Sónar+D promotes creativity as an engine of innovation across broad sectors of the economy, moving beyond cultural industries, such as tourism, telecommunications or marketing. Sónar+D becomes a unique setting for sector-specific meetings that seek inspiration from the worlds of creativity and foster interaction with other professional profiles, present in Barcelona during Sónar 2019 on the 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th of July.

Conferences On Creativity And Innovation In Different Economic Sectors Such As Tourism, Telecommunications, Media, Entertainment Or Marketing. Sónar+D’s conference programme brings together professionals from sectors such as tourism, entertainment, the media and marketing to explore the role of creativity in the new challenges of innovation in large corporations.

Experts from companies such as GSMA MWC, The Guardian, BBC, 21st Century Fox, Universal, Telefónica, Ikea or Warner will take part in lectures and seminars.

Speech: John Hoffman, CEO and Director of GSMA Ltd. presents xside
Friday 19 July I 11:00 a.m. – 11:20 a.m. | Stage+D. P4. Floor 1.

John Hoffman, CEO, and director of GSMA Ltd. will kick-start the program of Friday 19th at 11.00am CET, with a presentation of xside, a collaboration between 4YFN, Sónar and the GSMA MWC to launch a ground-breaking gathering where diverse communities come together, that will take place February 2020. xside will explore the role technology, design, and innovation play in the future of creativity, cultures, business and society. Gathering startups, designers, content creators, business executives, and developer communities. xside celebrates the ideas, talent, and people that are leading future change.

Talk: Heywood&Sons presents “Corporate innovation in media”.
Friday 19 July I 1:20 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. | Stage+D. P4. Floor 1.

The consulting firm specialized in innovation for large companies, presents a talk on media and digital innovation presents: James Down (Director of Strategy of Guardian News and Media), Caterina Preti (Director of Innovation and Business Development at WarnerMedia) and Errol Baran (senior executive vice president of Innovation and Development at BBC Global News), will have a conversation with Serena Kutchinsky, a journalist for the platform BBC Three, about how creativity and innovation have helped media corporations enter the digital age. In collaboration with Heywood & Sons INSIDERS Programme.

Introduction: Stiven Kerestegian, IKEA Innovation Director, will present the results of the Sónar+D Innovation Challenge.
Friday July 19th I 5:50 p.m. – 6:10 p.m. | Stage+D. P4. Floor 1.

Stiven Kerestegian, IKEA’s current Director of Innovation who has led the co-creation and launch of dozens of successful products, services and experiences for the global market, will act as a sponsor in the final presentations of the Sónar+D Innovation Challenge, the format for accelerated innovation that brings together large companies and creators in an open process of collaboration. Sónar+D Innovation Challenge, an initiative in collaboration with the Music Technology Group of the Universitat Pompeu Fabra, presents creative and technological challenges posed by companies, that are responded to by multidisciplinary teams (programmers, artists, hackers, makers) with the results presented at Sónar+D. The participating companies in 2019 are: Telefónica Alpha, Universal Music Group, everis and the hotel group ME by Meliá.

Networking Activity: The Generalitat de Catalunya’s Councillor for Enterprise and Knowledge will present the future programs of the TIC Tourism Cluster.
Thursday 18 July | 11.00 a.m. -12.30 p.m. | Room 15. Palau de Congressos – Invitation only.

The Departament for Enterprise and Knowledge of the Generalitat will present the results of the strategic analysis of the ICT Tourism Cluster. The aim of this cluster is to boost the economy through the transformation of the business infrastructure and the generation of stable and sustainable jobs. To do this, it articulates policies such as the promotion of competitiveness in the tourism sector and the promotion of cluster policies. The event will be attended by the Minister of Enterprise and Knowledge of the Generalitat de Catalunya, Àngels Chacón; the Director General for Industry, Matilde Villaroya; the Director General for Tourism, Octavi Bono; the Director of Clusters ACCIÓ, Joan Martí Estévez and the IDOM consultant, Marta Albertí.

Networking Activity: The Cotec Foundation for Innovation organises a training day on strategies to boost brand value.
Friday 19 July | 10.00 a.m.-14.30 p.m. | Room 15. Palau de Congressos – Invitation Only.

This conference will feature the participation of leading professionals from the worlds of communication and marketing, such as Mario Tascón (Prodigioso Volcán), Serena Kutchinsky (BBC Three), Ana Ortas (BBVA), Eva Pavo (Grupo Correos). Digital positioning, how to adapt to the global market, creativity and the creation of content will be some of the topics dealt with in the different sessions of the day.

Exhibitor: Factory Berlin, one of the Europes foremost entrepreneurial ecosystems, arrives at Sónar+D.
17,18 and 19 July |10 a.m.-08.00 p.m. – SonarHub.

One of the most prominent global players in the entrepreneurial world, Factory Berlin, the ecosystem of 3,000 members from more than 70 countries that brings together the most ambitious creators in technology, creativity and the corporate world, will be present at SonarHub, the Sónar+D exhibition area. During the three days of the congress they will present programmes that allow companies to harness the innovative and disruptive power of creative thinking and the connection to their community through talks with their network of experts and special guests.

