One Year Later… March 6, 2020: Head of SXSW Music’s James Minor On Canceling 2020—’It Was Devastating’

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James Minor, Head of SXSW Music Fest

Nothing brought home the severity of the burgeoning COVID crisis to the greater music industry earlier than SXSW’s cancellation on March 6, 2020. Suddenly, and inexplicably for many, things got very real as one the year’s major music (as well as film and digital) tentpoles suspended operations. Artists, agents, promoters, managers, labels, production personnel, fans and many others had to rearrange travel and touring plans not sure when or if things would come back. Pollstar caught up with James Minor, Head of the SXSW Music Festival, on the eve of this year’s virtual edition (March 16-20) to find out how the decision to pull the plug was reached, the initial reactions, biggest challenges and silver linings as well as the decision to go virtual this year.

Pollstar: How was the decision reached to cancel 2020’s SXSW?
James Minor: It was not our decision to cancel SXSW. We were in constant communication with the City of Austin and Austin Public Health for guidance, but it was ultimately their decision to declare a local disaster in the city and cancel the event.

How were you first told SXSW would be canceled and what was your reaction?
A team from the City of Austin met with Roland Swenson (CEO), Hugh Forrest (Chief of Programming), and others on the SXSW executive team and the city reported its decision. The city’s decision floored me, in part because SXSW was really the first large event to be cancelled due to COVID-19 at that point. It was devastating to us, along with the thousands of people who help make SXSW happen, including the venues, and the artists, as well as anyone in Austin who expects an influx of income in March – especially the service industry.

What were the first actions you took in ramping SXSW down?
Understanding how many people this would affect, we immediately reached out to the venues we work with, followed by our showcase presenters and artists and let anyone who might be getting on a plane know what was happening.

What were the biggest challenges you faced and how did you handle them?
From February 2020 on, it was difficult to get a handle on what the reality of COVID was, especially when coupled with mistrust of social media and the administration at the time. With the amount of misinformation circulating, it eventually became apparent that the only thing we could do was to follow the science, listen to the authorities and public health experts, and do our best to prepare for multiple outcomes. And that’s an outlook that we kept for the majority of the year.

Once the event was cancelled, our concentration was almost entirely on hitting the brakes, focusing on the certainties, and trying to mitigate the impact of the cancellation to the extent we could. There wasn’t time to dwell on any naysaying if there was much. Our partners and the people I spoke to were disappointed, but understanding.

Do you feel somewhat vindicated a year later?
“Vindicated” is not the word I’d use, especially since the cancellation was not our call. I do believe that the City ultimately did the right thing, as heartbreaking as it was.

What was the biggest lesson(s) you learned from this experience?
The whole situation was incredibly humbling on a personal level. And looking at everything a year later, I’d like to think that I’m a more empathetic person in general.

As we begin this year’s SXSW and look to next year’s, how did last year’s experience inform your decision to put on this year’s SXSW?
We knew that we needed to do an event in some shape or form in March 2021. It very quickly became apparent that everyone would steer towards online events while the pandemic continued. We’ve always found the idea of an online component to SXSW appealing and seeing the immense growth in that area, coupled with the fact that it was the one certain and safe option, we moved in that direction.

What’s your best story from that time period?
It’s hard to reflect upon 2020 and find much to be positive about, but I do have to admit that the correspondence and conversations we had throughout the year both internally and with our partners from around the world really helped us soldier on. Hearing that SXSW has been such an inspiration to so many people around the world, and that our festival is important to the music industry has been overwhelming and really means a lot. s