Music, the muse of the soft power ?

Everyone all around the world knows American music.
Everyone all around the world knows Michael Jackson, Madonna or Elvis Prestley. But have you heard about Francis Cabrel ? No, that’s what I thought ! Well, after this post, you will know that French music is not so out of date !

French singer Francis Cabrel is the typical French artist from the countryside who sings in French about "La Cabane au fonds du jardin" (The hut in the back of the garden) and whose fame does not go beyond borderlines.

Madonna, the pop icon, is famous all around the world.

The American Domination

American music is famous all around the world and plays a huge part in the American soft power.

The music of the United States does not have a long history, but it is rich insofar as there are many different styles that are distributed worldwide. The successive waves of immigration that have shaped the culture of the United States brought with them musical styles that are specific to their home countries. These styles and musical practices, constrained by material or social conditions, have adapted to new instruments. This phenomenon gave birth to different styles of music in the nineteenth and the twentieth centuries: blues, jazz, ragtime, country music, rock, salsa, or rap music. Nearly every one of these styles has been imported to France ! Even country music has a strong existence in France.

Many musical styles in France owe their very existence to the United States. For instance, the emergence of rap music in France goes back to the release of Rapper's Delight, the first world renowned rap title released in September 1979 by the American band: Sugarhill Gang. Let's also note that a lot of French artists sing in English.

USA are also seen as the Eden for artists to record albums, to do tours, in general to make their careers.

Another important fact is that French actual artists are criticized because of their amateurishness. When I watch MTV France, I can tell after just 3 seconds that the musical video is a French one ! If I show you 2 music videos (one American and one French), can you tell me which one is which (without listening to the lyrics) ?

Indeed, you easily can ! The French clip is not very professional compared to the American one.

But France have not yet said its last word on music.

Most of the French artists sing in French, along with some international artists. French music is abounding and renew itself and it has even inspired some of the greatest artists on Earth. For instance, The song "Comme d'habitude" by French singer Claude François was adapted by Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley to become the famous "My Way". Claude François is so famous that a movie about his life was released this year and had a huge success in many countries.

The official poster of the movie "Cloclo"

More recently, some French artists are part of the world pantheon of musical artists. David Guetta is undoubtedly the greatest current DJ in the world. The French Touch is also a proof of the presence of France on the international stage. This is a movement describing the French bands pionners in electronic music in the 90s, such as Daft Punk, Air, St Germain or Cassius. Daft Punk was even asked to make the music for the Disney movie "Tron".

The album cover of "Discovery", the famous signature of Daft Punk

Eventually, American music is much more professional and international than French music. But, French music has been pioneer in some musical styles and inspired some great musics and artists over the past few decades so we cannot talk about its decadence. 

Sources.

www.lemonde.fr www.allocine.fr