|lx music workshop (online)

Develop your music in France 

Full program schedule + speakers announced!
(note: dates had to be rescheduled from 25/26 October to 29/30 November)

 

Kultur | lx – Arts Council Luxembourg is taking up the “next step” workshops initiated in 2021 and is adapting it to the pop/rock/electro world. Kultur | lx will offer artists an inside look and training course dedicated to the pop/rock/electro music market in various territories around the world, starting with the French market on November 29 & 30.

The online workshop will be led by Paris-native Géraldine Zanaska, founder of international music business consultancy, Compass Music. Between earning her master’s degree in Music Business Management from London’s University of Westminster and launching Compass Music, Géraldine has worked for an independent record label, a music venue, a live music promoter, a cultural institution, and the French music export office.

This workshop will address the essential points for developing a strategy to present, market, and promote a project in France. In particular, the workshop will cover the various networks and professionals involved, as well as an overview on the French touring and recording landscape, the challenges and evolution of touring, and the key methods and innovative tools to better promote your project in France. 

This interactive training will start each day with a theoretical presentation and will be followed by a round-table discussion and Q&A with French professionals from the pop/rock/electro sector. The goal is also for the participants to come away with actionable advice and have communication-ready assets (like bio and press releases, highlighting what matters locally) once the workshop is finished.

More info below!
Register here before November 22nd, to secure your spot.

 

Day 1 – Tuesday 29 November
Marketing & Labels in France

9.45 – 10am: Event introduction by Géraldine Zanaska (Compass Music)
Presentation of the program and schedule, panellists, and presentation hosts.

 

10 – 11.15am – Marketing your music in France effectively
60 minutes presentation followed by 15 minutes Q&A with audience
Speakers: Emily Gonneau (Unicum Music) 

Outline: 

  • Understanding the French audience of today: what is the portrait of a pop/rock music fan in France, what are the listening and consumption habits of the French audience in 2022, what are the most used streaming platforms locally and what is their weight on audience development.
  • The French media landscape in 2022: what are the classic media outlets (press, radio, TV, blogs, etc.) to market your music, and the role of social media to develop your audience, as well as their link to music promotion.
  • Promoting a new release or a new music video: what release calendar do I need to follow, negotiating premieres, marketing channels and impact, best practice tips
  • Promoting a concert or tour: marketing calendar, how to localise your marketing for each date

Slides with links to companies and events cited will be provided to the audience to consult afterwards.

11.15 – 11.30am – Coffee Break

11.30 – 12.45pm –  “French labels in 2022: How to get their attention and what do you need to land a deal”
60 min panel discussion followed by a 15 min Q&A with the audience 

Panelists:

  • Melissa Chaulet, Allo Floride
  • Jean-Michel Journet, WOOKAI

Outline
According to local industry source CNM (National Center for Music), there were 1375 record labels in France in 2019. But what do you need to get the attention of their A&Rs, and what do you need in order to land a contract deal with them? In this 60 min panel, we’ll hear from a record label, a label services and an artist manager about their views on what it takes to get a team in France in 2022 to work your release; the advantages and disadvantages of signing in France vs signing for a foreign label for artists, the different types of deals available, and what A&Rs are looking for before they make a decision.

 

12.45pm-1pm – Event conclusion

Day 2 – Wednesday 30 November
Touring in France

9.45 – 10am – Event introduction: program, panellists, and hosts (host: Géraldine)


10-11.15 –
The French touring landscape, key actors & specificities
60 minutes presentation followed by 15 minutes Q&A
Speaker/Host: Arthur Blanc (Cold Fame)

Outline: 

  1. Who does what exactly? French artists managers, concert and tour promoters/producers, booking agents, venue owners, festival bookers: what they each do and don’t do.
  2. Main touring cities & live actors in France in 2022: what are France’s major touring cities/regions, who are the national promoters and which festivals do they own, who are the main regional promoters and the main Paris-based promoters
  3. Understanding the different types of venues and events set-up in France: how they work, who do they book in general and why, and who can you approach directly to try to get a gif if you don’t have an agent
    1. The SMAC network and artist residencies
    2. Paris venues: a special case
    3. Café-concerts: definition and what it means to play one
    4. So called “Tiers-lieux” and how they’re different to regular venues
    5. Independent festivals
    6. Free summer festivals and concerts around France
  4. An intro to France’s love of paperwork: the A1 form and why you need to know about it, the different types of contacts and payments you can get for a gig

Slides with links to companies and events cited will be provided to the audience to consult afterwards. While we encourage you to attend the live session, it will be recorded and available to view on request for 72hrs after the event finishes. 

