SXSW Sydney: Head of Music Claire Collins Reflects on the Past and Looks to the Future

As the Head of Music for SXSW Sydney, Claire Collins is one of the busiest people in Australian music right now.

With 300 performances across 25 venues from over 300 acts, SXSW Sydney’s Music Track was an industry highlight last October. The overall festival and conference drew 287,000 overall attendees and participants from 41 countries.

Her and her modest music team of just three are in the final stages of programming for the October 14-20 festival and conference. They’ve just locked in a partner for the opening party, which means they have budget to bring another international act out to perform; she’s just returned from Mumbai where she schooled up on the burgeoning Indian music scene; and this week we can expect another big announcement for the music programme.

“It’s not something you can chip away at,” Collins says of the scheduling matrix she’s in right now. “You really have to have a bird’s eye view and deliver it all at once.”

By all anecdotal accounts, Year One of SXSW Sydney was a rollicking success. The city was drenched in sunshine on most days, no artists on the lineup pulled out, and the conversations brought about are still continuing to this day.

Poppy Reid and Chance the Rapper, SXSW Sydney 2023

On a less anecdotal note, SXSW Sydney facilitated the licensing of eight new venues for live music by clarifying the necessary requirements. Those venues have continued to host live music since. Japanese punk band Otoboke Beaver were added to the Splendour in the Grass lineup (prior to the festival’s cancellation) off the back of SXSW Sydney; and Camden singer-songwriter Mikayla Pasterfield inked a publishing deal with Concord.

“No one was more shocked and relieved than I was, [to have pulled off the first edition],” Collins smiles. “It was funny, the day before it started, I said to someone, ‘I wonder if this is the last day my professional reputation will be fully intact ever again’.

“[…] There was a kind of an air of nervousness because so many things could have gone wrong. And I have to say, almost nothing went wrong.”

The Year One Feedback Informing Year Two

Year One brought valuable lessons and insights. The number one bit of feedback? The event precinct size — across Darling Harbour, Ultimo, Chippendale, Haymarket, and the CBD — felt too big.

“We listened to that feedback and we are making efforts to consolidate, particularly the music [track]. Most of the activity is going to be around Chippendale.

“I am sympathetic to that bit of feedback,” Collins adds, “but I also think that it was a first year problem where people didn’t really get the lay of the land. I think as the years go on, people will get a better sense and the distances won’t feel so far because you’re able to plan it better.

“But we are definitely responding to it.”

Photo Credit: Paul McMillan

Made possible by Destination NSW, the NSW Government’s tourism and major events agency, SXSW Sydney now has proof of concept.

“Following last year, they now have complete confidence in our ability to deliver an event that’s going to attract international visitation.

“This year, we have a much clearer vision of marketing the music festival as a festival, as a lineup, as an event for Sydneysiders to come and engage with.”

SXSW Sydney’s Affordable Access

One of the access restrictions for music fans was the delegate pass price — with the early bird starting at $895. Tackling that head on, this year’s event features a music wristband for $120, giving punters access to every live music performance across the five days.

Collins notes that even the full access Platinum ticket price of $1,595 is a win compared to similar conference events.

“The week before [SXSW Sydney] there is a business conference, and it was three days for $3,000 — and it was just a conference.”

Strong Local Engagement for SXSW Sydney Surpassed Expectations

With a reported 35% of Australia’s music industry based in NSW, Collins admits her team were concerned local delegates wouldn’t lean in as hard with attendance when compared to more ‘destination conferences’ like BIGSOUND or Cannes in Cairns.

“One massive concern I had was that people in Sydney would just come in and out and not really participate in the full thing,” she says.

“I saw so many people go and experience the conference, not just on the music track but on the leadership and marketing and science and technology tracks.”

Australian Artists Can Thrive by Focusing on the Asia Pacific Market

Collins is an authority on pathways to export Australian music. As an artist manager and the founder of Bossy Music, Collins has helped export acts like Flume, G Flip, Lorde, Sycco, Mia Wray, D.D Dumbo and Art vs Science.

What’s her biggest piece of advice to acts looking to build fanbases outside of Australia? Move your focus to the Asia Pacific.

“There’s a lot of education that needs to happen,” Collins prefaces, “but also for local acts, it’s very difficult to go to North America and build a sustainable touring career there.

“You can do a really lucrative tour through all of Southeast Asia. You can make decent money, you can play in front of heaps of people — There’s no jet lag…

“[…] Anecdotally, I’ve heard Cosmos Midnight have a very good Asian touring career, particularly in Indonesia, it’s so close, it’s five hours away.”

Claire Collins’ Top 4 Music Track Offerings to Watch

While much of the music program is still to be announced (expect weekly additions until launch), Collins notes her top five additions, in no particular order, are:

• Will Page, one of the most respected and globally recognised experts in music economics, will unveil new research into the Australian music and streaming landscape in a report co-sponsored by Spotify Music and UNIFIED Music Group.
• Voice of Baceprot, the all-girl, Muslim heavy metal act from Indonesia. “They’re the first Indonesian band to ever play Glastonbury and they shred, they’re going to be the best live act, I can already tell,” says Collins.
• Boundary-pushing triple j Unearthed High alumnus Nick Ward: “I think he’s going to have a moment. I think come October, he’ll be a real buzz.”
• Brazen Barbie, the 19-year-old Kenyan-Australian hip-hop artist, based in Melbourne and originally from Western Australia.

“And then of course, there’s the surprises which I of course can’t talk about,” Collins teases.

How big are we talking?

“We’ll be able to fill out the ICC.”

The annual SXSW Sydney Conference will take place on 14-20 October. Visit sxswsydney.com for more.