From clubbing icon David Guetta, to classical pianist Alexandre Tharaud, and jazz star Julien Doré, Le Bureau Export supports a wide range of musicians from its HQ in Paris and European satellite offices. Head of classical and jazz, Françoise Clerc, gives IAM an overview of their work and why they want you to say Oui to doing business with France
Le Burea Export was created in 1993 as a non-profit organisation with the aim of promoting music “made in France” all over the world. In the last year alone around 400 professional members made use of our services and more than 500 projects benefited from Le Bureau Export’s support. We work in a collaborative way, drawing input from members, funders, and music professionals.
Today, 25 years on, we have offices in Paris, London, New York, Berlin and São Paulo (though classical music and jazz are limited to London, Paris, New York and Berlin). Originally Le Bureau Export was created for supporting the pop music industry but this has changed in the last two years with the addition of a specific classical department.
Le Bureau Export is funded by a mixture of private and public funds from government, and from what we call the Civil Societies. Our supporters are the French Ministry of Cultural Affairs and French Ministry of European and Foreign Affairs. Contributions from the Ministry of Culture have increased in 2018 to €2.7m from €1.4m. Apart from the government, our funding partners are SACEM (Société des Auteurs, Compositeurs et Editeurs de Musique); CNV (Centre National de la Chanson, des Variétés et du Jazz); FCM (Fonds pour la Création Musicale); SCCP (Société Civile des Producteurs Phonographiques); and SPPF (Société Civile des Producteurs de Phonogrammes en France).
So what do we do exactly? Under the moniker ‘Made in France’ Le Bureau Export supports French industry professionals to make their work known all over the world, and we advise and assist international professionals interested in hosting our Made in France artists.
Our work falls into three categories:
Connections:
- We establish and enrich relationships between international and French professionals through the following activities:
- Networking events with French industry professionals (in France as well as abroad).
- Invitations to international festivals and conferences such as Classical:NEXT, Musicora (New Deal), IAMA, Jazzahead, and many others in the field of pop, world and electronic music.
- Providing access to French music professional contacts.
Communication:
- We provide information about Made in France artists, their French professional entourage and the French music industry via:
- Expert recommendations and assistance for discovering and working with Made in France artists.
- Latest updates on music Made in France in the UK (ouilove.co.uk), in the US (francerocks.com), and in Germany (chic-schnack.org).
- Promotion of Made in France events via newsletters and social media. Promotion of Made in France via our playlist service What The France. Information on the French music industry.
Funding:
- We offer financial support for Made in France projects abroad via: Commissions and awarding funds for international network
- development, promotional costs and international tours.
- Financial support for local partners and professionals promoting music Made in France outside of France.
There are certain myths we want to demystify. We hear all the time that France is a closed country and it’s very difficult to collaborate with us – so what we want to say through our French Focus at Classical:NEXT is that France is an open country. There are many ways we support French artists to perform abroad, while other organisations like SACEM support those wishing to perform in France.
Le Bureau Export works very closely with Ministry of Foreign affairs and its cultural body, l’Institut Français. We are constantly collaborating with the diplomatic network throughout the world and are closely linked with them: 2018 is the centenary of Debussy’s death, so this will be a big year for French classical music.
French culture has historically been funded by the government and the state, so it can seem a complex field to navigate. The advantage of this model, however, is that we have an amazing network of venues in France, including les Scènes Nationales, that are totally multidisciplinary in their programming and supported by public money. This means that there are endless opportunities to present artists working in all genres of music.
Far from being centralised in Paris, Le Bureau Export often works with other countries and constantly links with partners all around the world to develop partnerships and ideas of collaborations. The speakers at Classical:NEXT will illuminate how foreign presenters, managers and bookers can work with us. Future plans for Le Bureau Export will involve placing representatives in Asia, and Central and South America so we can increase the channels for French professionals, and so that music professionals can make contact with us more easily.
Back to Classical:NEXT: there will also be more than 40 representatives from France you can talk with at the conference. Le Bureau Export will have a team ready to answer your questions – all you need to do is ask.