U.S. Army Won’t Sponsor South by Southwest in 2025

The "Shut Down SXSW" rally on March 8 (Photo by Carys Anderson)

South by Southwest will not be sponsored by the U.S. Army or any defense contractors in 2025, the festival announced.

Rather than sharing the news in a widespread social media post or press release, the Austin music/film/tech festival quietly updated its support page on June 25. In the Music Festival section, a statement reads, “After careful consideration, we are revising our sponsorship model. As a result, the U.S. Army, and companies who engage in weapons manufacturing, will not be sponsors of SXSW 2025.”

Dozens of artists – including Squirrel Flower, Eliza McLamb, Shalom, and Mamalarky, plus local acts like Being Dead, TC Superstar, and Good Looks – dropped out of their official SXSW 2024 showcases after learning that the U.S. Army was a super sponsor of the event. The military branch hosted several conferences at the festival, including a presentation on technology innovation featuring Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth and an official “This Is Our House” activation in collaboration with the U.S. Navy and SPIN magazine.

Other SXSW super sponsors include Volkswagen, Porsche, Delta, C4 Energy, and The Austin Chronicle. (Editor’s note: SXSW co-founder and part-owner Nick Barbaro also co-founded and owns The Austin Chronicle.)

Defense contractors like Collins Aerospace, a subsidiary of RTX Corporation (formerly Raytheon), also hosted events at the festival. RTX Corporation has supplied weapons to the Israeli government. In between unofficial performances, artists popped up at protests across Austin throughout the week.

South by Southwest remained largely quiet in the midst of the protests, and did not respond to requests for comment from The Austin Chronicle. However, the festival spoke up in support of the demonstrations after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott disparaged dissenting artists on X (formerly Twitter).

“We are an organization that welcomes diverse viewpoints. Music is the soul of SXSW, and it has long been our legacy. We fully respect the decision these artists made to exercise their right to free speech,” the festival said.