Sonar Report
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The Festival
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Sonar is distinguished as the most prestigious electronic music festival in Europe. More than
90,000 young people gather every year in Barcelona for this unique fiesta renowned for its variety of
sounds, interactive multimedia art, surprising design and diverse crowd.
For an international audience that exerts a growing influence on mainstream culture, Sonar
presents the cutting edge in not only music, but also multimedia art, cinema, fashion and design.
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The Audience
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LeapVision presents the first quantitative and qualitative study
of Sonar's audience with hundreds of surveys discovering lifestyles, musical tastes, cultural affinities,
and brand preferences, not to mention dozens of interviews and hundreds of photos.
The result is privileged insight into this trend-creating crowd.
Apart from basics such as being 43% girls and 57% boys with an average age of 25.3, we've discovered
a rich and diverse audience with sophisticated tastes.
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The latest trends in... |
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Music |
The growth in electronic music is impressive. Not only is it
growing in popularity, but also in the variety of sounds and styles that it offers. All of
them are present in Sonar, from artists who command mass popularity such as Bjork to the most
experimental of artists offering fusions of jazz and natural "noises" like Matthew Herbert.
Many survey participants insisted that the Techno
(46% popularity) found in Sonar is of the utmost sophistication and quality.
House music (27%) continues to be popular but Chill (20%) and Electro (19%) seem to
be stealing some of its fire. The study reveals these and other trends in music that are key to
understanding the evolution of electronica and its growing influence in mainstream music and
youth marketing.
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Multimedia Art |
Multimedia art installations are very popular with this artistic crowd.
Those that stimulated creativity and promoted interactive participation were the biggest
hit. In "Telematic Dreaming" participants threw themselves onto a bed to intimately
interact with remote participants, creating an unforgettable experience.
"Sodaplay" is a creative game providing important lessons in the art
of viral marketing. Its launch in the web in the year 2000 created an avalanche of
spontaneous emails that has yet to cease. The Sonar Report explores trends in multimedia art and
their relevance for youth marketers.
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Fashion
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The most notable trend in fashion is the absence of a dominant trend.
There are so many styles that people can do whatever they want. "They can mix it up just like
the DJ's and make their own creations. There's no taboo as far as mixing styles." Lilian, 32, Barcelona.
We saw mixes of Pop with Traditional, Punk with bright colors, Punk with Rasta, Rasta with color, Gothic with color,
and the yellow, green and blue of Brazil. Black and white also continues to work.
The photographic archives of LeapVision offer the wide panorama of the latest fashion trends, and our quantitative
analysis not only details the audience's favorite fashions but also explores the correlations between fashion and lifestyles,
musical tastes, and favorite cultural activities.
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Design
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The graphic presentation of Sonar always surprises. This year it has presented a
collection of portraits with the eyes cut out. Others present cut-out eyes that are positioned to
resemble chains of beads. The absence of the eyes in the faces eliminates their humanity
and creates a disturbing robotic impression. On the other hand, the cut-out eyes are frightening
as you realize that what you thought were inanimate beads are alive and looking at you!
The crowd at Sonar is well-versed in design. 17% cited design as a cultural affinity
and 14% have related jobs or studies. 29% cited photography as a hobby.
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Film
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The Sonar audience loves film, with 45% citing it as a cultural affinity. And we're not
talking just Hollywood. This crowd likes diversity, with 15% citing independent films, followed by Spanish films,
typified by the famous director Almodovar (14%), and science fiction (8%), and classic (5%).
Sonar Cinema presented a collection of shorts and independent films, with two notable trends.
Films such as "Resistance. Hip-hop in Colombia" focus on reality - they are high-impact documentaries that impress with frightenly
real yet artistic
presentations of reality.
Others are very experimental, combining animation with video and multimedia art, impressing with
the way the create unrealities.
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Anti-marketing
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The trend against marketing and corporate abuses is not
a phenomenon isolated to anti-globalization protests, but is frequently manifested
in Sonar and in Spanish counter-culture in general. Anti-American sentiment is manifest
due to the highly unpopular war on Iraq (despite the Spanish government's support).
15% of survey participants refused to identify themselves with brands in something as basic as
clothing, as well as 14% for sports shoes.
Anti-marketing currents are still relatively minor, but their protest inevitably
has its effect on the mainstream. The message is not just rebel protest but
denotes that the old rules of quality and price still apply. Youth culture
can represent difficult territory and brands should approach them with an understanding of their
worries and sensitive points.
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Sponsors and Sonar |
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Brands play an important role in Sonar, but at times their participation is overly commercialized
and is not well integrated into the cultural offering of the festival.
Brands are often viewed as unfortunate but necessary luggage
that are "behind the trends... they jump on the train when the
movement is already highly evolved... and don't really add value." David Puente, ClubbingSpain.com.
This sentiment was echoed in the dozens of interviews that LeapVision
conducted with youths immediately after they visited a Sponsor's area. The Sonar Report
reveals the keys to successfully sponsoring festivals such as Sonar.
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Conclusion
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The audience at Sonar, seen in its entirety, is more
sophisticated than mainstream youth. They are more cynical towards Brands and commercialization.
However, they are extremely active and set trends. The go out frequently and prefer brands that
they identify with their lifestyle.
61% work with occupations in design, technology, marketing and music. 35% study. They have
varied and sophisticated cultural interests. They continue to be avant-garde even
as they exert growing influences over mainstream culture. Marketing strategies that are formulated
with a strong understanding of their diversity and sophistication promise success.
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LeapVision |
LeapVision
is the marketing consultancy specialized in youth culture,
offering innovative research, branding and promotional services
We provide privileged insights into youth, leaving behind pre-conceptions
and discovering them in their own cultural environments -
we call it Cultural Discovery and Inspiration.
In our
cultural discovery excursions
we research the young people who most actively participate in creating lifestyles,
trends, and cultural evolutions.
Info@LeapVision.com
+34 935 33 94 25
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