosted SXSW in 1993. Korny O&#39;Near (talk) 19:27, 18 July 2012 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just added archive links to 2 one external links on South by Southwest. Please take a moment to review my edit. If necessary, add after the link to keep me from modifying it. Alternatively, you can add to keep me off the page altogether. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/20120322004257/http://sxsw.com/node/5521 to http://sxsw.com/node/5521
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/20130524055251/http://iqu.com/blog/south-by-southwest-interactive-video-games to http://iqu.com/blog/south-by-southwest-interactive-video-games

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External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just added archive links to 2 one external links on South by Southwest. Please take a moment to review my edit. If necessary, add after the link to keep me from modifying it. Alternatively, you can add to keep me off the page altogether. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive http://web.archive.org/web/20120526021912/http://www.statesman.com:80/news/texas/in-shadows-of-hype-dialogue-of-too-much-2235412.html to http://www.statesman.com/news/texas/in-shadows-of-hype-dialogue-of-too-much-2235412.html
 * Added archive http://web.archive.org/web/20150211084229/http://www.khou.com/news/texas-news?fId=259080131&fPath=/news/local/&fDomain=10232 to http://www.khou.com/news/texas-news?fId=259080131&fPath=/news/local/&fDomain=10232

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External links modified (January 2018)
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I have just modified 7 external links on South by Southwest. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20150924112924/http://www.sxsw.com/sites/default/files/attachments/SXSW-FILM-FESTIVAL-ANNOUNCES-2015%20COMPLETE-CONFERENCE-LINEUP-AND-ADDITIONAL-FESTIVAL-TITLES-IMMEDIATE.pdf to http://www.sxsw.com/sites/default/files/attachments/SXSW-FILM-FESTIVAL-ANNOUNCES-2015%20COMPLETE-CONFERENCE-LINEUP-AND-ADDITIONAL-FESTIVAL-TITLES-IMMEDIATE.pdf
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20150609232442/http://www.sxsw.com/film/screenings/past-films to http://sxsw.com/film/screenings/past-films
 * Corrected formatting/usage for http://www.vh1.com/news/articles/1471511/20030424/polyphonic_spree.jhtml
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20110716212414/http://sxsw.tewspaper.com/at-the-big-star-tribute-to-alex-chilton-sxsw-32010 to http://sxsw.tewspaper.com/at-the-big-star-tribute-to-alex-chilton-sxsw-32010
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20120315165235/http://www.dfw.com/2011/03/17/424689/commentary-south-by-southwest.html to http://www.dfw.com/2011/03/17/424689/commentary-south-by-southwest.html
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20140316165841/http://blogs.computerworld.com/computer-peripherals/23634/oculus-rift-sleeper-hit-sxsw-itbwgk to http://blogs.computerworld.com/computer-peripherals/23634/oculus-rift-sleeper-hit-sxsw-itbwgk
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20141208100955/http://blogs.suntimes.com/music/2011/03/violence_and_crowd_control_pro.html to http://blogs.suntimes.com/music/2011/03/violence_and_crowd_control_pro.html

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Accurate Page Category
This is a suggested edit from the digital marketing team at SXSW. Our current category is showing up on Google as "Film Festival" but this is only one element of SXSW. Can the default/priority category be updated to "Category:Conference & festivals" to better encapsulate the breadth of SXSW? Kevanirsch10 (talk) 16:42, 2 April 2018 (UTC)

Reply 02-APR-2018
✅ There is no Conference and festivals category already existing on Wikipedia. Instead, I added the two as individual categories (e.g., Conferences and Festivals). I also added the Conferences category to SXSW's Wikimedia Commons page, which already contained the Festivals category. Regards, 0.82em 18:07, 2 April 2018 (UTC)

Logos have incorrect capitalization in name / alt text
This is a suggested edit from the digital marketing team at SXSW. The two logos on this page have SXSW stylized as "SxSW", which is not the correct capitalization style and affecting organic results about SXSW. Can the names / alt text of these images be updated so that "SxSW" reads as "SXSW"? https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:South_by_Southwest SxSW logo.png and SxSW logo 2016.png.

2024 Boycott in support of Palestine
The criticism of SXSW specifically due to its sponsorship by the US Army during the current Palestinian war might be worth adding to the Criticism section. Enough bands have now dropped out that it's being covered by national news outlets (The Guardian, NME etc), and is likely to have an impact on the festival, at least for this year. Sktenn (talk) 08:49, 11 March 2024 (UTC)

what is parallel film?
what is parallel film? Ans (talk) 09:25, 1 April 2024 (UTC)