Lia Neal realised that there was a huge gap in the UK music industry promoting foreign artists, especially French, as they get little or no support for releasing music in the UK (the exception being Carla Bruni, who got worldwide recognition for her new album as she’s France’s first lady). Another reason to note is that a lot of UK music retailers don’t stock current French music, but if they do have the CD/MP3s, then they charge the albums at a premium – just because they aren’t “released”
“I feel that it’s a real shame that the UK music industry, especially the retailers, won’t support ‘Modern’ French music, for example Sheryfa Luna, Shy’M, Magic System and Tomer G to name a few”, quotes Lia Neal, the brainchild of the site. “Retailers, in particular iTunes, are quite patchy with getting French artists onto their system - they either have whole albums (for example Pauline’s album ‘Âllo Le Monde’), one song (for example “Mise Au Point” by Leslie), current music videos which costs in the region of £2 each (for example Matt Pokora’s “They Talk...”) or don’t feature any material at all (for example French Pop Idol winner Sheryfa Luna or Melissa M)”.
Lia then goes on to say “I would really like to hear UK radio stations such as Radio 1, Radio 2 or Capital FM to play French records, as all you currently hear is either UK or American artists such as Coldplay or NeYo – there are other songs from other countries that should be added to playlist, to give us a more ‘diverse’ taste in our music culture. My website, http://frenchmusicpromo.wordpress.com, will have youtube clips of new songs added regularly so that English-speaking people, particularly UK citizens, can listen to new music and be up-to-date with the French music scene”. She adds “if iTunes and other UK legal download sites add French music to their database; as well as getting Radio 1 and Capital FM to start playing French songs, then people who currently like French music will stop using Limewire and get current music legally, there will be more choice of songs on the radio and the UK Top 40 would look more interesting. If other countries can have English-language songs alongside their own language songs, then why can’t the UK have foreign songs alongside acts such as Girls Aloud and KanYe West?
For the latest news in the French music scene, including clips of new songs, information on new French artists as well as information on UK releases and promoting French artists, then a visit to http://frenchmusicpromo.wordpress.com is a must!
