Welcome back to The Club List, a newsletter about making a business out of what you love.

There’s been a whole lot of chatter about SXSW’s changes for 2026 this week, and I was just there! So, let’s get into looking at them, in a way that I hope illuminates how I look at this sort of thing whenever big structural changes happen. Spoiler: when I see a lot of people talking about what a thing is going to look like a year from now, I feel I have every reason to be part of it. I like to explore uncharted territory.

The regular format of this newsletter is back as of this week, and I’m gearing up for a really busy (and fun!) spring. If you’ll be at Austin Psych Fest next month, it’s looking like I’ll be back in Texas for that. If you’re part of A2IM’s community, Sync Up is just around the corner in Los Angeles on April 14, and New York will have its own clubs to be in very soon (including Indie Week this June, which you should be looking into if you’re in music).

Let’s get into it. We’ll have plenty more to get into from here.

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Uncharted Territory

Over the last week or so coming out of SXSW, there has been a mix of curiosity, open questioning, and weirdly eager grave-dancing about SXSW’s future, depending on the viewpoint of the person you’re talking to. This is because of a major change in how the festival operates: in 2026, SXSW will shift its music programming to overlap with its film and interactive programming, changing the fest’s overall schedule to 7 days instead of 9 days (and also adding a day of official music programming).

SXSW has been making it clear to its partners directly that this is meant to be a good thing for music at the festival; in fact, they’ve said this to me directly as well. And as someone who personally loves this event, I’m inclined to see it as good, too. Up until now, tech at SXSW and music at SXSW have felt like a tale of two fests, and I’ve personally been longing for the greater crossover moment to happen.

But I think the way different camps have responded to it has been incredibly illuminating.

There’s a mistake I see made over and over again by business types, and arguably by humans in general. We have this way of trying to spot overarching trendlines and not looking at relative strength within them.

For that matter, we have a way of not looking for the opportunities that present themselves in nearly any structural change.

Let’s get at that first part to start with. From a relative strength perspective, let’s not get it twisted: SXSW is a juggernaut, and it remains a juggernaut. It has a presence in London and Sydney now, and it doesn’t show signs of going away. Last year, SXSW generated a staggering $377 million for Austin, which was just a couple million down from 2023. There are venues in Austin that exist because SXSW exists, and when you go there during non-SXSW times, you’ll notice it instantly.

Compare that to the rest of the industry trend at the moment. Festivals and conferences are taking some serious lumps worldwide, as is the entire post-pandemic concert business. Margins are slimmer as costs rise and ticket prices for the biggest acts go skyward, and the competition for remaining dollars is getting messy. For example, I’ve heard talk recently of larger corporate promoters giving artists outdoor festival contracts where the artist agrees to be in force majeure - you know, not paid because of “acts of God” - if the festival date gets rained out. No rain date option, nothing. If the fest date cancels, this puts it on the artist. (This is, for the record, not something you should ever sign as a touring artist, and the pushback I’ve heard about related to it has been good!)

In New York alone, you can see it in pressure on venues. Our Wicked Lady is still on the brink of closure, despite being one of the best places to see a local indie show across multiple genres with regards to live sound, artist treatment, and affordable drinks in a nice environment. Paragon is closing in April. Heaven Can Wait quietly shuttered recently (though, that room has operated under enough names in the last few years that I fully expect it to be back). 

And it’s not just venues; Brooklyn Record Exchange announced this week that they’re shuttering its Bushwick location on March 30 and going Greenpoint-only, in a statement that stops just short of blaming the neighborhood around it for forgetting it existed. Meanwhile, rents have gone up 30% or more for a plurality of residents since 2020, and evictions in NYC increasingly target middle-class earners. As some have marked the 5-year anniversary of Covid-19 lockdowns this month, it’s impossible to ignore how much things have changed. Don’t get me, or anyone else, started on the price of eggs.

So that means the music industry is in cost-cutting mode. That means when big chunks of the music industry skips buying a badge and flies home Friday of SXSW now, it shouldn’t surprise anyone to see that SXSW might have taken note of this, particularly when the film portion of SXSW looks to be scaling up majorly. And let’s just call it how it is: the most in-demand Friday and Saturday showcases, for years, have either been unofficial shows or been partially open to the public, and that’s not likely going away. But it’s not just the weekend; lots of SXSW’s music portion at this point involves unofficial programming. It’s part of the draw. (You go, and it’s awesome! But there’s an entire second festival underlying it? Whoa! Let’s do EVERYTHING!)

In a period where the music industry seems to be fighting with tougher margins across the board, it seems to me - as someone who’s hosted showcases and parties there plenty over the last 15ish years, including this one - that having official music events overlap with the film industry AND the tech industry at SXSW will be great news for 2026. And on top of that, some in the international side of music have made a wise observation to me about it: overseas conferences are trying to downshift away from weekend programming because, you know, conferences are work and working endless weekends in European fall conference season is brutal. So shifting music up the calendar reflects that on SXSW’s end, and that’s more manageable for pros across the board, too.

But mainly, I try to look at these things from a perspective of the opportunities presented. And it’s like this.

