South by South West 2004

Thirteen bands from across Scotland hit the stage at the 2004 SXSW festival including Franz Ferdinand, the Delgados, Sons and Daughters, The Grim Northern Social and The Magnificents. 

Franz Ferdinand, who performed at the event in March 2004, has gone on to receive critical acclaim in the US and appeared on the front cover of leading US music magazine, Spin.

SXSW, which has been running for 18 years, is attended by more than 7,000 music industry delegates and highlights include:

• live music performances by more than 1,000 artists,
• a conference on issues relating to the global music industry and
• a tradeshow in which artists can network, promote, and connect to the most influential professionals in today's music community.

SXSW organisers select the bands on the basis of their musical talent and proven readiness to sell themselves to an international market.  Scottish artists are given the opportunity to perform and promote themselves to thousands of music industry delegates from around the world.  Artists hope that participating at SXSW will lead to business opportunities in new international markets.

As well as funding for individual bands, the Scottish Arts Council, in partnership with representatives from the Scottish music industry, co-ordinate a Scottish presence at the convention’s tradeshow and undertake a collective PR and marketing campaign around the Scottish artists’ attendance at the event.

The Scottish Arts Council’s support for bands attending the event resulted in the phenomenal success of the 13 bands who attended the 2004 festival.  Almost 50% of the Scottish bands who applied to the 2004 festival were invited to attend – the second highest proportion of all European countries behind Ireland.  

Without the support from the Scottish Arts Council and Scottish Enterprise, many of the bands would have struggled to raise the finances to attend the festival. 

Nod Knowles, Head of Music at the Scottish Arts Council, adds: ‘Scottish artists outperformed most other European countries in terms of the ratio between applications to perform and actual invitations by SXSW.  Scottish acts are clearly producing music which is both highly regarded in artistic terms and succeeds in relation to the plethora of other international music that the selection panel hears.’

Ian Smith of the Musicians’ Union in Scotland says: ‘Attending the 2004 South by SouthWest Festival as part of the appropriately named ‘Scottish Invasion’ along with 13 Scottish bands, promoters, managers and agents was, for me, one of the true highlights of my career.  The Musicians Unions will continue to work in partnership with the Scottish Arts Council and other organisations to ensure that our musicians get the chance to appear on such an important world stage.’

Read more about South by Southwest 2005.