Austin's most famous citywide festival, South by Southwest (SXSW), has dropped a holiday gift in our inboxes: more featured speakers and musical showcases.
This is the third round and the second round, respectively, of lineup additions, bringing even more internationally famous and upcoming artists. To keep count, this is now at least 45 featured speaker sessions and at least 394 music showcases — with the bulk of the latter joining the lineup as of December 5.
To be brief, the shows someone can see at SXSW depend on the credentials they buy or get from work; Not everyone will be allowed into all of these sessions, so check for inclusions at sxsw.com. Even if you can't make a talk or showcase, it can be good to know who's in town. Artists often play other shows while they're in town, and talks often accompany announcements by companies and thought leaders that you'll see out in the wild.
Starting with the staggering number of new music performances, there are 23 more Austin artists:
- Angelo Moore and the Brand New Step
- Being Dead
- Cha’keeta B
- Chief Cleopatra
- Daydream Twins
- Good Looks
- Harvest Thieves
- JM Stevens
- Jon Muq
- Larry Seaman
- Lauren Lakis
- Lindsay Beaver & Brad Stivers
- Lisa Morales
- Madam Radar
- Moody Bank$
- Pelvis Wrestley
- Redbud
- San Gabriel
- San Saba County
- Skateland
- Texas String Assembly
- The Tiarras
- Water Damage
Artists on this list come from Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Iceland, Indonesia, South Africa, Ukraine, and many more countries from all over.
For speaking sessions, there are two more keynotes, which set the tone for the day's topics. First is a retrospective about a previous SXSW sensation, Everything Everywhere All at Once. The opening film in 2022, this touching story and wacky visual spectacle introduced many viewers to alternate Universes and a chaotic, joyful filmmaking style that had everyone talking. Writers and directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert will discuss the logistics behind the bold feat.
In a predictably long and winding sentence in the announcement, they write: “The process of developing, creating, and releasing our surprise hit movie that took the world by st— okay, look, if you’re still reading this, we should tell you that we've run out of new things to say about Everything Everywhere All At Once, so although we’ll try our best to stay on topic, we'll most likely go on a bunch of tangents about the state of the world, the impending climate crisis, the collapse of consensus truth, the rise of AI, the importance and impossibility of self care, and our collective responsibility as storytellers to confront the issues of our time, because that's probably going to be what's on our mind, but we can't make any promises, but at times we don’t feel qualified to talk about any of that stuff, anyway we hope you enjoy our SXSW Keynote!”
In a less detailed paragraph, another keynote was announced: "Futurist, TV news commentator, Board Director and Senior Fellow at the Drucker School of Management, Claremont Graduate University, and Host of The Moment with Ryan Patel Ryan Patel" will join Chair and CEO of semiconductor company AMD Lisa Su, who was revealed in the last announcement to be discussing chip technology and artificial intelligence.
There are 11 newly announced speaker sessions that aren't keynotes (from the announcement, edited for brevity):
- AI and the Independent Artist: CEO of TuneCore Andreea Gleeson and CEO of CreateSafe Daouda Leonard discuss principles for companies to consider in championing — not replacing — artists with artificial intelligence.
- Bringing a Major Franchise Into XR: The Gundam Example: Publisher at Astrea Zoé Lemaire, Head Producer at Bandai Namco Naohiro Ogata, Director at Bandai Namco Kenichi Suzuki, and Emmy Award-nominated XR Producer at Meta Ryan Genji Thomas discuss adapting anime superfranchise Mobile Suit Gundam to expanded reality — an umbrella term for virtual reality treatments that sometimes weave into physical reality.
- A Conversation with FTC Commissioner Lina Khan: White House and Washington Reporter for PoliticoDaniel Lippman and Chair of the Federal Trade Commission Lina Khan discuss how Washington thinks about AI, regulating Big Tech, and more.
- Design in Tech Report 2024: Design Against AI: Author and Vice President of Design and Artificial Intelligence at Microsoft John Maeda will discuss how “Design against AI” means both critically thinking about AI's implications for humanity and critically making work to stay ahead of AI's capabilities.
- Explore Space & Poetry With NASA & Poet Laureate Ada Limón: 24th Poet Laureate of the United States Ada Limón and Director of NASA’s Planetary Science Division in the agency’s Science Mission Directorate Dr. Lori Glaze present the official Opening Session for SXSW 2024. They will share Limón’s poem engraved in NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft, and dive into the many ways science and art unite.
- How to Differentiate Yourself as an Entrepreneur: Designer, philanthropist, and founder, Executive Chairwoman, and Chief Creative Officer of Kendra Scott, LLC Kendra Scott reveals how to succeed as an entrepreneur by learning from past failures, finding what makes you unique, and never ceasing to think like an entrepreneur.
- Kaleidoscopic Worldbuilding in a Fractured World: Vice President of IP Creative at Riot Games Laura DeYoung, Mascot and Senior Art Director at Meow Wolf Benji Geary, Chief Creative Strategy Officer at Meow Wolf Anne Mullen, and Narrative Director at Ubisoft Jeffrey Yohalem as they discuss how worldbuilders are creating new opportunities for engagement across both physical & digital platforms through increased participant agency, pervasiveness, connectivity, and community.
- Lessons Learned: The Next Frontier in Entertainment, Gaming and Tech: Co-founder of Crunchyroll and co-founder of GGWP Kun Gao, co-founder of Rotten Tomatoes and co-founder and Managing Partner at PKO Investments Patrick Lee, and co-founder of Kabam Holly Liu discuss lessons learned in moving from their industry (movies, streaming) into gaming.
- Molly Sims on Cultivating a Lifestyle Media Empire: Join entrepreneur, actress, model, producer, philanthropist, New York Times bestselling author, Host of the podcast Lipstick on the Rim, and founder of YSE Beauty Molly Sims takes attendees on a journey through her successful 20-year career building a lifestyle media empire.
- Pivot Live with Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway: Journalist, CNN contributor, and author of the forthcoming memoir, Burn Book: A Tech Love Story, Kara Swisher, and serial entrepreneur, New York Times bestselling author, Professor of Marketing at New York University’s Stern School of Business, Scott Galloway, host a live recording of their podcast, Pivot. They’ll share sharp, unfiltered insights into the biggest stories in tech, business, and politics.
- Team Human Live: Author and Professor of Tactical Media at Queens College, City of New York Douglas Rushkoff hosts a live recording of his Team Human podcast, where he engages in real-time, no-holds-barred discussions with people who are hacking the machine to make it more compatible with human life, and helping redefine what it means to stay human in a digital age.
SXSW will be held across many venues in Austin from March 8-16. Registration for badges (Music, Film & TV, Interactive, and Platinum) is open now at sxsw.com.