The new Baromètre du Live shows audience numbers have returned to growth for the first time since 2015, as French concertgoers feel safer at a show than in everyday life
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Emergency aid pay-outs fall as French industry recovers
The amount of aid granted under the post-Bataclan Emergency Fund fell by more than 50% last year, reflecting the French biz's 'return to normal'
By Jon Chapple on 03 May 2018
Fans at the recent Printemps de Bourges festival in Cher
image © Antoine Monegier du Sorbier/Printemps
The number of businesses granted money by France’s Emergency Fund for Live Entertainment fell by more than 35% in 2017, as the French live industry continued its steady recovery.
The Emergency Fund for Live Entertainment (Fonds d’urgence au spectacle vivant) was established following the Bataclan attack of November 2015 to assist live entertainment businesses struggling with a decline in audience numbers.
According to the Centre national de la chanson, des variétés et du jazz (CNV), one of the government-run industry bodies which contributes to the fund, the Fonds d’urgence paid out €5.4m in 2017 – a 53% reduction on 2016 – with the number of beneficiaries also down 37%, to 238.
Promoters’ association Prodiss said last October the French concert business is approaching a “return to normal”, bolstered by improved feelings of safety and a perception that live entertainment provides an “antidote” to the fear of terrorism.
However, despite the industry’s growth and a decline in emergency aid and , CNV’s Activity Report 2017 reveals that the organisation’s total spend increased last year – 7%, to €32.8m – a fact it says “attests to a growing need to support the sector”, which is being squeezed by rising costs for artist fees, marketing and, especially, security.
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