WORLD MUSIC

expression. They are artists from French-speaking Africa, produced by French entities, who provided thefoundations of what soon became the market of “world music” for the English-speaking world, the“musiques du monde” for the French-speaking world. Several reasons initiated this:- From a sociological point of view, there is a large cultural variety in the French population. This elementfavors the broadcasting of creations, answering to stylistic forms associated to tastes and culturalreferences of social groups, which are the ones demanding.- Many artists of various cultural origins live in France. Others have established a contact with producers,who accompany them in the development of their career on stage or on record, or both.- The policies of welcoming people of various cultural origins, articulate around the concepts of"integration" and "social coeducation". This differs from the Anglo-Saxon approach, which privileges acommunity, grouping together populations of same cultural background, in defined urban spaces. Theeffect of these policies on the interest carried by the French public in world music must not beunderestimated. However, the impact of the cultural community as an identifier preserves all its pertinenceto the development of artists' career, in particular for populations with a significant demographicimportance, such as the French Antilles, the Maghreb, western Africa or the Indian Ocean, to name a few.The consideration of these combined elements allows to establish a base of activities for the artist.Basicaly, one can take into account, among the favorable elements, the fact that the artist’s career is basedon a cultural community. Then it is thanks to the efficiency of the team working around the artist, if thepublic widens beyond this initial restricted circle. Professional structures in the live or record sector allowthe artist to assert himself or herself on national, European and international networks.3.3 PLACE OF THE EUROPEAN ARTISTSLatin American and African artists curently dominate the ‘world’ music market. This constantinternational entity is also confirmed in France. The fact remains that a demand on behalf of the Frenchpublic concerns the important European stylistic currents: Celtic music, flamenco, fado, gypsy music,etc….3.3.1 REGIONS AND CULTURAL AFFINITIESThe functioning of the French musical sector has always, and continues to be, centered in the capital,Paris, a compulsory stop-over when on an international tour, and where are implanted most labels andmost of the media. It is interesting to notice however, that Europe has initiated a sort of decentralization,including in the field of world music. Because French regions have revalorized their own cultures, someof them feel closer to other regions of European countries, in terms of language, singing, musicalFrance Export Handbook–World Music