Beyoncé Won’t Sing At NRJ Music Awards (NMA)! Like her, international megastars have abandoned French entertainment shows, in the face of upheaval in the music industry and competition from social networks. The one nicknamed “Queen B” is however in the running for an award at the ceremony organized since 2000 in Cannes by TF1 and NRJ. She had participated in it in the past, like Whitney Houston, Will Smith or Mariah Carey.
“The world has changed,” summarizes for AFP Jacques Grimal, general coordinator of the NMA, where the heavyweights of the French-speaking scene will perform on Friday evening, from OrelSan to Aya Nakamura via Stromae, Juliette Armanet and Clara Luciani.
“Artists travel much less,” Fabrice Bailly, program director of TF1, abounded on Franceinfo on Thursday, although Ava Max, Lizzo or Rosalia are expected on Friday on the Croisette and Robbie Williams next week at the Star Ac, of which he is the godfather .
Previously, “to get the songs and the artists known in France, they absolutely had to come,” Star Ac producer Anne Marcassus tells AFP. “It’s over with social media, they shower people with content and they realized with Covid that they could continue to communicate with their fans and work,” she adds.
Another consequence of the health crisis, some artists “try to remain isolated in the bubbles as much as possible” to avoid the cancellation of concerts costing several million euros, such as “Harry Styles, which no one (apart from his touring team) has seen when he went to Paris” this summer, according to Jacques Grimal.
Promotion also takes on new forms with virtual concerts, such as Ariana Grande’s on the video game Fortnite, or music documentaries on Netflix and others. Added to this are simple questions of “timing”, Usher being for example in residence in Las Vegas, underlines Anne Marcassus, who however managed to bring in the British Lewis Capaldi.
Among the record companies, a source thus highlights the lack of news justifying the TV broadcasts. More generally, “French artists are the most requested by the media,” Sony Music France president Marie-Anne Robert told AFP, recalling that “in the first half of 2022, 80% of the top 200 sales of album I’m French”.
Above all, the majors no longer have an ecological and financial interest in spending “from 100,000 to 150,000 euros for a jet trip” for programs with declining audiences, while sales of physical CDs are collapsing in favor of streaming, on the other hand Jacques grimal. Especially since the superstars can travel with an army of “fifty people”, including “the assistant’s assistant, pets, children, sports coach”.
“I remember Lady Gaga and her five dressing rooms, two of them just for her clothes”, abounds Emmanuel Virot, artistic director of several music programs, including “Taratata”.
When asked about the low return on investment these trips generate, Marie-Anne Robert assures us that she doesn’t see “things that way. Our approach boils down to: + what works best for the artist +”.
On the channel side, “there is less money”, and fewer programs that welcome artists, analyzes the academic Virginie Spies, a specialist in the small screen. With the proliferation of antennas and platforms, “there’s no longer this promise” of reaching the masses, she sums up.
Considered a success, Star Ac 2022, attended by many French celebrities (Véronique Sanson, Slimane, Patrick Fiori, etc.) thus brings together between 3 and 4 million spectators every Saturday. Twenty years ago he could have exceeded 10 million in the final.
Last year, the NMAs drew 4 million viewers, up from a peak of 7.8 in 2003.
