Four things people protested against at SXSW

Brands not paying bands to play at events
McDonald’s felt the heat of the fryer when it asked a musical duo, Ex Cop, to play at its event in Austin for exposure (i.e., “unpaid”). Ex Cop fought back with a Facebook post about the offer: “It is a horrifying and gross reality when one sees the true nature of corporations and their pathetic attempts to achieve relevance with millennials,” the duo wrote.

McDonald’s backtracked a few days later, saying they would pay performers after all. But there’s plenty of strong pro-musician sentiment.

Compensate Musicians Fairly #FairPay4Music https://t.co/vzj3DX4wbq via @wordpressdotcom Really, @mcdonalds, you can’t afford a couple bucks?

— Amy Conley (@amidee01) March 6, 2015

Robots
A group of University of Texas at Austin students, killing time before Spring Break apparently, staged a protest outside the Convention Center Saturday against artificial intelligence. 

Humans are the future. Interesting protest going on outside the convention centre at #sxsw. #AI pic.twitter.com/aDHIe0t272 — Rachel Arthur (@rachel_arthur) March 14, 2015

“Brand Israel” events
SXSW is hosting a series of sessions this year from Israel, such as “Israel: Small country, Big ideas,” and some activists contend that this is an implicit endorsement of Israeli actions in Gaza.

We are protesting at #SXSW2015 @US_Campaign @jvplive #jvp2015 #NoHipsterApartheid pic.twitter.com/H32mhBLF5X

— Michael Paul (@mpaul_photos) March 14, 2015

Circumcision
An activist group called “Blood Stained Men and Their Friends” launched an anti-circumcision protest at SXSW Saturday, rallying against what they’re calling “forced infant circumcision.”

@frescolicense protest I came across at #sxsw pic.twitter.com/YpSWvIArNL — Ana Maria Defillo (@adefillo) March 14, 2015