 

11.15-11.30am – Coffee Break

 

11.30am – 12.45pm Challenges and evolution of touring in France as as foreign artist, and presenting emerging international artists in France
60 minutes panel followed by 15 min Q&A with the audience

Panelists : 

  • Vincent Nicod (Wart)
  • Emilie Davaine (Caramba) – TBC
  • Sarah Nadifi, Founder, Promoter and booking agent (Twin Vertigo)

Outline
France has long been and remains to this day one of the major touring markets in Europe, both for domestic and international acts. With a long history of welcoming artists from around the world, and hundreds of venues and festivals to potentially target for upcoming tours, it’s a tempting and promising opportunity for many emerging artists. But what are the best places and events to showcase your music to local professionals and get your first break as a foreign artist? Are there limits to where you can play as an international act, compared to a domestic one? And can you realistically tour France without being signed to a French label and/or a French live promoter, and if so to what extent? We’ll hear from national promoters and agents about the challenges they face when representing international acts in France, as well as what you can expect

12.45-1pm: Event conclusion

Speaker biographies

Emily Gonneau, Unicum Music

Emily Gonneau, Unicum Music 

After 4 years at EMI, French-British Emily Gonneau successively founded Unicum Music (2009), her own label & publishing company, and Nüagency (2013) a digital agency specialised in music & culture. 

She is an Associate Professor at Paris Sorbonne University where she has been teaching since 2013 and the Author of “L’Artiste, le Numérique et la Musique”, a leading book reference in France published by the Centre National de la Musique (CNM). 

Emily is also a member of the CNM’s Innovation Commission, one of Keychange’s 2022 Innovators as well as the Conference Curator for MaMA Invent, MaMA Music & Convention’s space dedicated to all aspects of innovation in the music industry.

She is also the Co/Founder of 3 non-profits aiming to transform the French music industry: the Social Music Awards to highlight the best digital content and campaigns, La Nouvelle Onde (awards & organisation) which has been championing the industry’s under 30 year old movers and shakers since 2018, and Change de disque, focusing on fixing the ecosystem’s rampant sexism and discrimination.

Arthur Blanc, Cold Fame

Arthur is a booking agent, concert and festival promoter for Lyon-based Cold Fame. He joined Cold Fame in 2019 after 3 years spent in the UK studying at the British Institute of Modern Music in Brighton (UK). Starting as the company CEO and leader of French rock band Last Train’s assistant, he developed his career as a booking agent : first with W!ZARD (FR), then with Penelope Isles (UK), Paul Jacobs (CAN), Lysistrata (FR) for the rest of the world, PARK (FR) and MNNQNS (FR). 

He’s also a local promoter with « Les Messes » and co-programmer of La Messe de Minuit festival. He’s also been touring managing for Last Train across many countries such as France, England, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Germany, Holland, Eastern Europe, all the way to the Reunion Island and more recently New Caledonia, getting a profound understanding of the whole chain from booking a date, to actually being on the road. 

Cold Fame is a booking agency, concert and festival promoter based in Lyon (FR) which started in 2014. Today, Cold Fame proudly represents a roster of french artists (Last Train, Lysistrata, Bandit Bandit, MNNQNS, PARK, Johnnie Carwash and W!ZARD) but also international acts on the french territory (Hubert Lenoir, Penelope Isles, Alias, Paul Jacobs, Hippie Hourrah), with a whopping 500+ shows a year. Cold Fame also organises events in Lyon, France’s third biggest city, with foreign acts such as De Wolff, IDLES, All Them Witches, Gilla Band or black midi, but also in Paris in venues such as Le Point Éphémère, Le Trabendo, La Maroquinerie or even L’Olympia for bands of its own roster. In 2019, La Messe de Minuit festival was created with an attendance of more than 2.300 people over three nights (all sold-out), welcoming international bands such as Fat White Family, YAK, Night Beats and Bad Nerves, and french ones such as Last Train, Lysistrata, The Psychotic Monks, Structures and more. Today’s goal remains the same : promoting rock music and all its sub-genres, spreading the love for live organic music, and building bridges for long-term professional relationships, from Canada to South-Korea. 

