sónar+D 2025 discusses other ways AI makes music, art and more

sónar+D 2025 talks about art, music and creative industries

Sónar+D addresses the use of quantum science in art, making music with AI, experimental video games in performances, and what the future looks like in the creative industries in a series of talks at Sónar 2025. The event runs from June 12th to 14th, 2025, at Fira Montjuïc in Barcelona, Spain, as part of the annual electronic music and digital art festival. On these days, over 100 lectures, exhibitions, workshops, and performances take place at once. designboom also hosts discussions during the festival, interviewing artists Yolanda Uriz, Dmitry Morozov aka ::vtol::, and George Moraitis on their practice and the making of their modern art, sound performances, and stage designs.

Yolanda Uriz uses physical phenomena, vibration, electromagnetic waves, and chemical molecules to decode sound, light, and smells in her installations and performances. This adoption of sound is also present in Dmitry Morozov aka ::vtol::’s robotics and installation, placing emphasis on the link between emergent systems and new kinds of technological synthesis. Even George Moraitis works with sound to narrate memory, experience, and a sense of history through sound art, audiovisual installations, and two-dimensional works and performance. Designboom’s talks take place on June 12th from 5:30pm. Historically, Sónar+D was established in 2013 as a platform for creatives to examine the ways technology, and now AI, influences art, music, and even society. This edition’s conferences focus on three main thematic areas: AI + Creativity, Futuring the Creative Industries, and Worlds to Come.

Meet us at Sónar+D – tickets here!

images courtesy of Sónar, unless stated otherwise | photo by Cecilia Diaz Betz

AI + Creativity explores the politics of the new technology

For the AI + Creativity during Sónar+D (tickets are available here), the section explores how creatives can use AI production, music, and audiovisual design. The talks also dive into the ethical and political aspects of artificial intelligence. They complement the other creative interviews in other sections, including designboom’s conversations with multi-sensory artist Yolanda Uriz, transdisciplinary artist Dmitry Morozov aka ::vtol::, and multimedia artist George Moraitis. The discussion starts with Introducing AI & Music powered by S+T+ARTS, a forum that leads the discussion of AI and sonic creativity. In another room, Libby Heaney performs Eat my Multiverse performance using quantum computing for visuals, sounds, and music development. Jordi Pons’ Artistic Trends, Music & AI discusses new musical genres and sonic structures from AI algorithms, while Rebecca Fiebrink hosts Design your dream music AI tool, a session on AI tool design accessible to users without programming knowledge.

Joanne Armitage’s Automating Bodies: Power, Music and AI explores the power dynamics when users adopt AI for creative production. The talk includes examining gender bias in algorithmic music, too. It’s about machine learning and treating it as ‘resonant entities’ in Marije Baalman’s A Musical Understanding of AI as Resonance, while there’s also a masterclass on using real-time audio machine learning for culturally specific sound with Lamtharn (Hanoi) Hantrakul, known as ญาบอยฮานอย (yaboihanoi). The viewers can, or should participate in AI Performance Playground, an AI & Music Hacklab that allows visitors to use AI as an actual instrument. In this section, +RAIN Film Festival also shows films produced with AI models and AudioStellar’s Territorios sonoros emergentes demonstrates how motion tracking and AI can power dance for visual and sonic performances. At the same time, Maria Arna premieres Ama, a live musical performance using AI with the human voice.

Sónar+D addresses the impact of AI in music, art and more through a series of talks during Sónar 2025

Discussions on present and future of creative industries

Inside the Futuring the Creative Industries section, conversations spotlight the changes and opportunities within the creative sector amidst new technologies including, but not limited to, AI in music and art, cultural management, communication, advertising, experience design, and trend research. The ‘How to Future the Creative Industries’ forum features experts from institutions like the New Museum, HERVISIONS, Onassis Foundation, Serpentine Gallery, NewArt Foundation, LAS Foundation, Kapelica, gnration, and Tabakalera.

The session explores the role of cultural institutions in sharing new ideas and trends within a media-saturated environment. Trend analysts Berta Segura and Francesca Tur host ‘Hacking the World,’ which analyzes how marketing, geopolitics, technology, and digital culture transform creator profiles, audience formation, and artist-public interaction. The intersection of cultural heritage and digital technology is explored through ‘Lux Mundi,’ an audiovisual experience reinterpreting Romanesque fresco paintings. Artists Alba G. Corral, Massó, Desilence, and Hamill Industries collaborate with Tarta Relena for this Generalitat of Catalonia initiative.

the event runs from June 12th to 14th, 2025, at Fira Montjuïc in Barcelona | photo by Nerea Coll

Still inside the Futuring the Creative Industries section, creative collaboration and technology integration are also central. TIMES, a European network, presents ‘The Crossing’ with contributions from Margarida Mendes, Chris Watson & Izabella Dłużyk, and Saint Abdullah, Eomac & Rebecca Salvadori. Arts Korea Lab hosts ‘Future Thinking,’ where Korean creators like WOMAN OPEN TECH LAB, Earth-topia, Seungsoon Park, Hwia Kim, and Tae Eun Kim present their projects. AlphaTheta showcases its euphonia rotary mixer and virtual reality DJ suite. Music2.0 and JSPA explore the history of Japanese synthesizers.

MusicTech Europe, in collaboration with Barcelona Music Tech Hub, features the Music Tech Europe Academy startup presentations and ‘MusicTech Dialogues’ on data use in the creative economy. The event also includes interviews with artists and participants. Designboom interviews Yolanda Uriz, Dmitry Morozov aka ::vtol::, and George Moraitis in Lounge+D, and Time Out London also hosts live interviews. W1 Curates presents art and music collaborations on the screens of Stage+D, featuring artists such as Max Cooper and Goldie.

Actress & Suzanne Ciani present ‘Concrète Waves’ during Sónar by Day at Stage Complex+D

The last is the Worlds to Come, a thematic area that explores speculative futures and human-technology interfaces. It examines the relationship of today’s technology with culture and society. Quantum computing and non-binary perspectives are examined in Libby Heaney’s ‘Eat My Multiverse’, which uses quantum computing in an artistic context. This presentation focuses on re-evaluating current global conditions. Space exploration is a recurring theme. Xin Liu’s ‘Cosmic Metabolism’ discusses scientific and poetic elements of her work, including her personal genome exhibit, ‘A Book Of Mine’. The program also investigates human interaction with technology and environment. Albert.DATA’s ‘SYNAPTICON’ performance demonstrates real-time brain activity using brain-computer interfaces.

Danielle Braithwaite-Shirley’s ‘WE CAN’T PRETEND ANYMORE’ offers an interactive digital narrative exploring the history of Black trans individuals. Tega Brain’s ‘Questions of Automation’ addresses digital sustainability through creative coding and DIY strategies, highlighting political and environmental concerns. Discussions extend to social innovation and community building. ‘Portals: Talks of Worlds to Come’, presented by The Social Hub, features a panel of experts discussing design, sustainability, and cultural innovation in shared spaces. The program also includes performances, such as Luis Garbán (Cardopusher) with ‘DESTRUCCIÓN’, an audiovisual project combining reggaeton, industrial, and breakcore. Each of these talks and forums contributes to the overall purpose of Sónar+D, which is to create a space for knowledge exchange between different professional fields. These programs coincide with the Sónar 2025 festival, which runs between June 12th and 14th.

Stage+D by MEDIAPRO, Playmodes, UPC-Telecos present Astres | photo by Nerea Coll