In July 1986
, the organizers of the New York City music festival New Music Seminar contacted Roland Swenson, a staffer at the alternative weekly The Austin Chronicle,
about organizing an extension of that festival into Austin after having announced that they were going to hold a “New Music Seminar Southwest”.
The plans did not materialize, so Swenson decided to instead co-organize a local music festival, with the help of two other people at the Chronicle: editor and co-founder Louis Black,and publisher Nick Barbaro.
Louis Meyers, a booking agent and musician, was also brought on board.Black came up with the name,as a play on the name of the Alfred Hitchcock film North by Northwest.
The event was first held in March 1987.
The organizers considered it a regional event and expected around 150 attendees to show up, but over 700 came, and according to Black “it was national almost immediately.”
Meyers left Austin and the festival in the early 1990s, but Black, Barbaro and Swenson remained the festival’s key organizers as of 2010.
SXSW Music Festival
SXSW Music is the largest music festival of its kind in the world, with more than 2,200 official performers and bands playing in more than 100 venues.SXSW Music offers artist-provided music and video samples of featured artists at each festival via their official YouTube channel.
The music event has grown from 700 registrants in 1987 to nearly 12,000 registrants. SXSW Film and SXSW Interactive events have grown every year, most recently bringing around 15,000 to 20,000 registrants to Austin every March.
Bands must cover their own expenses for travel and lodging at the event. All performers are offered a cash payment ($100 for solo acts or $250 for bands) or a wristband package that allows access to all music events.
SXSW Film Festival
SXSW Film is a film festival, focusing on new directing talent.
SXSW Interactive Festival
SXSW Interactive is focused on emerging technology, a focus which has earned the festival a reputation as a breeding ground for new ideas and creative technologies.
The festival includes a trade show, speakers, parties, and a startup accelerator.
According to a festival organizer Louis Black, SXSW Interactive “has probably been the biggest of its kind in the world” since 2007.
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