In the middle of every March, the SXSW Music Festival fills Austin, Texas, with thousands of musicians from around the world. It’s a marathon so daunting — it’s a marathon and a sprint, really — that even longtime SXSW veterans need a hand winnowing the festival’s countless discoveries down to digestible doses.
That’s where The Austin 100 comes in. Handpicked from thousands of bands playing at this year’s festival, these 100 songs highlight the best SXSW 2018 has to offer — songs from around the world, across a broad spectrum of genres, sounds and styles.
Here’s how you can listen: Every artist page includes a streamable and downloadable version of a song we love. You can also download a ZIP file containing all 100 songs here or from any artist page. Or if you’re a Spotify user, you can stream most of the mix using our Austin 100 playlist.
These six-plus hours of music are only the beginning of NPR Music’s SXSW 2018 coverage: You will eventually find more recommendations, conversations, videos and dispatches from this year’s festival at NPR.org/SXSW. But in the meantime, enjoy the music!
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