Sónar has released a new statement to further address concerns over the ownership of the Barcelona festival.
Updating the FAQ section of the event's website following questions from both artists playing and people attending the festival, Sónar's team said they condemn "the genocide of the Palestinian people".
They added that they remain "fully independent and entirely faithful" to their "principles, values and motivations", and stressed that the relationship with owner Superstruct Entertainment, a junior company of KKR, as "merely administrative".
Explaining the ownership situation, Sónar said: "Superstruct Entertainment, a company that owns over 80 festivals around the world, purchased Sónar in 2018. At that time, Providence Equity Partners was the principal investor in Superstruct. In October 2024, Providence withdrew and sold its stake to a consortium made up of KKR and other investors. This was a purely financial transaction in which we had no involvement, no say and no vote. By the same token, we have no influence or control over KKR's investment decisions or internal workings."
Addressing the question of whether people's money goes to KKR, the festival said that this is "not at all" the case. "At no time have we ever sent — nor will we ever send — a single euro to KKR. We can guarantee you that, after covering all the costs of Advanced Music and the festival itself (salaries, artists, production, communication, organisational costs, etc.), all profits are reinvested, in their entirety, in future editions of Sónar."
The festival team also committed to making a donation to NGOs that are working to help people in Gaza. "We are currently looking into which NGOs to work with," they said.
A number of artists have cancelled their appearance at Sónar having learned about KKR's involvement with the festival. Among them are Juliana Huxtable, Paquita Gordon, Shannen SP, Animistic Beliefs, ABADIR and Emma dj.
Earlier this month, Sónar released an initial statement to address questions around its ownership following calls to boycott KKR-associated events.
KKR's continued investment in Israeli tech and data firms, as well as reported connections to weapons manufacturers and defense contractors, have been the centre of large-scale artist protests in recent months. Previously, an open letter signed by more than 140 artists was directed at the Sónar team, demanding that they address the Barcelona festival's parent company and align with Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement guidelines, among other demands. (Sónar sponsors Coca-Cola and McDonald's McFlurry are also flagged in the recent open letter as official targets of the BDS Movement.)
Read the full FAQ update here.