SXSW cuts ties with US Army and weapons manufacturers

Earlier this year more than 80 artists dropped off of Austin, Texas-based music festival SXSW in protest of their sponsorship ties with the US Army and arms manufacturers such as Collins Aerospace - a subsidiary of weapons manufacturer RTX Corporation formerly known as Raytheon. The more than 80 bands, including Scowl, Proper., Gel, and Sprints, all stated that they did not want to support any companies that supplied weapons that would be used against the people of Palestine. The festival has recently announced that it is dropping the US Army and all weapons manufacturers as sponsors moving forward in a statement on their website that reads,

”After careful consideration, we are revising our sponsorship model. As a result, the US Army, and companies who engage in weapons manufacturing, will not be sponsors of SXSW 2025.”

It is worth noting that when the boycott happened earlier this year, the festival initially defended its ties to these institutions. Recently Live Nation announced that it will be suspending Barclays sponsorship from its festivals across the UK following boycotts of The Great Escape and Download Festival due to Barclays providing financial services to defense companies supplying Israel.