An entire ecosystem within the music industry benefits from SXSW’s existence. In recent years, this ecosystem has started to fracture into three portions as SXSW’s venues drift further eastward and the sprawling fest further decentralizes: official domestic programming, official international programming, and unofficial domestic programming. Sometimes they overlap, but I’ve been jumping into and out of all three for years, and they’re increasingly stratified right now.

If all three of these sides suddenly have reason to co-mingle with film and tech pros at SXSW for an entire week, that can mean better everything. More chances for cross-industry investment. More chances for memorable experiences. More chances to see something unforgettably, wildly fun that don’t have to involve the Stunt Branding Overkill that marked the early 2010s at SXSW (like, you know, the 60-foot Doritos machine).

And yes, like every big festival in music, SXSW has problems. Some of them are unusually big problems, as tends to happen when you have this level of cash flying around.

Should official showcase acts be compensated better, especially when unofficial US acts can just drive down and play the underground stuff if they have the right connections? Absolutely! 

Are there other fair criticisms to be made about it? Sure!

Did I agree with getting defense contractors out of it as super-sponsors last year? You bet!

Does SXSW have it all figured out? I’m sure if you asked them right now, they’d tell you they don’t!

But a shakeup like this presents opportunities to reach different audiences with the same programming. It also presents an opportunity to do something I personally love as a marketer - go where I know people will be, at a time when others are wondering openly what that destination will look like. And what I see in that is a gigantic entity that isn’t resting on its laurels. I’m choosing to be intrigued by this. You’re welcome to choose differently, but if you’re as invested in this stuff as I am, I suspect you’ll be missing out.

One Thing You Can Use Today

Until they’re at the level of total pop takeover, music videos don’t do the numbers they used to. Not by a long shot. Especially with press premieres being mostly a thing of the past.

But if you’re an artist, how you use them is everything. And you’re probably overthinking them.

Three points:

1.) A certain type of Internet user really, really loves watching YouTube. This is the case across demographics, and (as you may have read in previous issues) it’s increasingly popular with older people with time on their hands and smart TVs.

2.) Most streaming platforms require a certain amount of savvy and buy-in to use them, especially music platforms (yes, even Spotify’s free version). YouTube, Instagram Reels, and TikTok are all free and not music-specific. This means they’re all things a more casual music fan will use, as well as more serious music fans. It’s beneficial to be in front of both.

3.) You do NOT need to have a complicated setup to do a music video these days. Early-stage companies are often encouraged to talk about their businesses now by speaking directly into the camera on socials, and allowing themselves to be human and a little flawed in doing so. Relatedly, you wouldn’t believe how often I get AI-generated “intro videos” from otherwise fully-human sales people over LinkedIn. Any video is suddenly good video.

While you can definitely overdo the whole “talking into the camera” thing if you’re a business owner and don’t want to be an influencer, the basic point is hammered home quickly if you back-reference SXSW’s lineup this year by searching those artists on YouTube. Check it out. You’ll notice a lot of single-camera iPhone videos, charming grainy productions, and plenty of “produced just enough” creations. It’s neat. It’s a sign of the times sure, but it’s one I find deeply compelling.

Remember: vulnerability is a good thing, especially early. It allows for human connections. If you’re an artist, you may not get a pile of views on a YouTube video, but I bet you’ll get eyes from people who wouldn’t have otherwise seen you - and you can cut it up and use it for video feed posts on other platforms to your heart’s content. It’s simpler than ever to do this, and with a good idea and a smartphone, the only real cost you’ll have is time.

And also remember: if you do a video release a week or two after a corresponding song release, it can help you in all of the streaming algorithms. That’s a brief and simple rule that can elevate everything, if you’re making music.

Track of the Week

CDSM - “What Do You Make?”

Have you ever watched a band and thought, “These guys look like a bunch of perverts,” and it was a compliment? That’s CDSM (short for Celebrity Death Slot Machine) in a nutshell. Just dudes in dark sunglasses, mullets, and mustaches trading off vocals and absolutely going for it, while calling any band they shared a bill with at SXSW “sickos” and meaning it as the highest praise possible. Their whole “it’s like Devo but in an uncomfortable way” stage persona belies the smartness of their material, and their new single “What Do You Make?” is meta-commentary for anyone who’s ever made a stab at creating professionally and navigating the tensions involved. In short, a must-listen.

Spotify | Apple Music | Video on YouTube

List of Clubs

These are the kinds of clubs I’d like to be in around NYC! Wherever you might find music, art, or a compelling experience under one roof, that’s a club to me. I only list clubs I’d enjoy going to. If I list a client, you’ll know.

Friday, March 21 - Sleep
That’s right, I’m going to sleep. Not the band (although I did see High on Fire last week). If you were at SXSW all last week, you should consider going to sleep too. I promise the club will still be there.

Saturday, March 22 - Cari Cari, Uhl @ The Sultan Room
Arguably the best psych rock band I saw at SXSW, Cari Cari hails from Austria and both has incredible originals and a penchant for covering “War Pigs” on an electric didgeridoo. So, yes, I am going to see them twice. You should see them at least once.

Saturday, March 22 - Disco Tehran @ Xanadu (after 10pm)
Sonido Gallo Negro is the headliner, but you can’t really mess up with any of this. A full-blown dance party at Xanadu rarely disappoints, and the same goes for Disco Tehran.

Thanks for reading! And now, an image of me in the club…

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