SXSW Revoking Press Passes of People Holding Day Parties During Festival.

Additions and Corrections 4:30pm CST 03.16.05

Every year, I swear up and down and all around on stacks of bibles and other religious implements (and, of coure, to God himself) that I will never, never, never, ever go to SXSW ever again. Every year comes around, and inevitably I end up going. Why? In case you're one of the people reading this that's never been, it's an earth-shattering event for anyone involved in the business of music, that's why! This year is the pale exception to that rule -- for a change, I'm actually staying home. Truthfully? I can't afford it, I have too much going on here to even consider it. Good thing, too, because now I've got beef with the people who bring us Austin's favorite pastime since Waterloo Records and Stubbs BBQ -- and you piker knobchokers who work down there at the fest can quote me until your heads spin. Inside track on the festival is that it's going to be a humdinger -- tons of great bands performing. How would you ever have time to see all that music?

Well, now it's going to be even more of a bitch to see everything. Used to be everyone that knew the deal could fly under the radar, head to Austin, and have a good time. No longer. The organizers of SXSW actually give a shit as to who you are. So much so, festival organizers have started going after individual publications and revoking their press badges. One would think that Austin's biggest income grabber and city attraction has gotten soooo much better than all the little people who made it into what it has become (a giant get-drunk-and-fuck-each-other-at-the-company's-expense festival for music industry, radio, and promo elite).

The best part of SXSW, I always thought, were the day parties. You get to actually interact with people from labels, the media, the artists, the managers, enjoy a few cocktails, and check out the band. Apparently, I wasn't alone -- the day party scene at the festival has exploded in the last few years. However, this trend towards the day party scene has created some kind of furor with the fuhrers at the festival. Gone are the days when you had to shell out an inordinate amount of money on a wristband to see the bands you (and the other ten gazillion billion people who work in or around the music industry stranded in Austin) came to see. Nowadays, all you need is to be invited to the day parties, which generally occur while panels are going on at the Convention Center, and you can actually have a chance to do almost everything you'd like and catch all the bands you want to see. Every major label has at least one, many independent publicity companies, independent record labels, and several of the widely-read independent publications contact venues and plan day parties months in advance for showcases which allow everyone attending the festival at least one additional chance to interact with their bands or their staff.

SXSW, keen to watch their mortgage payments on their ridiculously oversized houses (and self-inflating egos), have decided to chastise certain press people for holding such parties. Chief among them -- Chunklet Magazine. Yeah, I know...CHUNKLET? One of our most adored indie music publications?

It's bad enough they took out Chunklet, but it has been reported that THE EDGE Magazine, an indie publication that for the past three years has sponsored the Quadruple Heart Bypass Festival that takes place during SXSW every year, has not only been stripped of their credentials, they've been banned altogether. To make matters worse, sponsors and performers at their event have been threatened with the loss of their credentials as well -- paid or not. Here is the initial acknowledgement that formed the basis of the story from David at Wisdom Teeth on the matter:

Speaking of sxsw, those assholes revoked chunklet magazine's press pass. The official reason is that they weren't going to cover the festival enough, but through the grapevine I heard it was because they were advertising their free party/day show too much. I'm thinking of making t-shirts that say "sxsw destroys music" and wearing it around all week. The festival itself is such an awful thing but, damn, I love all the parties. So, yes, I'd like that cake and I'll be eating it too.

There have been calls for a boycott of the festival altogether by Austin music fans, and one of them has even organized an ongoing list of Austin events and day parties via which one can, actually, skirt the festival entirely. Here is a copy of a message from Dan (who compiles Showlist Austin) posted to the Unofficial SXSW Info group over at Yahoo! Groups (membership required to read) where this topic has clearly raised the ire of the membership:

I decided this year to join the growing ranks of Austin music fans who go to only non-SXSW shows, as soon as their $110/$130/$150 wristband plan was announced. This will be the first time in 11 years that I won't have one, but I just couldn't justify paying the money. My decision was aided by the fact that most of the bands that are playing that I would want to see I already have.

Last year, a few months after SXSW, someone who works there emailed me to ask if I had a copy of the showlist from back in March (this was before I put the archive page up), as he said they were "trying to get a handle on the scope of daytime events in Austin that go on during SXSW". Obviously it bugs them. This year you can tell that labels, etc. were pressured to play down their daytime parties in favor of the showcases at night. It's very evident in the way they are advertising and with the growth in number of badge-only day shows. As far as I'm concerned, it's none of their business how a label or magazine advertises their stuff. Now that Chunklet apparently got their press pass revoked, I'm even happier with my decision not to give them my money. Let the people who rarely go out to see music have their day in the sun. You'll find me at the free parties.
Dan
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These are the two cases which have been confirmed, but there is no doubt that there will be others crying foul when the festival is over with. Emails and phone calls made to SXSW officials and to Porter Novelli regarding these incidents went unreturned.

Hey, but wait a minute. Isn't that kind-of snobbery a way of shooting yourself in the foot?

The worst part for SXSW officials is clear: the relevance of the festival to people at an independent level (the sector of the music industry who gives life to your festival and whom you people do not need to piss off) appears to be receding -- but that's not news to me, and probably not to you either. You want less people in Austin every year for the poo-slinging and tree-swinging? Fair enough. We will stay home, and keep our money where it belongs -- in our pockets.

Word of this behaviour on the part of SXSW officials will likely spread VERY rapidly during the festival this week. SXSW officials hope to put the fear of losing one's credentials out there, believing that the festival's importance is such that its mythological power will force people to do their bidding. They might be right, but how long will that last? At least from an independent press standpoint, the negative publicity has a 50-50 chance of working in their favor. It will either turn the music press into a bunch of suck-ups or, conversely, make them reconsider all the attention they give the festival -- the generous amount of coverage, time, and space devoted to the lineups and the highlights. Try paying for those generous amounts of free advertising in publications promoting the myth of a festival that is too good for the people whose work keeps it alive.

And all of this because someone decided to have a party in the afternoon? Please.

The lesson in all of this: don't throw a day party for your publication or your record label at SXSW scheduled against an "important" SXSW event because, God forbid, someone doesn't fork over the exorbitant amount of money for a wristband in order to wait for hours outside a venue to see a band/artist play only to be denied entry to the show because 400 badge holders were bumped ahead of you. Give me a fucking break.

Lesson for everyone in 2006: if they can try to muscle the day partiers by revoking credentials, we should revoke their festival. Don't go.

UPDATE: With further thanks to David, an ongoing list of day parties.