After the announcement of the departure of the founders of Sónar, culminating point of a annus horribilis Marked by controversy over its links to the pro-Israeli investment fund KKR and the cancellation of more than thirty groups in protest, the electronic music festival turns the page with the announcement of the first names on the lineup for the 2026 edition, which will be the first to be held entirely at Fira Gran Via. As previously announcedThe renovation of the Fira Montjuïc venues has forced Sónar to concentrate its daytime and nighttime activities at the Hospitalet fairgrounds; a new, unified Sónar will feature concerts and activities running continuously from 5 pm to 3 am on Thursday, June 18, and from 5 pm to 7 am on Friday, June 19, and Saturday, June 20. To inaugurate this new format, the festival will feature British rapper Skepta, the legendary British cult band Cabaret Voltaire – with over five decades of history – and American singer Kelis, one of the queens of New York R&B in recent decades. Also appearing will be familiar names for Sónar audiences, such as Belgian artist Charlotte de Witte with a new audiovisual show, the German duo Modeselektor, and techno diva Amelie Lens, who will present her new show. AuraOther names on the lineup include the duo Julianna Barwick and Mary Lattimore, Chris Stussy, WhoMadeWho, Boys Noize, Nia Archives, Joy Orbison, and Kettama, among others, who will perform on six stages: three outdoors and three indoors. François Jozic, the new director of Sónar, assures that the new Sónar format will allow attendees to "live the full experience and enjoy many more hours of uninterrupted music, with more offerings and more stages operating simultaneously in each time slot." But Sónar's trip to Hospitalet won't be complete: all the talks and meetings of Sónar+D, the parallel festival focused on the interaction between creativity, technology, and innovation, will remain in Barcelona. However, Sónar+D will bring large-format immersive and interactive installations and digital art pieces to Fira Gran Via.

Reusable cups have been appearing at festivals and major celebrations in our area for some time now. The model has been expanding with systems such as requiring the consumer to pay a deposit to return the cup at the end of the event or with tokens that you must strive to remember to lose during an unpredictable night of partying in order to get your euro back. Even so, These formulas are often accused of falling into environmental whitewashing. (greenwashing, in English), since it is very common for the organizer itself not to have adequate logistics to make it easy and the customer gives up due to the long lines.

The three founders of Sónar, Enric Palau, Ricard Robles and Sergio Caballero, and the CEO, Ventura Barba, have completely disassociated themselves from the festival, according to has advanced The Vanguard and has been confirmed by ACN. This information suggests that a new CEO has been appointed, François Jozic, founder and until now the head of the Brunch Elektronic festival, also held in Barcelona.

In an article published in The Vanguard It was claimed that the Sónar boycott is harmless because the pro-Israeli investment fund that owns the supergroup that brings the festival together only invests a small portion of its vast wealth in music. That is: only invested 1.3 billion of its 582 billion euros in the purchase of Superstruct, the current owner of the festival. rich will be rich"These financial giants are soulless and immune to criticism," he argued. The article's conclusion was shocking: it quoted a supposed friend who was a fan of the techno who, despite feeling bad about all this genocide, will attend anyway, with "melancholic resignation." As if to say: to contradict oneself is human.

The artists who have cancelled their performance at Sónar in solidarity with the Palestinian people once again raise the question of what we can do with our convictions in a world where, if you are not radically outsider, the real kind, not just the ones you just pay lip service to, you're caught in a web of economic interests that indirectly end up fostering speculation and/or legally despicable business dealings. Therefore, no matter how much a festival claims its management and artistic independence after accepting money from an investment fund to "save" it, (the financial movement is justified by the need to keep the festival going after the COVID-19 shutdowns), it's clear that independence is much more relative than the need for money to come in. This is objectively the case, without any moral judgment. And that's how so many things work, far beyond a festival. Because the alternative is to close. Or to decrease growth, which isn't even considered. That's why we live amidst contradictions and justifications, making greater or lesser efforts to maintain a certain coherence between thought and action. It's also true that there are those who strive for the maximum coherence within their means, and those who resolutely launch the ethics they claim the moment their wallet or their ego speaks to them. With the argument, of course, that the system is most effectively dynamited from within, something we've already seen isn't the case. The system, well thought out, can make people believe it has a voice, but it usually has the last word.

