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THE NON-CONFORMIST DISTRIBUTION COMPANY That Takes A Special Pride In Its Unconventionality The fact that French independent distributor Media 7 is celebrating its 10th anniversary and heading for a gross […]

INTERNATIONAL SPOTLIGHT As the Sales Rally Runs Out of Steam, the French Music Industry Gears Up to Regenerate Growth. With sales in the first four months of the year 1.1% [...]

PATRICK BRUEL: The New French Superstar He's A Singer, He's A Songwriter, He's An Actor With An Appeal To A Wide Range Of Age Groups. He's... The French music scene [...]

In this 200th anniversary year of the passing of the world's first act of legislation giving authors a reproduction right, Billboard looks at the history of this aspect of intellectual […]

PARIS--With sales of 8.46 billion francs ($1.57 billion) for the first six months of this year, the performance of the French video industry is below expectations. Sales for the full […]

Company reports reveal cautious optimism FNAC'S FRENCH ANSWER 'Virgin started out as a record company and then went into record retailing; we have done precisely the opposite,' says Laurent Treille, […]

There was a time when soundtrack recordings sold on the strength of the movie, serving to recall its great moment. But today the reverse can occur: movies can get extra […]

The French video market grew by a very healthy 34.14% LAST year, generating gross revenue from sell-though (81.7%) and rental (18.3%) of 2.1 billion francs ($385.2 million), according to the […]

A Territorial Guide to Home Video Growth in Europe U.K.: Following last year's setback, the industry has experienced an optimistic first quarter which has seen rentals steadying and plenty of [...]

PARIS - Virgin Retail France is bouncing back from its price war with FNAC and its disappointments over restrictions on Sunday trading with a new Megastore and three new airport […]

As trends in pop rise and fall, jazz and classical music remain steady, if modest, mainstays of the French market. The challenge facing both genres in the '90s, say record […]

PARIS - At the tender age of 16, Jean-Philippe Smet felt an English-sounding name would better suit his showbiz ambitions. He became Johnny Hallyday. Some three decades later, the Gallic […]

PARIS--Francis Cabrel--widely acknowledged as one of France's most successful recording artists--is not one of those show business personalities whose glittering lifestyle is played out on the national television screen. Yet […]

PARIS--With French singers such as Liane Foly and Patricia Kaas already eroding the prejudices of English-speaking audiences, hopes are high that 'Bruel,' by French phenomenon Patrick Bruel, could be among […]

PARIS--The journey to mainstream U.S. success has taken Rosco Martinez from his native Miami to studios in Los Angeles and Austria and through the doors of one of the hottest […]

PARIS--French video companies have reacted strongly to the imposition, beginning in January, of a 2% tax on video sales and rentals. The tax, introduced by former culture minister Jack Lang […]

PARIS--Former PolyGram France international director Nanou Lamblin has confirmed her departure from the company and is now installed at BMG France, where she will head up a new dance label […]

PARIS--After a slowdown in the growth of the French video market last year, gross sales for the first half of this year dropped 9.25%. The most optimistic projections for this […]

PARIS--The Virgin retail group appears to have stolen a march on its most powerful competitor, the FNAC chain, by securing a lease on a prime 19,000-square-foot store unit in the […]

The positive side of the stagnation in the French record market over the past year is that it has triggered a surge of creativity, not only in terms of discovering […]

In 1985 Paul Lederman, the founding father of compilation records in France, launched the series 'Le Disque Des Records,' featuring big best-selling songs of the past, and demonstrated to a […]

PARIS--A row is brewing here between one of France's leading broadcasters, NRJ, and artists unions, which claim the station owes six years' worth of royalties to artists and performers. The […]

PARIS - The 7-inch vinyl single will reach the end of its 42-year life span in France, when member companies of industry body SNEP stop manufacturing the format May 3. […]

PARIS--Some labels are fighting the recession with investment instead of retrenchment. BMG France has reactivated the Vogue label, whose repertoire it acquired last year, and EMI is boosting the profile […]

PARIS--Taking two bites at the cherry is Warner Music International's way of squeezing more sales out of a static market, a strategy that looks to have paid off in France. […]

Non-traditional world-class artists on the rise The French record market is a relatively small one,' says Patrick Zelnik, president of the French record industry association SNEP and president of Virgin, […]

Can this be the next European dance capital? The marked broadening of the repertoire base in France in recent years has opened the door for a wide variety of music […]

In The Last Decade The French retail scene has been totally transformed. Where in 1983 the conventional record dealer accounted for 35% of sound carrier sales, the subsequent years have […]

With unit sales down by 6.8% in the first two months of this year compared with January and February 1991, the French record industry is bracing itself for a flat […]

SNEP Cites Hypermarkets As One Cause Of Fragility Paris - The French record industry grew only by 2.6% in value in 1994 compared with the previous year. Statistics for 1994 […]

BERLIN - The closure of the FNAC store in Berlin is further evidence that the city is not the El Dorado of music retailing that it was originally thought to […]

Despite growing concern about their future, independent producers are still a vital part of the creative process in France. But the indies feel their economic survival is threatened. The costs […]

Hopes For Multinational Label Dashed Paris - France's dreams of having its own multinational record company have disappeared - temporarily at least - with the news that FNAC Music, the […]

Chain Is Now 3rd-Largest In French Music Market PARIS--With the purchase of the best stores of the troubled Nuggets record retail chain, rival operator Madison has become the third-largest music […]

PARIS--With a deft combination of established acts and new talent, WEA Music France has quietly managed to rebuild its domestic catalog during a three-year investment program. Philippe Laco, former director […]

PARIS--Thanks to the sales of international act Jean-Michel Jarre, French manager, promoter, and record producer Francis Dreyfus can afford the luxury of breaking into the jazz market. With Jarre averaging […]

PARIS--While the trademark Tristar is known worldwide as a giant force in the cinema world, in France it is also a Columbia-affiliated record label specializing in national music productions with […]

PARIS--Milan, a leading French independent record company with strong links in the U.S. promoting film soundtrack albums, is planning to raise capital for further expansion by selling a 15% stake […]

Voted newcomer of the year at the Victoires De La Musique awards, Native is a duo that brilliantly fuses black soul music with French chanson to achieve a completely original […]

PARIS--The French government has thrown a lifeline to the territory's stagnating music business by establishing a fund to help launch new acts. At the same time, the authorities are to […]

PARIS--The French music business federation SNEP has elected BMG France president Bernard Carbonez as its president for the next two years, presenting him with the challenge of helping the business […]

PARIS -- New Carrere Music managing director Michael Wijnen aims to revamp the label's image to get away from its single-oriented history. Earlier this year, Wijnen replaced Yvan Taieb as […]

PARIS--French popular music is due for another ministerial boost at MIDEM, when France's Culture Minister Jacques Toubon launches 'La Semaine de la Chanson Francaise' (French Song Week) Jan. 30. The […]