Training In New Models Of Creation, Financing And Distribution Of Projects For Creative Industries.
Reinforcing the formative dimension of this year’s programme Sónar+D presents various activities and participants with which to learn about different forms of financing and future models for distribution in the creative industries sector. New skills as an engine of competitiveness.

Exhibitor: Kickstarter returns to Sónar+D to show examples of good practice in collective financing.
17.18 and 19 July | 10 a.m. – 8 p.m. SonarHub.

Kickstarter, the world’s largest collective funding platform for creative projects, which has raised more than $4.2 billion in funding for 162,000 creative projects worldwide, will be present on all three days at SonarHub. Kickstarter returns to Sónar+D this year to showcase some of the company’s most innovative projects to do with technology and sound at its stand: from an instrument that allows you to play with robots to a lunar balloon created from data provided by NASA.

Workshop: The Rattle will offer workshops for artists looking for funding.
Friday 19 July | 4:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. Workshop. P4. Floor 3.

The Rattle’s artist financing workshop will feature two of its three co-founders for a session focused on the different sources an artist can use to finance himself, some of them completely new in the world of music. They channel the do-it-yourself spirit of punk but embrace all genres of music and art. The Rattle was founded by Jon Eades, former director of Abbey Road Red (the innovation department of the legendary recording studio), Chris Howard (teacher and startup consultant at MIT and Harvard) and Bobby Bloomfield.

Talk:_New models of distribution for creative work.
Friday 19 July | 12:20pm – 01:00pm Stage+D. P4. Floor 1.

Scott Norville (vice president of digital audience development for 21st Century Fox), Tuhin Roy (vice president of new digital commerce and innovation for Universal Music Group) and Thiago Teixeira Correia (strategic alliances for Warner Music) will participate in a panel discussion, moderated by Andrea Rosen (Traktor-Native Instruments), on new digital distribution models for creative production. In collaboration with Heywood & Sons INSIDERS Programme.

Talk: Technological giants in debate: the future of Virtual Reality.
Friday 19 July | 11:20am – 12:00noon Stage+D. P4. Floor 1.

Christina Engebak from The Dream VR platform, Stephan Baier from the computer graphics company Mackevision, and Jeremy Boxer from Sónar+D will discuss the present and future of virtual reality, a technology born in the 1970s but still in its infancy. In collaboration with Heywood & Sons INSIDERS Programme.

Talk: Resources to build a digital music startup, presented by Universal Music Group.
Friday 19 July | 2:20pm – 4pm Stage+D. P4. Floor 1.

Tuhin Roy, director of innovation and digital business at Universal Music Group, will offer a session aimed at entrepreneurs who want to launch a digital music company. Roy will talk about opportunities for new startups, the importance of mentoring and the financial ecosystem for musical startups.

Networking Activity: Meeting of SGAE copyright holders featuring international artists: Shiva Feshareki and Fennesz.
Wednesday 17 July | 10 a.m.-2.30 p.m. Room 15. Palau de Congressos. Exclusive SGAE members.

The SGAE Copyrights Foundation will once again hold an exclusive meeting for its members with international artists participating in the Sónar 2019 musical programme. Avant-garde composers, Shiva Feshareki and Christian Fennesz will share their work processes and their personal approach to creating new sounds and compositions. Shiva Feshareki does it with a turntable, Fennesz with the guitar, and both with a large dose of experimentation.

Networking Activity: Promoting Talent And Fostering Employment.
18- 19 July | 10 a.m. – 6:30 p.m. Room 5. P5. Floor 3 Invitation Only.

In Sónar+D more than 100 young people will have the opportunity to be interviewed by companies such as CaixaBank, everis and KPMG that are looking for digital talent. In addition, young people in training will be able to learn first-hand how a festival is organised. These and other activities are part of the agreement that Sónar signs every year with Barcelona City Council. Barcelona Digital Talent works to position the city as the capital of digital talent. With the support of Barcelona Activa, Sónar+D organizes a ‘speed-date’ for the promotion of the digital careers of new professionals in the sector. During two days, companies and startups of reference in the industry will conduct a total of about 300 job interviews to find the best digital talent in Barcelona. This accelerator format will be attended by more than 100 young people specialized in languages such as Java, Linux or SAP or with knowledge associated with Big Data, UX-UI or selected business intelligence. These profiles will also attend presentations by the more than 40 companies that are part of the ecosystem and will hold face-to-face interviews with their representatives to apply for jobs. Among the participating companies are CaixaBank, everis, and KPMG, which will share space with startups such as Sharify or Shivver Universe. This initiative is promoted by Mobile World Capital Barcelona, the Cercle Tecnològic de Catalunya CTecno, Barcelona Tech City, 22@Network, Foment De Treball Nacional, Barcelona Global, the Generalitat de Catalunya and Barcelona City Council, through Barcelona Activa.

