Sónar issues statement on ownership: “We distance ourselves from any action taken by KKR”
Barcelona’s Sónar Festival has issued a statement after more than 70 artists spoke out against the festival’s ties to KKR, a private equity firm which has recently come under fire for having stakes in weapons manufacturing companies, the Coastal GasLink pipeline, and a number of Israeli corporations that operate in occupied Palestinian territories, and the parent company of its owners Superstruct Entertainment.
The festival first released a statement last week in response to the open letter, which was signed by artists who are due to perform at, or have previously played at Sónar, including Florentino, Objekt, DJ Haram, Kode9, Loraine James, Manuka Honey, and more.
The letter, penned by BDS Movement, a Palestinian-led movement promoting boycotts and economic sanctions against Israel, called on the Barcelona-based festival to distance itself from KKR’s “complicit investments”.
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In response, Sónar said its team “has always worked and will always work with the premise of promoting respect for universal human rights”, calling itself a “platform that promotes diversity, inclusion, and respects the freedom of expression of its artists, participants, and collaborators”.
Yesterday, May 19, the festival released a follow-up statement after a number of artists subsequently pulled from the line-up, including Animistic Beliefs, Ikonika, Juliana Huxtable, and others who had previously signed the open letter.
In the latest statement, Sónar explained: “We understand that our lack of a sufficiently clear public response to such a grave humanitarian situation has caused unease and concern.”
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The festival went on to express its “solidarity with the Palestinian civilian population in Gaza, caught in the midst of an ongoing humanitarian catastrophe.”
“We want to make explicitly clear that Sónar distances itself from any action taken by KKR,” they wrote. “We have no influence – nor, of course, any control whatsoever – over their investments or decisions.”
In recent weeks, several Superstruct-owned music companies including Field Day, Boiler Room, and Mighty Hoopla have received backlash from Palestine activist groups.
Read Sónar’s full statement below.
Gemma Ross is Mixmag’s Associate Digital Editor, follow her on Twitter
