Primavera Sound, Sónar: the 2025 Corporate Takeover

What happens when venture capital buys counterculture? In this searing critique, Alex Lawton dissects how Primavera Sound and Sónar—once underground icons—have been transformed by Superstruct and KKR into branded spectacles for the algorithm age. But amid the commodification, a new underground is stirring—one that can’t be bought, sold, or staged.