SXSW warns musicians of ongoing scam requiring artists to pay to perform

AUSTIN, Texas - SXSW kicks off in a little over three weeks, and a lot of musicians are excited about the chance to play at the festival. But scammers are targeting some artists with fake SXSW invitations requiring them to pay to perform. 

Austin musicians speak on ongoing scam

Local perspective:

"It's definitely heartbreaking for sure. It's not shocking," said local musician Chris Bell. 

Local musicians say they are disheartened to hear about scammers targeting artists hoping for a shot at playing SXSW. 

SXSW organizers say con-artists are inviting people to pay to perform at what appear to be official music festival showcases, but they're totally fake. 

SXSW said in a press release: "Be aware that SXSW does not charge our artists to perform at SXSW official showcases, and we operate on a strict invitation-only policy...Any solicitation that requires payment or a similar requirement (e.g., selling a minimum amount of tickets) to be a part of a SXSW Music Festival Showcase is not legitimate."

"There's a long, rich history of taking advantage of musicians, right?" said Bell. "We love what we do. We really want to present our art. So we're kind of easy targets."

SXSW organizers clear up confusion

What they're saying:

"It's absolutely deplorable. There's no excuse to be taking advantage of musicians that way because we work really hard to do these things that bring in a lot of income and money into the local economy," said Aaron Lack, president of the Austin Federation of Musicians. 

SXSW organizers emphasize that all legitimate invitations will come from musicfest@sxsw.com--and nowhere else. 

"It has to come from that domain. If it comes from anywhere else, it's fake," said Sloan. 

Sloan argues that since SXSW does charge application fees, that could create some confusion when scammers come calling. 

"I think it would be easy to fall into that sort of thing because you're already having to pay an application fee here. So then somebody else goes, 'well, if you're going to play with us, we'll do the same thing,'" said Sloan. 

"They may think that these other scammers have merit when they don't," said Lack. 

The Austin Federation of Musicians has recently been pushing for SXSW to pay performers more, and says no one should have to pay to play, period. 

"Don't shell any money out to perform. Musicians are paid to perform this. This is work," said Lack. 

SXSW organizers are urging musicians to let them know if you get approached with a supposed "pay to play" opportunity, by reporting it to musicfest@sxsw.com. 

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