For years, Sónar+D was located at Fira Montjuïc, sharing space with the daytime festival. However, this 2026 marks a turning point: the event separates from Sónar 2026 and moves to the Llotja de Mar, a neoclassical building that will be the new home for this music and technology laboratory.
Sónar+D wants to remind us that innovation is a part of our culture, which is why this year cutting-edge technology will be placed among halls and columns full of history. As its director, Andrea Faroppa, explains, this change responds to a need for reconnection: "We made the decision for Sónar+D to stay in Barcelona, separating from its "big brother," so that people from the city can come: students, artists, and people who had never come due to the access barrier."
That barrier also falls in economic terms. For the first time, the festival introduces independent and more affordable tickets (with prices ranging from 15 to 25 €), so that anyone who wants to can get involved in the debate without needing to buy the Sónar pass.
The new role of AI in music
If last year Artificial Intelligence was the newest and most striking thing, this 2026 Sónar+D proposesa much more pragmatic look.According to the organizers, we have entered what they call the Post-AI Era: artificial intelligence no longer scares us; it accompanies us.The program analyzes how figures like pianist Ignasi Terraza or Daito Manabe coexist with technological systems that are generated naturally and organically. However, Faroppa detects a curious symptom in the creative community: boredom.
"We notice that, while at a technical level there is still a lot of hope, on the artists' side there is a lot of boredom: AI has gone from being a potential creative partner to not providing inspiration," confesses the director. This exhaustion with the perfect results of AI is making artists seek new forms of expression that recover the value of the human.
Beyond the Screen: The Human Against the Algorithm
The second major axis of the festival is Beyond the Screen (Beyond the Screen), where artists likeniceauntiesor the CatalanMónica Rikićthey will defend one objective: to return humanity to technology.Is Sónar+D a response to digital fatigue? Faroppa is clear: "It's a demonstration that there's something more beyond. The screen has been the medium par excellence, but there's a reaction to that artificial perfection. Many times the future is in the past".
This return to the physical and the corporal seeks to reconnect with pre-colonial folklore and cultures to remind us that digital art does not have to be an experience far removed from our human reality. The director defends this position by recalling: "Almodóvar once said: 'I'm not afraid of AI because an AI could not have written All About My Mother.' There are experiences that technology will never be able to tell."
Stop being mere spectators
One of the great challenges of this edition is to break with passive consumption.The festival seeks for attendees not to be "mere users", but rather actively engage in learning current technologies.For Faroppa, the goal is for the experience to have a real impact on the daily lives of attendees: "Our challenge is for people to go home with something; that on Monday or Tuesday, when they return to their office or university, they can make those ideas tangible and useful." For this reason, Sónar+D brings back practical workshops and professional meetings.
This commitment to training and networking seeks for the public to regain control: "We want to regain autonomy in a world of 'algorithm dictatorships' that are turning us into fools and making us lose the ability to think," says the director.
Barcelona as a laboratory
Despite the presence of giants like Google DeepMind or Figma,Sónar+D 2026 bets on local talent. For the festival's direction, in Barcelona we don't have to have any complex: the talent here is at the same level as that of London or Tokyo. "We want to offer a platform for international projection. If we all unite, Barcelona will become the global reference for innovation in urbanism, technology, and gastronomy," says Faroppa.That innovation will be seen live at Fira Gran Via, where a 30x30 meter installation without screens will welcome Sónar attendees, with LED columns that react to human movement. In this way, the theoretical reflection of the Llotja will also be part of the festival's musical celebration.
Showcasing the creative process
Sónar+D 2026 also wants to be a showcase for the unfinished and the process.Spaces like the AI Performance Playground show live experiments, where the error is not hidden. It is a way of humanizing technology: showing all the work behind each line of code.According to Andrea Faroppa, showing what happens behind the scenes is fundamental to the laboratory's work: "Teaching the "backstage" generates a lot of inspiration: it can help a student discover what they want to dedicate themselves to or an artist decipher a problem in their work. It is our way of humanizing and contributing to the sector." Thus, technology stops being perceived as a closed box to be shown as an accessible and constantly evolving tool.
"We want to give visibility to local talent and offer them a platform for international projection," (Andrea Faroppa)
The future is written in a human way
The new edition of Sónar+D is marked by openness and the recognition of local talent.The festival acts as a platform where the city competes at the highest level: "Barcelona is a city made to feed innovation and interconnections. We want to give visibility to local talent and offer it a platform for international projection," emphasizes Andrea Faroppa.From June 18 to 19, we will discover that, to move towards the future, perhaps the first thing we should do is understand that technology only works when it serves to enhance our own humanity.