One of the first high-profile music industry casualties of the COVID-19 pandemic was SXSW, the annual Austin music festival. It was officially axed on March 6, 2020, and a year later public health still haven't improved enough to bring the festival back to the IRL sphere. Still, SXSW isn't completely calling things off in 2021, and has announced the first slate of artists for this year's virtual festival, running from March 16 to March 20.
According to a press release, each artist will perform a livestreamed concert at a venue in their hometown. A limited number of passes are available for $249, down from a regular price of $299. See the first wave of announced artists below, with more to come later:
AIRY (Nowon Gu SOUTH KOREA)
Alexander Biggs (Melbourne AUSTRALIA)
Alice Skye (Melbourne AUSTRALIA)
Alien Tango (Murcia SPAIN)
Anna B Savage (London UK-ENGLAND)
A Place To Bury Strangers (Brooklyn NY)
Astrid Sonne (Copenhagen DENMARK)
Autre Monde (Dublin IRELAND)
Baby Kahlo (Baltimore MD)
Beans (Geelong AUSTRALIA)
BELAKO (Bilbao SPAIN)
Benji Wild (Cardiff UK-WALES)
Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears (Austin TX)
Blushing (Austin TX)
Braids (Montreal CANADA)
Caiine (Manchester UK-ENGLAND)
Campfire Social (Wrexham UK-WALES)
Candeleros (Madrid SPAIN)
Connie Constance (Watford UK-ENGLAND)
Dan Bettridge (Cardiff UK-WALES)
Daniel Casimir and Tess Hirst (London UK-ENGLAND)
Data Animal (Auckland NEW ZEALAND)
Dayramir Gonzalez (Hacienda Heights CA)
Death by Denim (Perth AUSTRALIA)
Didirri (Melbourne AUSTRALIA)
Dingo Bells (Porto Alegre BRAZIL)
Do Nothing (Nottingham UK-ENGLAND)
Drinking Boys and Girls Choir (Daegu SOUTH KOREA)
Ego Ella May (London UK-ENGLAND)
El Shirota (Mexico City MEXICO)
Enno Cheng (Taipei City TAIWAN)
Enola Gay (Belfast IRELAND)
Family Jools (Bristol UK-ENGLAND)
Fire EX. (Kaohsiung TAIWAN)
Francisca Valenzuela (Santiago CHILE)
Golden Dawn Arkestra (Austin TX)
Grrrl Gang (Yogyakarta INDONESIA)
HAEPAARY (Seoul SOUTH KOREA)
Hazy Sour Cherry (Tokyo JAPAN)
Holy Fuck (Toronto CANADA)
Indigo Sparke (Byron Bay AUSTRALIA)
Jealous (Berlin GERMANY)
Jekyll (Blackpool UK-ENGLAND)
Kalpee (Chaguanas TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO)
Katy J Pearson (Bristol UK-ENGLAND)
Kee’ahn (Melbourne AUSTRALIA)
lau.ra (London UK-ENGLAND)
Lilla Vargen (Ballymena UK-ENGLAND)
Los Blenders (Mexico City MEXICO)
Loshh (London UK-ENGLAND)
Luisa e os Alquimistas (Natal BRAZIL)
The Merindas (Melbourne AUSTRALIA)
Mimi Bay (Gothenburg SWEDEN)
The Mysterines (Liverpool UK-ENGLAND)
Nané (Austin TX)
Nanpa Básico (Bogotá COLOMBIA)
Nayana Iz (London UK-ENGLAND)
NekoJam (Taipei City TAIWAN)
No Money Enterprise (Brisbane AUSTRALIA)
Noya Rao (Leeds UK-ENGLAND)
Otoboke Beaver (Kyoto JAPAN)
Paul Jacobs (Montreal CANADA)
Paupière (Montreal CANADA)
Petite Amie (Mexico City MEXICO)
Pillow Queens (Dublin IRELAND)
Pote (Paris FRANCE)
Purple Pilgrims (Coromandel NEW ZEALAND)
PVA (London UK-ENGLAND)
Quanna (Savannah GA)
The Queendom (Atlanta GA)
Remi Burgz (London UK-ENGLAND)
Richard Spaven (London UK-ENGLAND)
Robocobra Quartet (Belfast UK-N. IRELAND)
Rosehip Teahouse (Cardiff UK-WALES)
Ruido Rosa (Mexico City MEXICO)
Samantha Sanchez (Miami FL)
Say Sue Me (Busan SOUTH KOREA)
School of X (Copenhagen DENMARK)
Seed Ensemble (London UK-ENGLAND)
Shannen James (Melbourne AUSTRALIA)
Sinead O’Brien (Limerick IRELAND)
Sir Woman (Austin TX)
Sorry (London UK-ENGLAND)
Squid (Bristol UK-ENGLAND)
Tebi Rex (Maynooth IRELAND)
TEKE :: TEKE (Montreal CANADA)
TENGGER (Seoul SOUTH KOREA)
Tessellated (Kingston JAMAICA)
Theon Cross (London UK-ENGLAND)
Tuyo (Curitiba BRAZIL)
TV Priest (London UK-ENGLAND)
Vaya Futuro (Mexico City MEXICO)
Virginia Wing (Manchester UK-ENGLAND)
Vocal Vidas (Santiago CUBA)
Walt Disco (Glasgow UK-SCOTLAND)
Wavy The Creator (Lagos NIGERIA)
Weird Milk (Buckingham UK-ENGLAND)
Y2K92 (Seoul SOUTH KOREA)
Ydegirl (Copenhagen DENMARK)
Yoshi Vintage (Flint MI)