\t\t\t\t\tRelated\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n \n\tA tastemaker since its 1994 launch, a remit to evolve is baked into S\u00f3nar\u2019s stated mission of celebrating the intersection of electronic music, technology and creativity \u2014 an assignment both symbolized and taken seriously by the event\u2019s new CEO, Fran\u00e7ois Jozic. \u00a0<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cS\u00f3nar is not something frozen in the past,\u201d says Jozic, speaking to Billboard in May from his office in Barcelona. \u201cIt must evolve, and it must anticipate new trends. That\u2019s part of the DNA, and I\u2019m trying to combine both. Let\u2019s see what the fan says in June.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tAny previous S\u00f3nar attendee will immediately notice this year\u2019s most significant change, the location. Traditionally held at two Barcelona venues \u2014 with Fira Montju\u00efc hosting the more relaxed music and activity-focused S\u00f3nar By Day and Fira Gran Via housing S\u00f3nar By Night, a more festival-like affair that starts at 10 p.m. and goes until after sunrise \u2014 current construction at Fira Montju\u00efc means the entirety of S\u00f3nar will for the first time happen solely at Fira Gran Via. Daytime shows will be held outside on redesigned stages, with three indoor stages (including one that can accommodate upwards of 25,000 people) hosting S\u00f3nar By Night. Altogether, this means the first year of continuous programming in S\u00f3nar\u2019s history. \u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tS\u00f3nar 2026 is the first edition helmed by Jozic, who stepped into the CEO role last October after S\u00f3nar\u2019s original founders, Enric Palau, Sergi Caballero and Ricard Robles, announced their departure earlier that month. They left roughly five months after a major backlash to and boycott of S\u00f3nar 2025, due to the festival\u2019s ownership by festival conglomerate Superstruct Entertainment and that company\u2019s owner, the investment firm KKR. \u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tFounded in London in 2017 by James Barton, the former president of electronic music of Live Nation, Superstruct has a controlling stake in more than 80 festivals across Europe and Australia including Hungary\u2019s Sziget, the Netherlands\u2019 Awakenings and DGTL, and London\u2019s Field Day. Superstruct acquired S\u00f3nar in 2018. \u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tInitially owned by private equity firm Providence Equity Partners, Superstruct was sold to KKR in June 2024, which eventually spurred the boycott against S\u00f3nar due to KKR\u2019s alleged business interests in Israel. (Other Superstruct brands, most significantly Field Day in London, were also boycotted.) In May 2025, more than 70 artists signed an open letter to S\u00f3nar demanding the festival \u201cdistance itself from KKR\u2019s complicit investments, adopt ethical programming and partnership policies, respect [boycott, divest, sanction] guidelines and engage with artists on all the above.\u201d Upwards of 30 artists dropped out of the 2025 event, which happened last June. \u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tWith S\u00f3nar\u2019s three founders leaving the festival months after the boycott, some hypothesized that they\u2019d left because of it \u2014 a narrative Jozic refutes. \u201cThere were a lot of conversations about the fact that they left suddenly, out of nowhere, but no, it was planned in advance.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tHe says that upon selling S\u00f3nar to Superstruct in 2018, the founders \u201chad to commit [to staying with the festival] for five years, to make sure the right transition team was properly trained and formed for the future. It\u2019s very typical that a platform like Superstruct asks you to commit for five years.\u201d While the terms of this deal would have allowed the founders to leave in 2023, Jozic says their five-year commitment was extended until 2025 due to the pandemic. (S\u00f3nar did not happen in 2020 or 2021.) \u00a0<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tFran\u00e7ois Jozic<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy of Fran\u00e7ois Jozic<\/p>\n \n\tOriginally from Belgium, Jozic started throwing events in Ibiza, later becoming active in the Barcelona and wider Spanish electronic music industry. After a period spent living in Montreal, he helped bring the Canadian electronic event Piknic \u00c9lectronik to Barcelona, where it became the festival and party series Brunch Electronik. He later hosted editions in Madrid, Lisbon, Ibiza, Los Angeles and beyond. (S\u00f3nar has also held international editions in Tokyo and Istanbul.) \u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tKnowing the S\u00f3nar team well through this work, Jozic says taking the CEO role \u201cwas quite a natural transition.\u201d Still, some wondered if his arrival would shift the tone and programming of the hallowed S\u00f3nar. \u201cComing from Brunch, the question was there about me, my leadership and if I would transform S\u00f3nar into Brunch, which was an easy one for me to answer,\u201d says Jozic. \u201cIt would be ridiculous to give up such a strong brand [with S\u00f3nar] to turn it into something that already exists. That didn\u2019t make sense.