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SXSW Music Festival Showcase applications are open to all music genres, artists from around the world, and both signed and unsigned acts. What our programmers are looking for is harder to define than a genre or a label deal: it's the quality of the music first and foremost, the sense that an artist is building toward something, a recent or upcoming release that gives a showcase greater purpose, and a live performance that people will be talking about long after the last note rings out. We book artists who are spearheading their local or regional musical movements and on the verge of breaking big. We book artists you'd have to fly to another continent to see. We book acts that create nights that can never happen again. If you've got press coverage from tastemaker media - Pitchfork, NME, Paste, BBC Introducing, triple j - include it. If you're working with a publicist, booking agent, or DSP pitching team, name them. If this is your first U.S. tour or you're entering a new market, tell us, we love to be one of your firsts.

If you're invited to showcase, here's what to expect: one official SXSW showcase performance is guaranteed per invited act, with a typical slot of 40 minutes (exceptions may apply depending on genre and venue), taking place March 15–21, 2027. Invited artists receive an Official SXSW Artist Registration Package, which includes SXSW Artist Badges,  which are Platinum Badges, for each performing member and one tour manager or manager, giving you access to all official SXSW events plus unique artist-only benefits. Domestic acts consisting of three or more performers may opt instead for monetary compensation of $400 total, or $175 total for a solo or duo act, paid as a one-time direct deposit. Combinations are not permitted. International artists are responsible for securing any necessary visas for U.S. entry, see the International Artists FAQ for guidance, and strongly consider consulting an immigration attorney before agreeing to any performance outside of your official SXSW showcase.

Applications are reviewed by our team, and you'll be notified of your invitation status on or before December 18, 2026. The venues are waiting: Mohawk, Stubb's, Hotel Vegas, Antone's, The Continental Club, and so many more iconic Austin stages where legends are made. Submit your application and come join us in Austin, March 15–21, 2027, for South by Southwest.

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The 2027 competition spans eight categories designed to reflect the full breadth of where innovation is actually happening right now: Emerging & Frontier Technologies; Entertainment, Media, Sports & Digital Platforms; Life Sciences, Healthcare & Assistive Tech; Mobility, Manufacturing & Industrial Systems; SaaS, Enterprise & Developer Platforms; Smart Data, Security & FinTech; Student Startups; and Sustainability, Energy & AgTech. If your product or service fits one of these categories, you're eligible to apply - as long as it launched before January 1, 2024, your company hasn't raised over $10 million in combined funding, and the founders retain some portion of ownership.

Here's what makes SXSW Pitch different from other pitch competitions: the audience. When you present at SXSW, you're not just in front of a panel of judges, you're in the middle of a global convergence of early adopters, cross-industry thought leaders, press, and investors who came to Austin specifically to find the next big thing. The energy in those rooms is unlike anything else on the conference circuit, because SXSW draws the kind of curious, forward-thinking audience that doesn't just evaluate ideas, they champion them. The buzz that comes out of a strong SXSW Pitch appearance can follow a startup for years.

Get your entry in before September 13 to take advantage of Early Bird pricing, and come ready to show the world what you're building. We'll see you in Austin, March 15–21, 2027, for South by Southwest.

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PanelPicker® supports a wide range of session formats, so the question isn't whether your idea fits, it's which format best serves it. A single sharp perspective might be a Presentation. A topic that gets richer with multiple voices might be a Panel. A hands-on concept with real professional takeaways belongs in a Workshop. If your idea lives somewhere between teaching and conversation, a Core Conversation or Fireside Chat might be exactly right. There are also formats for book readings (publication date of June 2026 or later), Meetups, and established Podcasts. Whatever the format, the SXSW programming philosophy is the same: we're not looking for surface-level takes or content people could have Googled. We program sessions that go deeper, that reframe how people think about their work, and that can't be found anywhere else. If your proposal does that, you're on the right track.

A few things that make proposals stand out: specificity wins over vagueness every time, so resist the urge to pitch a broad topic and instead nail down the precise angle you're bringing. Your title is competing with hundreds of others - cute is fine, but clear and direct is better. The supporting material you include matters enormously, so treat it like the first chapter of an argument you're making to both the community and the SXSW staff. Once proposals are submitted, community voting opens August 5–23, 2026, but know that votes aren't the only thing that determines who gets on stage. A group of 200+ PanelPicker Evaluators from around the world, plus the SXSW programming staff, weigh in alongside community votes, which means less well-known voices have a genuine shot alongside speakers with massive online followings.

Not sure where to start? SXSW is hosting an AMA webinar on June 23 where you can ask questions, learn best practices, and get a feel for what makes a strong submission RSVP Here. Throughout July, virtual Office Hours give you a direct line to SXSW staff for feedback on your proposal before you hit submit. Head to panelpicker.sxsw.com to get started, and meet us in Austin, March 15–21, 2027, for South by Southwest. The stage is waiting.

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