Startup Hub: Training And Mentoring For Startups.
Co-organised with 4YFN (4 Years From Now), the Sónar+D Startup Hub is an exclusive program for startups of creative companies that focuses on training and mentoring, with the participation of renowned mentors and investors specialized in startups of this kind. Program activities include Meet the Investor, Mentoring for Startups and Expertise Sessions.

21 startups that have been chosen from an international call will participate in the Sónar+D Startup Hub. This year’s startups focus on sectors such as virtual reality, content monetization, services for live music, musical tools and platforms and data marketing platforms. The chosen startups will have at their disposal a team of mentors, who will advise them and help resolve their doubts as to the most effective way to approach their project to obtain funding. Another exclusive activity for these startups will be Meet the Investor, a meeting between entrepreneurs with a solid project and investors with a successful track record of funding these types of projects around the world.

These are the 21 startups starring at Sónar+D 2019: Renacen (ES); Univrse Framework (ES); Futura VR Studio (ES); Sansar (US); SonoSuite (ES); Triple O Games (ES); Dixper Team (ES); Windowsight (ES); Cooncert.com (ES); Gigwell (US); Acqustic (ES); Aulart (ES); Switchaction (ES); LiveLoop (NL); Endless (UK); Grey Matter (US); Virtual Sound (UK); Antfluence (ES); Whale and Jaguar (CO); Lucid (CA); Fanear (CHI)

Participating mentors: Raph Crouan (DisruptVenture); Martin Eyerer (Factory Berlin); Yvan Boudillet (The Lynk); Glenn Cooper (Universal Music Group); Carolina Castilla (Apple Music); Andres Lauer (3CLTR); Ramzy Ismail (Techstars); Victoria Cruz (Sony Music); Adnan Abu Khadra (Warner Media); Xavier Almar (Barcelona Activa); Tiago Correia (Warner Music); Kate Twomey (Ming Labs); Andrea Rosen (Native Instruments); Ricard Castellet (Barcelona Tech City); Scott Cohen (Warner Music); Terry Weerasinghe (Beatport); Adam Arrigo (The Wave VR); Christian Hagan (GSMA); Adnan Abu (Turner); Dominika Dronska (Abbey Road Red); Karim Fanous (Abbey Road Red)

Meet the investors: Marc Badosa (Seedrocket4founders); Raquel Bernal (Bbooster Draper); Naoki Osada (Avex USA Inc); Eyal Malinger (Beringea); Wouter Vorstman (Piton Capital); Miruna Girtu (SyndicateRoom); Yousif Al-Dujaili (Hummingbird Ventures); Otilia Barbuta (HPInc); Andy Areito (The Venture City); Merce Tell (Nekko Capital); Julian Vinue (Wayra); Ton van ’t Noordende (01Ventures); Rishi Patel (Plus 8 Equity Partners); Itxaso del Palacio (Notion Capital); Ernest Sánchez (Nekko Capital); Marc Borrell (101Startups); Miguel Sanz (Encomenda Smart Capital); Taryn Andersen (TH Capital)

Local talent will be represented through a selection of startups sponsored by the Spanish Foreign Trade Institute (ICEX) and Red.es, Barcelona Tech City, the Ajuntament de Barcelona through the programs of Barcelona Activa and the Institut Català de les Empreses Culturals (ICEC) via the program of the SDE (Servei de Desenvolupament empresarial).

In addition, Barcelona Activa will offer several orientation sessions directed to the participants startups of national scope, in which the technical personnel will advise them in the search for public and private financing, as well as on any other question that they need answering in order to improve and grow their business; this advice is offered on a permanent basis by the Oficina de Atención a las Empresas.

And for international startups, Barcelona Activa will offer guidance and information for their possible establishment in the city.
The Institut Català de les Empreses Culturals (ICEC) participates with 2 startups (Futura VR Studio and Acqustic), from the Servei de Desenvolupament Empresarial programme, and also provides mentors and investors from its network of contacts.

Training and promotion of employment.
The students of the Cases d’Oficis de l’Espectacle de Barcelona and the members of the Singulars L’H Play de l’Ajuntament de L’Hospitalet programme will take a guided tour of the Sónar by Day and Sónar by Night venues with their production managers. Likewise, the students of the Casa d’Oficis de Barris Sostenibles will be at work in the backstage areas for artists and the different meeting rooms of the festival. The Cases d’Oficis promoted by Barcelona City Council are programmes that seek the labour insertion of young people under 25, combining training with paid professional practice in professions linked to emerging sectors.

Advantages and benefits for the country’s creative, professional and educational communities.
Sónar+D establishes agreements with a base of more than 115 professional and creative communities and 122 educational communities such as the Spanish Association of Executives, the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology or UPC Arts so that its associates can participate in the programme of activities with special advantages and benefits. Sónar+D offers the possibility of getting to know the congress through guided visits led by programmers and artistic curators. The visits are adapted to the needs of the professional profile of the visitor, whether for company directors or those responsible for innovation and marketing. The guided tours show and value creativity as a driving force for change and allow visitors to get to know experts, speakers and creators participating in Sónar+D first hand.

H/T Sonar festival.