South by Southwest began as a small music festival with only 700 registrants, where A&R reps from the labels scouted bands with the intent of discovering, and then signing, the cream of the crop. I was there for 16 straight years, until after having the greatest 4 days ever spent in that city – Jesus & Mary Chain, The Black Angels (performing 6 times), and Dave Grohl at the Keynote, that was it for me. I knew when it was time walk away for a few years, but I’ll be back.
Austin’s homegrown festival has since grown into a huge, multi-pronged event: Music, Film, and Interactive, plus offshoots like SXSWedu, SXSports, and SXSW Eco attract different groups of people from all over the place.
For many, it’s still all about the music — arguably more than ever, because in the early days, SXSW was attended by people who see music for a living. Artists can still make their mark in Austin by getting “discovered,” but only if they attract enough buzz from the fans who now comprise the majority of SXSW attendees.
Spotify is helping you discover some SXSW artists right now, before the event gets underway, by polling music fans to find out which artists playing SXSW are receiving a disproportionate amount of buzz from the global music community. Based on the artists people everywhere are reading about, sharing, and listening to, Spotify includes a discovery score for each artist. This reflects how much attention a particular artist is getting from music fans, relative to the artist’s familiarity among the general public. If lots of people around the world are discovering an artist (or are about to discover them), that artist gets a higher discovery score. So, it’s a measure of disproportionate attention — a sign that music fans are really starting to get behind a particular artist.
The following 100 SXSW showcase artists are receiving the most disproportionate attention from music fans around the world right now (playlist below). Italicized artists happen to be playing Spotify House:
- Years & Years
- Christine and the Queens
- Dej Loaf
- Macaco
- O.T. Genasis
- TY DOLLA $IGN
- James Bay
- Marlon Roudette
- Dotan
- Fritz Kalkbrenner
- Jack Garratt
- Aero Chord
- Bleachers
- Seinabo Sey
- Priory
- Klangkarussell
- July Talk
- Kaleo
- Tove Lo
- Catfish and the Bottlemen
- Viet Cong
- Clean Bandit
- Jeremy Loops
- Family of the Year
- Nihils
- Milky Chance
- Rae Sremmurd
- Young Rising Sons
- Ibeyi
- AWOLNATION
- Walking On Cars
- Yumi Zouma
- Cazzette
- Circa Waves
- Snootie Wild
- Meg Mac
- Mystery Skulls
- Tove Styrke
- LANY
- Laura Welsh
- Cheerleader
- Joey Bada$$
- Tkay Maidza
- Gengahr
- Odesza
- Big Data
- Elliphant
- Jess Glynne
- Johnny Stimson
- Mallory Knox
- Run the Jewels
- Natalie Prass
- Mansionair
- Marina and The Diamonds
- The Knocks
- Songhoy Blues
- Brenmar
- Beginners
- Fetty Wap
- Greg Holden
- Ivy Levan
- Whitehorse
- George Maple
- Amason
- Misterwives
- Elle King
- Freedom Fry
- Von Hertzen Brothers
- Andy Shauf
- Razihel
- Kevin Gates
- Matthew E. White
- Black Rivers
- X Ambassadors
- Griz
- Epik High
- Marian Hill
- Makthaverskan
- Austin Basham
- Public Service Broadcasting
- Thylacine
- JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound
- Stromae
- Uz
- Night Terrors of 1927
- Jaill
- The War On Drugs
- Mike Will Made It
- Noveller
- Girlpool
- Haywyre
- Rangleklods
- Laleh
- Caloncho
- Flag Ship
- Courtney Barnett
- KAYTRANADA
- Summer Heart
- Fort Romeau
- Night Riots
