Understanding the French music scene...

[CleverCowboy]

I am hoping some of our French members will chime in here.

Since Alizee decided to get back into singing and booking dates, first there was Warsaw, then Mexico, then... who knows what is next, if anything. The question that keeps returning to my mind is, why not Paris or any other destination on the mainland? Can she not get 500 people from the entire country of France to meet in one place and pay 50 Euros to see a singing engagement that was the country's darling 15 years ago? I think in the US you would still get many thousands to pay big bucks to see a washed up Britney Spears sing her old songs. It made me think of the music culture of France.

Since delving into Les Enfoires, I knew very little about French entertainers other than Alizee. Now, I am no expert or even close, but I am amazed at the talent the French singers bring and I have went a step further and researched many of my favorites from the shows. One thing that is evident is that many of the popular male singers, such as Pascal Obispo, stay consistent in record sales and popularity, or in his particular case, sell more as he goes on. The women singers, such as Alizee, Jenifer, Lorie, etc. tend to make a big initial impact then trend off pretty sharply... unless your name is Mylene, and if so you are the queen of France. But even Mylene's record sales have dropped over the years, but her concerts are a spectacle to the point where I would pay to see her in concert and I think that is her main draw.

So this brings me back to my original curiosity about the French music scene - what does it take to be a home-grown entertainer and make a lifetime income entertaining in France? Why do the men seem to outlast the women? I'm not trying to be sexist in that question, but in the US there is a lot of parity between the sexes in music - if you put out good music, people will buy it no matter who you are. When international acts play Paris, there is always a fantastic turnout. The home grown artists have a lot to compete against.

So this goes full circle back to Alizee. Since Alizee is no longer a "Parisian", does that work against her? Are people from the protectorate of Corsica looked at differently than those from the mainland? Even with Alizee seemingly reconciling with Mylene, there still does not seem to be any rush in signing Alizee to any engagements in France.

Thoughts?