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For over two decades, South By Southwest has become the place for developing talent to get their big break. Yet, despite the fact that thousands of artists flock to Austin, Texas every March, only a handful of musicians can claim to be that year’s breakout act. In case you haven’t attended the festival every year for the past decade, we’re highlighting some breakout bands from the past 10 years that got their big break at SXSW in order to emphasize just how important SXSW can be in vaulting an artist up the collective music biz ladder. While we don’t know who this year’s breakout star will be, as you can see from the list below, SXSW is only the beginning if you want your band to become a household name.

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The White Stripes (pictured above) (2001): Think back, if you can, to 2001. The biggest things in the pop culture world were Harry Potter and Britney Spears. In the midst of all this, the breakout act from SXSW was a little known sibling duo called the White Stripes, whose dirty blues riffs quickly got people talking about their upcoming LP White Blood Cells. We all know what happened from there: it turned out the duo weren’t brother-and-sister but used to be married and, more importantly, the White Stripes went on to become one of the biggest rock acts of the decade. The band officially broke up earlier this year but you’ll still be able to catch Jack White at SXSW when he drives up in his Third Man Rolling Record Store.
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Yeah Yeah Yeahs (2002): Yeah Yeah Yeahs only had one self-titled EP to their name when they played South By Southwest in 2002, but this New York City-based trio instantly won over fans with their angular brand of post-rock. In fact, their enthusiastic response in Texas undoubtedly helped lead to the band’s major label signing—and their 2003 debut full-length, Fever To Tell, was subsequently nominated for ‘Best Alternative Music Album’ at that year’s Grammy Awards. Since, the group have gone on to release two more full-lengths and toured the world countless times over, however those of us lucky enough to witness them performing in a sweaty club in Texas almost 10 years ago know how good they were from the very start.
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The Darkness (2003) — Sure, the Darkness played South By Southwest in 2002, however it wasn’t until the following year that the band’s brand of stadium rock finally caught on with festivalgoers. Armed with songs from their debut disc, Permission To Land, which would come out later that year, the Darkness treated audiences to instantly infectious songs like “Get Your Hands Off My Woman” and “I Believe In A Thing Called Love,” both of which would dominate the airwaves (and karaoke bars) for years to come. The Darkness might well be known for their bombastic stage shows but at SXSW they proved that their music sounded just as visceral in a cramped club as it did a spacious stadium.
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Franz Ferdinand (2004) — Before their song “Take Me Out” became a worldwide phenomenon, British act Franz Ferdinand made their mark at SXSW where it seems like you couldn’t walk a block down 6th Street without hearing someone gush about them. Correspondingly, the group’s live performances that week were nearly impossible to get into—and that excitement helped fuel even more talk about this previously little-known rock act. In fact, Franz Ferdinand’s success at the festival propelled “Take Me Out” to the top of the charts and the song would go on to sell over one million copies. No matter how good your band’s viral marketing campaign is today, those numbers are virtually impossible to pull off making this all the more impressive in retrospect.
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M.I.A. (2005) — Everyone remembers M.I.A’s memorable 2008 Coachella performance, but the British songstress got her bombastic ball rolling during her appearance at South By Southwest back in 2005. These shows took place just a month after M.I.A.’s first U.S. tour behind her debut disc Arular, making the timing perfect for M.I.A. to dominate what seemed like the entire festival’s collective conversation. Songs like “Sunshowers” and “Galang” blew festival attendees’ minds and quickly established M.I.A. as that year’s breakout performer.
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Arctic Monkeys (2006) — We don’t know what’s up with British bands and South By Southwest success, but we do know that people waited up to two hours to get into Arctic Monkeys’ sets at the festival in 2006. Performing songs from their then-recently released debut, Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not, the band led the frenzied crowd through energetic versions of songs like “I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor,” solidifying themselves as the year’s most noteworthy musical import. Don’t take our word for it: two years ago MTV voters named the disc the ninth greatest album of all time in an online poll.
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Amy Winehouse (2007) — It’s hard to believe that only four years ago Amy Winehouse easily seemed as if she would go on to become one of the biggest female voices in the world.  And it’s no surprise: Winehouse’s beehive hairdo and unique voice helped catapult her 2006 album, Back To Black, to the top of the charts. Her performances at SXSW were also so difficult to get into that seeing her became a badge of honor. Although songs like “Rehab” would later prove to be sadly prescient, back in 2007, Winehouse—and her contemporary Lily Allen—seemed to be on top of the world and in many ways that’s how we’d like the memory to remain. Adele, please be careful because we can’t bear to go through something this traumatizing again.
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MGMT (2008) — The question most asked at 2008’s SXSW was undoubtedly, “How do you pronounce it: MGMT or Management?” (In case you were still wondering, it’s the former.) In 2008, the buzzworthy Brooklyn act played the ultra-trendy Playboy party and armed with colored handkerchiefs and an unkempt aesthetic, managed to convert even the stuffiest suits into fans of their psychedelic sonic explorations. The acclaim surrounding the act also helped propel their debut, Oracular Spectacular, to the top of the charts making it one of the most consistently well-performing records of the year, and an album that continues to perform extremely well years later.

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Janelle Monae (2009): Before she was the talk of the Grammys,  Janelle Monáe was cutting her teeth at South By Southwest. Although her name had been floating around before the festival, Monáe’s impassioned performances during her SXSW debut had both critics and listeners buzzing. Always the hard worker, Monáe played seven shows at the festival that year: it seemed no matter where you went, it was hard to escape this R&B songstress. Today’s Internet-fueled acts should take note of  Monáe’s musical inventiveness, as well as her unstoppable work ethic– both of which were brought to the forefront that week in Austin.

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Best Coast (2010) — Originally conceived as a bedroom project, Bethany Consentino’s band, Best Coast, became the most buzzed-about act of last year’s SXSW. As evidenced by the fact that she’s still the “it-girl” of the indie world, last year’s momentum has clearly carried over into 2011. A few months after her packed performances at SXSW, Best Coast would release their debut disc, Crazy For You– a breezy-surf pop album that we would go on to name one of the best releases of the year. The group won’t be returning to the festival this year, however you can catch Best Coast in April alongside tens of thousands of fans at Coachella.