Thirty-three artists, 28% of the lineup, have canceled their performances at the 32nd edition of the Sónar festival, which will be held from June 12 to 14. This is an expression of their disagreement with KKR, the pro-Israeli fund that in October 2024 became the main investor in Superstruct Entertainment, the company that bought Sónar in 2018. Among the latest cancellations is that of French artist Rone, who had a show in Barcelona with the Ballet Nacional de Mars'a. Arca's withdrawal is especially significant because his relationship with Sónar has been very close; in fact, he has often enjoyed the festival's absolute complicity in premiering his work. Currently, 83 groups and artists remain in the festival (39 in Sónar by Day and 44 in Sónar by Night).

Electronic music, soundscapes, and artificial intelligence converge in the collective compositions of the group Ekho (Magda Polo, Adrien Faure, Toni Costa, and Nerea Martínez). This group is more than an artistic ensemble; it's a space for research and creation where audience participation is paramount and where listening is conceived as a practice of resistance. It's not just about composing music or sound art, but about intervening in how we perceive the world around us. Therefore, after more than three years of research in sound art and having proposed the concept of hybrid conceptual music (HCM), I propose a new concept: dissident listening (DLL).

"Our position is clear and unequivocal: we condemn the genocide against the Palestinian people," the Sónar festival said in a statement. This position is based on requests received in recent weeks, when The Leap published that The pro-Israeli fund KKR acquired Superstruct Entertainment, the company that until last year owned Sónar.

"We want to make it absolutely clear that Sónar disassociates itself from any KKR action. We have no influence and, of course, no control over its investments or decisions," the Sónar festival said in a statement. It is the response to the criticism received following a report byThe Leap about the pro-Israeli investment fund KKR, which last year acquired Superstruct, the majority owner of some eighty European festivals, including Sónar, Viña Rock, FIB, Resurrection Fest, Monegros Desert Festival, Arenal Sound, and O Son do Camiño. In fact, some artists, including the festival's position against the Israeli government's violence in Palestine, especially after a previous statement deemed insufficient.

Sónar has never turned its back on technological innovations, nor on the ethical and labour challenges that they entail. Tools such as artificial intelligence have been present both in the artistic proposal of the Barcelona festival, and in the part called Sónar+, a programme that year after year has established itself as a space between the presentation of technological innovations, music and even philosophical reflection. Precisely artificial intelligence (AI) and creativity will be one of the axes of the edition of Sónar+D, which will be held at Fira Montjuïc on June 12, 13 and 14. The purpose, as usual, is to stimulate the relationship between "people who research and develop AI tools to apply them to music", as Antònia Folguera, curator of Sónar+D, said during the presentation of the programme (a hundred activities) that was held at the headquarters of the IaSlab at La Salle Campus.

Since she was a child, Marta Ros (La Roca del Vallès, 1996) had to live with the good girl syndrome. Years later, and tired of playing this role, Ouineta was born, a diva pop star irreverent and festive, ready to turn everything upside down. "I'm not going to be what I've been forced to be anymore," was Marta Ros' reaction. Known for putting the theme tune on the 3Cat show The Turra and for simple things like Bikini Kill and DMs, the singer's musical universe is a journey to adolescence inspired by pop icons from the late 2000s and urban culture. Ouineta will go on tour this year, starting on April 19 at the Ítaca Festival (l'Escala). She will then perform at the Embassa't Festival in Sabadell (May 17), at Sónar (June 12), at the Magnífico Fest in Lleida (June 13), at the Itaca Festival in l'Estartit (June 23) and at the Vida Festival in Vilanova i la Geltrú (July 3).