Melissa Chaulet, Artist management & International Development, Allo Floride (Management • Publishing • Label Services)

Melissa is a music business executive with 10 years experience in the industry. Currently she’s an artist manager and the head of international development at Allo Floride,

 a 360 music company which consists of a record label, artist management, publishing, live music promotions and booking, as well as operating venues in France. Her mgmt roster currently includes Belgian artist ML (Inouïs Printemps de Bourges) and electronic music producer UN*DEUX ; she also co-manages leading artists Boston Bun and Møme. 

Aside from management, in her role she coordinates international development for artists such as Isaac Delusion, Bon Entendeur, Bellaire, BLOW, Yuksek, Silly Boy Blue. Previous to working at Allo Floride, Melissa worked in the international development department at Universal Music France, on campaigns including Angèle, Bigflo & Oli, Etienne Daho, Juliette Armanet, Naive New Beaters, Roméo Elvis, The Avener and Thomas Azier among others.

 

Jean Michel Journet, artist manager, WOOKAI

JM Journet joined the music industry after 10 years working in customer care, when we decided it was time to transfer his skills to work with his everlasting passion for music. He started working in distribution in 2012, and then became a project manager for a small Parisian label until 2015. At this point he decided to fly solo and became an independent artist manager. He has worked with several international artists such as Natalia Doco (Argentina), Djazia Satour (Algeria/France), Hussam Aliwat (Palestine), YADAM (Venezuela).

In 2020, he was one of the creators of @musictoofrance, a taskforce tackling sexism and sexual violence in the French music industry. He continues today as an artist developer, consultant and music publisher.

 

 

Vincent Nicod, booking agent/promoter, WART

Vincent started his journey in the music industry 23 years ago when he volunteered for a concert hall. Over the following years, he worked across most roles and sectors in the French music industry, including as an artist manager, festival promoter, label manager, and cultural mediator. Nowadays Vincent works as a booking agent and promoter for national agency WART, where he develops and represent a roster combining indie rock and electronic artists from France and beyond including Meute, Acid Arab, Arnaud Rebotini, Joris Delacroix, Lalalar, Mauskovic Dance Band, Astéréotypie, Lady Leshurr, Chapelier Fou…

Emilie Davaine, Promoter and booking agent – Caramba

Emilie Davaine is a promoter and booking agent at the helm of a new division with a promising roster of international and independent music at Caramba, one of France most respected national live music promoters & concert producers.

With names such as Sqürl, Genesis Owusu, Easy Life, Black Sea Dahu, Lovejoy, Caramba Culture live carries the flag of Anglo-Saxon indie-rock high and supports intense and singular artists who claim a high artistic standard. Emily currently represents emerging Luxembourgish talent C’est Karma and Francis Of Delirium in France.

Sarah Nadifi, Founder, Promoter and booking agent – Twin Vertigo

Sarah Nadifi is the founder of Twin Vertigo, a live music promoter and booking agency based in Angers, France which she started in 2017. 

As a booking agent and promoter for French and international artists, mainly in the rock, pop and folk aesthetics, she runs the business which currently represents 10 artistic projects to date, including Michelle & Les Garçons, Wild Fox, San Caro, Arhios , Scuffles (France); Baby Strange, Cassels (UK); Sons (Belgium), with more acts soon to be announced.

Géraldine Zanaska, International Music Business Consultant and Strategist & Promoter, COMPASS MUSIC

Géraldine is a music business consultant, international music strategist and live music promoter with over 12 years experience in the music industry. Between earning her master’s degree in Music Business Management from London’s University of Westminster and launching Compass Music in 2019 – a global music consultancy that provides bespoke international development services to music businesses, events, and institutions, Géraldine worked for an independent record label (Bella Union), a music venue (Royal Albert Hall), a live music promoter (Bird On The Wire), a cultural institution (Institut Français), and the French music export office. With Compass Music, she helped clients build new international bridges for artists and the wider industry by coordinating international PR campaigns, developing new forms of networking events and showcases, leading trade missions, curating music conferences, and building the world’s first knowledge marketplace for music executives, Lighthouse. She regularly gets involved in initiatives supporting womxn in music, emerging artists and young executives, guest lectures and host workshops for several music business schools and artists accelerators, and is a current mentor for Keychange and La Nouvelle Onde. She was named as an Alt Power Music List Honoree in December 2021 in the Business & Technology category by She Said So.