https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/mar/06/sxsw-musicians-palestine-weapons-raytheon
Interesting to read a number of acts have chosen to boycott SXSW this year du to the festival’s connections to military contractors. It seems to be turning into a regular issue for festival organisers, there were artist boycotts at the Edinburgh Book Festival (most notably Greta Thunberg) due to the fossil fuel investments of sponsor Baillie Gifford. It is not necessarily a new phenomenon, I remember a concerted campaign to encourage comedians to boycott the Perrier Awards at the Edinburgh Fringe quite some time ago which ultimately led to the end of that particular sponsorship. Ethical sponsorship policies for events are nothing new but it is becoming an increasingly complex issue to navigate as more and more lobbying groups recognise the PR potential of a high profile event boycott. As if finding sponsors was not already difficult enough.