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tBut baked into the role of leading S\u00f3nar is the aforementioned mandate to evolve it. \u201cThe festival is 33 years old, and has been a fantastic success, so on the one hand you want to respect that legacy and not change anything,\u201d says Jozic. \u201cOn the other hand, the DNA of S\u00f3nar is about creativity, innovation, technology, so you must change.\u201d This heavy focus on emerging technology comes particularly through the programming of Sonar +D, an interactive exhibition space that happens in tandem with the festival and presents projects, prototypes and products focused on digital creativity, art and tech from global creators. Jozic points out that through Sonar +D, the event has stayed well ahead of the curve, having presented conversations about AI for the last decade and about digital art for more than 15 years. \u00a0<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWhen you think about it, there are not so many actors who\u2019ve gathered so much about digital culture in one place in the world, in one moment,\u201d Jozic says.<\/p>\n \n\tJozic\u2019s goal\u00a0is\u00a0to continue \u201cfully integrating digital art into the festival,\u201d a vision that this year encompasses\u00a0its\u00a0first interactive installation, called\u00a0Organismo,\u00a0a\u00a0roughly 10,800-square\u00a0foot-installation\u00a0that moves and changes depending on\u00a0the\u00a0time of day and\u00a0how the\u00a0crowd\u00a0is\u00a0interacting.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tSonar+D<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCecilia Diaz Betz<\/p>\n \n\tIn this spirit of innovation, 2026 also introduces several redesigned stages and a new venue called S\u00f3nar District, which will feature strains of electronic music like the commercial juggernaut tech house, which hasn\u2019t typically been presented at the fest. Also new is S\u00f3nar Kids, a day of programming with activities for children and parents. While Jozic says this addition is partially for parents who might not be able to go out at night, \u201cI\u2019m also preparing the new generations for the next 10 to 15 years. We want the smallest ones to come and enjoy activities around electronic music and digital culture.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThis eye toward the future has also, naturally, involved Jozic having conversations about last year\u2019s boycott, private equity, artistic freedom and the ethics of participation. He says, \u201cI completely understand the first reaction people had in May, [which was:] \u2018We disagree with the presence of an investor that seemed to be implicated in Israel. We disagree with that as a fan or artist, and [wish to] boycott it.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tHis take, however, is that with such actions, \u201cYou\u2019re not boycotting an investor or a fund, nor are you resolving a genocide in Gaza. You\u2019re boycotting a local festival [whose] mission is to promote culture and support artists. Over time, both audiences and artists came to understand that, if there is a fight to be had, it should be [directed] elsewhere \u2014 but surely not at a music festival?\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tOf course, many of the artists who signed the open letter and dropped off the 2025 lineup argued that cultural institutions are the right pressure point and that disengaging from festivals with ties to harmful investments is itself a meaningful act. While no artists dropped out of S\u00f3nar this year (it\u2019s not clear if any simply chose not to participate at all), Jozic says many of the conversations he had with artists and their teams were about how S\u00f3nar might be influenced by the private equity behind it.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cThe questions were also, \u2018Are you influenced? Are your decisions based on criteria given by an investor?\u2019\u201d He emphasizes that S\u00f3nar is now, as it has always been, \u201ca safe space for the artist, and being a safe space is that you can express yourself as you wish. We promote that, and we encourage it.\u201d To wit, last year several artists showed images of the Palestinian flag during their performances, in shows of solidarity.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tRelated\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n \n\tConversations also focused on the intersection of capital and culture, with acts \u201cwanting to be sure there would still be a place for non-super commercial acts, and to be sure that S\u00f3nar is still a platform to discover new talent, new trends, new styles.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Robert](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1491861773-e1780857780451.jpg\")
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<\/p>\n<\/p>\n![\"Mo](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Kneecap-glastonbury-25-jli-billboard-1800.jpg\")
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![\"Billboard](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/2HpFicp.png\")