The performance this week by Nigerian star TEMS is one eagerly awaited moment at the inaugural SXSW London, which opens Monday (June 2) and runs through Saturday (June 7), building on the four-decade legacy of the South By Southwest music, arts, film and tech conference and festival launched by four young colleagues in Austin, Texas, in 1987.
TEMS will headline The Stage at SXSW London on Thursday (June 5) in an exclusive concert presented by Billboard at London’s iconic music venue Troxy. She was featured on the cover of the magazine’s May 17 issue.
London is some 4,900 air miles from Austin where, in the mid 1980s, the idea of a conference and festival, initially focused on music, was hatched by the co-founders of SXSW: Roland Swenson, Louis Jay Meyers, Louis Black and Nick Barbaro. At the first event, held in March 1987, an expected 150 registrants reached 700 on the opening day.
In 2021, following the challenges of the pandemic, SXSW gained an investment partner in Penske Media Corporation (which also owns Billboard) and the film and production company MRC. Two years later, Penske took majority ownership of SXSW.
Under its new owners, SXSW has gone global. The third SXSW Sydney will take place in Australia’s largest city from Oct. 13-19.
This first SXSW London takes place at a time when the creative industries of the United Kingdom are more vital than ever, with the music business finding global success with superstars like Dua Lipa, Charli xcx, Coldplay and others. The event also follows the publication by Billboard of its annual Global Power Players list and its first U.K. Power Players list, whose honorees will be recognized at an invitation-only gathering.
Here are seven highlights to watch for at SXSW London.
Organizers report that SXSW London will take place across 34 venues, galleries, clubs and spaces in and around Shoreditch, in East London, where former industrial industrial buildings have been renovated and repurposed as offices and residences. SXSW London will feature 862 conference speakers across 500 sessions, 600 performances from 500 music artists and 110 total film and TV screenings.
“SXSW London is showcasing industry leaders and emerging talent at the cutting edge of what is new and future facing, alongside some of the world’s biggest talent from across music, film, tech, arts, fashion and more,” the organization states. Specifically, the conference is organized around six key themes: AI, Robotics and Automation; Humanity, Machines and the Future of AI; New Tech Frontiers; Our Future Health; Tech, Governance and the Future of Society; and Navigating Business in a Changing World.
Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, will offer opening remarks at the conference. Deepak Chopra will give a talk titled “Bridging Science & Spirituality for a Better Future.” Tina Brown will speak on “Truth Power and the Press.” Björn Ulvaeus, co-founder of ABBA, will address “The Future of Entertainment.” Stewart Copeland will be featured in conversation following his recent speaking tour billed as “Have I Said Too Much? The Police, Hollywood and Other Adventures.”
Bellwethers Group, which is focused on building a green economy, is the official sustainability partner of SXSW London and will host the Nature and Climate house with live panel talks and music performances. The design software company Canva is hosting a week of activations and events at its headquarters on Hoxton Square. The sportswear brand Converse is sponsoring the Strongroom Bar and supporting a week of Caribbean music, while also hosting its own music showcase on Monday (June 2). The Swedish automotive manufacturer Polestar is the official auto partner of the event and is hosting a live activation in the marketplace of Ely’s Yard, where the luxury sunglass and eyeglass company Ray-Ban also is staging an activation with live music and DJs The Finish mobile game development company Supercell will host an an interactive gaming space and art gallery, along with other special events through the week.
Like its counterpart in Austin, SXSW London will bring attention to groundbreaking new businesses. “SXSW London’s International Venture Spotlight Competition is for early-stage startups across life science, biotech, deep tech and creative tech,” the organizers state. “The 20 shortlisted early stage companies includes start-ups who have developed game-changing innovations including self-healing concrete to improve the lifespan and cut carbon emissions of infrastructure, dissolvable breast implants that allow natural tissue regeneration after a mastectomy, and the world’s first dexterous robot designed for minimally invasive neurosurgery.”
In addition to Billboard, several Penske Media brands will contribute to SXSW London programming. Sportico will present The Sports Track, examining, among other topics, athletes as investors. The American Pavilion will bring its young Worldwide Student Program participants to the event. Luminate, which provides the data for the Billboard charts, will host a session titled “Understanding Entertainment Trends Through Data.” Golden Globes president Helen Hoehne will engage in conversation with actor Joseph Fiennes. The Artforum Atelier series of live panel discussions will feature some of the biggest names in the art world. Deadline will bestow its Sound & Screen Impact Award to composer Anne Dudley (The Crying Game, The Full Monty and Signora Volpe, among others). Rolling Stone’s Future of Music U.K. will feature two nights of buzz bands from the United Kingdom.
TEMS takes The Stage at SXSW London (in the city she currently calls home) following the breakthrough success of her 2024 album, Born in the Wild. Reaching No. 56 on the Billboard 200, it is the highest charting album by a Nigerian female artist. Rolling Stone’s Future of Music U.K. will draw attention to acts including the showcase headliners, the English punk-pop rock band The K’s and the Afro-Caribbean-influenced indie pop trio Cassia, who hail from Macclesfield, England. Erykah Badu will perform in her persona as DJ Lo Down Loretta Brown. Among the other top names on the British scene headlining SXSW London are Mabel, Sasha Keable, NAO, Alice Glass, Lila Ike, Mono, Sinead Harnett, Mirra May and Idris. The 500 booked artists will be taking the stage at more than 30 venues in East London. Those venues, in turn, will vie to match the musical magic found through the decades in rooms like the Continental Club, Antone’s and Stubb’s Bar-B-Q back in Austin.