French President Macron Outlines Vision for the Future of the Music Industry at France Music Week

The Summit, a highlight of the first France Music Week, gathered 100 music industry professionals at the Palais Garnier on Friday, June 20, and concluded with a keynote address by French President Emmanuel Macron.

Earlier that week, on Monday, June 16, France’s Minister of Culture, Rachida Dati, officially launched the first-ever France Music Week — a mix of programming for music business professionals and the general public. Billboard France, an official media partner, covered the week of events in full.

One of the week’s most significant announcements was a €500 million commitment to the French music industry through Bpifrance by the end of the decade. This includes €125 million in equity funding to support high-growth French companies, international expansion projects, and asset-based consolidation; €340 million in loans and guarantees; and €35 million dedicated to innovation.

“We launched Choose France [an international business summit hosted by France] eight years ago. Now, I want to do the same in key sectors — and music is one of them,” President Macron said during his address. “We can go further. France has major assets to boost its global attractiveness.”

As Dati said during the launch speech, “Supporting businesses in the music sector means defending a key part of our cultural sovereignty and economic identity.”

A Day of Industry Dialogue

Among the most anticipated speakers was Warner Music Group CEO Robert Kyncl, who opened his remarks by spotlighting the global success of Aya Nakamura, recently featured on the cover of Billboard France. “We do a lot of artist development, but it takes a global effort to build an artist with long-term success,” Kyncl said. “We’re especially proud of Aya Nakamura, signed to Warner Chappell and Warner Music.”

John Reid, president of Live Nation Entertainment, focused his remarks on the future of the concert business: “When you look at new markets like Asia and the Middle East, you see growth trajectories in touring similar to what we experienced in the U.S. three or four years ago.”

Among French voices, SACEM CEO Cécile Rap-Veber emphasized the threat of dilution in the age of generative AI: “That’s where we’re losing value today. That’s why SACEM and Universal were among the first to adopt the artist-centric model on Deezer. I hope all platforms adopt a model that compensates true creators for real creativity.”

Also present at the Palais Garnier — home of the Opéra National de Paris — were key figures such as Lyor Cohen (YouTube), Victoria Oakley (IFPI), Lee Soo-Nam (SM Entertainment) and Adriana Moscoso Del Prado (GESAC), alongside French industry leaders including Alexis Lanternier (Deezer), Denis Ladegaillerie (Believe), the heads of the three major labels — Alain Veille (Warner Music France), Marie-Anne Robert (Sony Music France) and Olivier Nusse (Universal Music France) — as well as Emmanuel de Buretel (Because Music) and Ed Banger founder Pedro Winter.

Three Key Challenges Ahead

Several music executives were received at the Élysée Palace by President Macron in advance of the Fête de la Musique. In a closed-door address, Macron laid out what he sees as three major challenges for the industry — beginning with fair artist compensation.

“Alternatives such as the artist-centric or user-centric models, and some of you are great inspirators of this change, championed by platforms like Deezer, deserve our full attention,” Macron said. “We have to follow up this work and it’s very important to deliver as well a common European approach.”

The second challenge: the rise of mega-concerts. “These are spectacular successes and we are very proud to host them, such as Beyoncé‘s yesterday in the Stade de France, but they can’t obscure underlying vulnerabilities as well,” he said. “Mid-sized venues, festivals and local stages are struggling to keep up with rising costs. This new model is very fruitful, but we have to organize ourselves in order not to sacrifice what clearly is a strength of the French model.”

Finally, Macron stressed the need for France to invest in artificial intelligence, not only to remain competitive with the U.S. and China, but to do so ethically. “Creation and innovation are not the opposite, but the history of music is one of constant reinvention. And music clearly has always been at the forefront of change,” he said. “Unregulated generative AI could lead upstream to a form of dispossession of original work and downstream to a dilution of the value of human creation.”

The day concluded with performances by The Avener and Kassav’ in the Élysée’s main courtyard. The next day, a major free concert closed out France Music Week in the gardens of the Louvre, featuring Major Lazer Soundsystem, Kalash, and Christine and the Queens, under the artistic direction of Thierry Reboul, Victor Le Masne and Romain Pissenem — already known for their work on the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

AI: “A Machine That Destroys Music’s Value”

Beyond Macron’s remarks, artificial intelligence was a central topic throughout the summit. At the Palais Garnier, Culture Minister Dati shared her vision: “While AI is a unique tool for the sector, its power comes with serious responsibility. We must ensure that fully synthetic, AI-generated music doesn’t spread at the expense of human creators.”

Jean-Baptiste Gourdin, President of the Centre National de la Musique, made AI a core part of his closing speech. “AI is no longer science fiction,” he said. “It’s already embedded in creation, distribution, recommendation and rights management. This raises legal, economic and ethical questions. If poorly regulated, AI could become a machine that destroys the value of music.”

Defending a French Model

A recurring theme throughout the day was the defense of France’s cultural exception — the idea that arts are not completely subject to a free market — and the development of a new, French-led model for the music industry of tomorrow.

“Music needs both the investment power of global corporations and the creativity and daring of independent, local players,” said Gourdin in his closing remarks.

Macron added: “A few years ago, when a lot of people wanted to revisit this cultural exception, we fought very hard with some of you and we managed to deliver the European Parliament’s preservation of the copyrights and of the artists. I think there is no model where you can sacrifice the copyrights and the protection of the artists.”

Among the foundational goals of France Music Week is to strengthen France’s position on the international stage. “We want to help our key players to benefit from these global dynamics, largely focused in Asia, the Gulf, LATAM and some other places,” said the president.

Gourdin concluded: “Export is no longer optional — it’s a core pillar of the new business model. But globalization doesn’t mean standardization. Around the world, it’s local content — rooted in culture, language and collective imagination — that drives user engagement and market growth. The universal now passes through the singular. And that presents a tremendous opportunity for French and Francophone creators.”